'He beat me easily': Alcaraz reveals result of practice match against Sinner at ATP Finals
NewsSunday, 16 November 2025 at 13:28
Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner will meet in the 2025 ATP Finals final, but it won't be their first time meeting on the court this week.
When practicing ahead of the tournaments, tennis players usually prefer to practice with someone they cannot meet in the early stages of the tournament. In usual draws, they would usually choose someone from the opposite half, meaning they can meet only in the final. At the ATP Finals, that means choosing someone from the other group.
Alcaraz and Sinner were the two highest-ranked players in the ATP Finals draw, so they knew they wouldn't meet in the round-robin stage. On top of that, they were both huge favorites to win their groups, so it was very probable that if they met, it would be in the final.
One week later, that's the case, as Alcaraz and Sinner will play for the trophy in Turin. It will be their sixth meeting this year and sixth final, with the Spaniard winning four of the last five and, overall, seven of the last eight matches.
Alcaraz beat Felix Auger-Aliassime in his semi-final match, while Sinner outplayed Alex de Minaur. The Italian ended his match much earlier, which is why Alcaraz didn't hold a proper press conference after his match; he only answered quick questions in the mixed zone and spoke only to the mandatory media.
Obviously, one of the first questions he was asked was about his final opponent, Sinner. Alcaraz revealed that he lost the practice set they played ahead of the event 3-6, which isn't a good sign for him ahead of their final.
"He beat me 6-3 pretty easily, to be honest. In sport, is a totally different feeling from going to a match. I said that playing against Jannik on indoor court is one of the best or most difficult challenge that we have in tennis right now. I think he has a winning streak of 30, 31 matches in a row."
"On an indoor court, we're playing in front of his home crowd. That makes it even more difficult to play against him. But I'm ready to take the challenge and I'm ready to play really good tennis."
Alcaraz still seems to be confident ahead of the final despite losing the practice set to Sinner. He admitted that he was a bit nervous at the start of the event, but his level increased during the tournament, as he didn't have the pressure of fighting for the year-end No. 1 rank anymore.
"The round-robin was I guess I play a really good tennis, but obviously I was playing for the No. 1, which the nerves were there. Dealing with those nerves, that pressure, was more difficult let's say comparing to coming to the semifinals. I think all those nerves was gone and I could play really good tennis, pretty good level before approaching the finals."
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