TURIN, Italy — When it got here all the way down to it, Carlos Alcaraz wanted lower than 90 minutes to safe the year-ending No. 1 rating in males’s tennis.
Alcaraz wanted yet one more win on the ATP Finals to beat Jannik Sinner to the No. 1 spot and the Spaniard duly acquired that as he eased to a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Italian Lorenzo Musetti on Thursday to brush his group on the season-ending occasion for the highest eight gamers.
“It means the world to me to be trustworthy,” Alcaraz stated in his on-court interview. “The yr No. 1 is all the time a purpose. To be trustworthy at first of the yr I noticed that the No. 1 (was) actually, actually distant, with Jannik there, successful virtually each event he performs.
“From the center of the season until now I put the purpose for the No. 1 as a result of I assumed it was there … and at last I acquired it. For me, it means every part, the work that we put on daily basis throughout the entire season, up and downs … so I’m actually proud about my crew and myself.”
It’s the second time in his profession that the 22-year-old Alcaraz has ended the yr on the prime of the rankings.
The Spaniard turned the youngest participant to complete a yr at No. 1 when he achieved the feat as a 19-year-old in 2022.
Alcaraz needed to win three of his matches on the season-ending occasion for the highest eight gamers to complete No. 1, whereas Sinner needed to go undefeated to defend his title to be in with an opportunity.
Alcaraz — who admitted he was feeling nervous at first of the match — didn’t give him that probability as he swept apart Musetti regardless of a partisan house crowd, sealing the end result on his third match level.
That was his third win within the Jimmy Connors group and Alcaraz will face the winner of Friday’s match between Alexander Zverev and Felix Auger-Aliassime in Saturday’s semifinal.
The victory additionally despatched Alex de Minaur by way of to the semifinals after the Australian earlier claimed a primary ATP Finals victory.
De Minaur beat Taylor Fritz 7-6 (3), 6-3 for his first victory in six matches on the event, following his debut final yr.
“I lastly received right here in Torino,” stated De Minaur, who wanted a straight-set win to remain in rivalry for a semifinal spot.
De Minaur by no means seemed again after dominating the tiebreaker and had an opportunity to seal victory on Fritz’s serve when he moved to match level, however the American held. De Minaur stored his nerve on serve to triumph.
The seventh-seed will face Sinner within the closing 4.
