ATP Finals, all as planned: Carlos Alcaraz joins Jannik Sinner in finals

Fight between the world number 1 and number 2 was to be, and so it will be. Carlos Alcaraz joins Jannik Sinner in the final act of the ATP Finals in Turin, beating a nonetheless strong-willed Felix Auger-Aliassime in less than an hour and a half. The Canadian, who remains the great revelation of recent months, falls in just two sets on the Piedmontese concrete and tried to fight back especially in the middle and final stages of the match. However, he is unable to go beyond 6-2, 6-4.

That there is a willingness on the part of Alcaraz, fresh from overtaking Sinner which made him number 1 in the ATP rankings again, to speed things up right from the start of the match is immediately apparent. Already the second game is characterized by three break points for the Iberian champion, which Auger-Aliassime manages, however, to cancel. He does not have the same luck in the fourth, which is worth 4-1 to the Spaniard. The fortunes of the set are not shaken, indeed: at the’eighth game the break and the set are decided at the first attempt.

Decidedly more balanced was the second set, in which Alcaraz appeared less incisive and especially Auger-Aliassime was able to find the appropriate countermoves. However, the Canadian does not have the chance to build up even the’chance for the break that would change the fate of his match. The world No. 1 closes all spaces and waits for the opportune moment for the break: the big chance comes in the 10th game, when he snatches his serve and earns the final against Sinner.

The Canadian is not able to find the right countermeasures.

The South Tyrolean himself on Saturday afternoon had clinched the final act of the ATP Finals in Turin by prevailing over Alex de Minaur also in two sets. The final score of 7-5, 6-2 suggests the dominance imposed on the match by Sinner in the second set, against an opponent who by now has beaten as many as thirteen times in as many direct clashes.