Carlos Alcaraz has made a winning start to his ATP Finals campaign, but he has admitted that he found playing Alex de Minaur challenging.
Alcaraz is hoping to return to world number one at the ATP Finals this year, after he was dethroned by Jannik Sinner.
The match against De Minaur was the first for Alcaraz since he lost to Cameron Norrie at the Paris Masters.
De Minaur has made some improvements to his game this year, and Alcaraz has explained what he found particularly difficult about playing the Australian.
Carlos Alcaraz explains what he found challenging about his match against Alex de Minaur
Alcaraz had never lost to De Minaur in their four previous meetings, and once again was able to beat the world number seven, 7-6(5) 6-2.
After coming through in straight sets to get the first win of the 2025 ATP Finals in Turin, Alcaraz spoke in his on-court interview about the match and praised De Minaur for how well he returned in the quick conditions.
“Well it was a really difficult match, I think Alex on this surface is really good,” said Alcaraz. “He made the most of the ball, the speed of the courts is super, super fast, and he catches the ball always in front so that makes it really, really difficult in the returns.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re serving 220/225 (km/h), the return is going to come even when faster. So just really happy to get through, to get through this really difficult challenge, and happy with the way that I played for the next matches.”
Despite admitting to finding it difficult against De Minaur, Alcaraz has now won 10 of the 12 sets he has played against the Australian.
Carlos Alcaraz suggests the reason why he thinks he has struggled at the ATP Finals before
Alcaraz has won more titles than any other player this year, but the ATP Finals have not been a tournament where he has found much success before.
In his two previous appearances, Alcaraz has only won three of his seven matches and is yet to surpass the semifinals.
After failing to qualify from his round-robin group in 2025, Alcaraz revealed that he has a different mindset to previous years.
“Obviously this tournament is one of the best tournaments we have on tour without a doubt, we are playing against the best players in the world, so that shows how difficult and important this tournament is,” said Alcaraz.
“Yeah I’ve been struggling the last two, three years with energy, with motivations [at the end of the season], this year is a little bit different and I’m really proud that I’ve been able to come here with motivations and I’m just really excited and looking forward to playing great tennis and giving myself the shot to try and win this tournament.”
| Year | Carlos Alcaraz’s Win-loss Record at the ATP Finals | Carlos Alcaraz’s Result at the ATP Finals |
| 2023 | 2-2 (50%) | Lost in the semifinals to Novak Djokovic |
| 2024 | 1-2 (33%) | Knocked out a the Round-robin stage (Lost to Casper Ruud & Alexander Zverev) |
Alcaraz has made a positive start in his campaign to not only improve his record at the ATP Finals, but also return to world number one.
In his next match in Turin, Alcaraz will play either Taylor Fritz or Lorenzo Musetti to move closer to achieving these goals.
Receive exclusive tennis news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
