Carlos Alcaraz did it: he has secured the World No. 1 title by the end of the year, fully succeeding in the group stage of the ATP Finals for the first time of his career. He achieved it in a flawless victory against home favourite Lorenzo Musetti, 6-4, 6-1. It is the second time he ends the year as World No. 1, after 2022: he was second behind Djokovic in 2023 and third behind Sinner and Zverev in 2024.
"It means the world to me, to be honest. The year-end No. 1 is always a goal. At the beginning of the year, I saw the No. 1 really, really far away [with] Jannik winning almost every tournament he plays. But from the middle of the season until now, I [gave myself] the goal for the No. 1 because I thought it was there. I had the chance to play great tennis in a lot of tournaments in a row to put myself in with a chance to be close to Jannik for the No. 1", he told ATP.
Alcaraz is about to close his best season ever, with eight titles, including two majors (Roland Garros and US Open), three Masters 1000 (Monte-Carlo, Rome and Cincinnati) and three ATP 500 (Rotterdam, Queens' Club and Tokyo). He has still options to win ATP Finals, potentially crossing with Sinner in the final on Sunday, and will play Davis Cup finals next week. His rival in the semi-final, to be decided on Friday, will be Zverev or Auger-Aliassime.
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Earlier today, Alex de Miñaur defeated Taylor Fritz and qualified for semi-finals as group runner-up, facing with Jannik Sinner, group leader in the opposite group, on Saturday.