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Carlos Alcaraz has candidly expressed his feelings on facing Lorenzo Musetti instead of Novak Djokovic at the 2025 ATP Finals after the latter pulled out of the event.

The world No 1 was drawn with Djokovic, Taylor Fritz and Alex de Minaur in the Jimmy Connors Group at this year’s ATP Finals in Turin.

Djokovic announced he would not compete at the ATP Finals due to a shoulder injury after he defeated Musetti in a pulsating final at the ATP 250 event in Athens the day before the season-ending championships was due to begin.

Carlos Alcaraz addresses Lorenzo Musetti replacing Novak Djokovic at ATP Finals

• Carlos Alcaraz has said facing Novak Djokovic at the ATP Finals would have been “tough” as he pointed to the tennis icon’s experience at the event and level on indoor courts
• The 22-year-old admitted he would rather play Musetti than Djokovic as he recalled being “killed” by the Serbian at the 2023 ATP Finals
• Alcaraz added that Musetti “deserves” to be in Turin because of how the Italian has performed this season

A showdown between Alcaraz and Djokovic would arguably have been the pick of the round robin matches, but the Spaniard will instead play Musetti, who took the Serbian’s place in the group.

Alcaraz began his campaign in Turin with a 7-6(6), 6-2 victory over seventh-ranked de Minaur, and he will face Fritz in his second match before concluding his round robin campaign against Musetti.

The six-time major champion is chasing a maiden ATP Finals crown, while he can also clinch the ATP year-end No 1 ranking ahead of Jannik Sinner by winning three matches in Turin.

What Carlos Alcaraz said about Novak Djokovic’s ATP Finals withdrawal

After beating de Minaur, Alcaraz was asked about the difference between having Djokovic and Musetti in his group in Turin.

“Well, obviously someone like Novak being in the group is always tough,” said the Spaniard.

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“The experience he has in this tournament, the level he has on indoor court, it’s quite good. I lost to him in 2023, and I played great. He killed me (smiling).

“To be honest, I prefer Lorenzo. I’m not going to lie (laughs). If he’s there, he deserves it because of the level he has put on the matches, the tournaments he has done this year, and the level he showed this year. It was really, really high.

“Let’s see how he’s going to be, how he’s going to adapt. He’s coming from Athens, and he couldn’t feel the court at all. But I’m sure he’s going to do great and let’s see how it’s going to be.”

Musetti, the world No 9, fell 3-6, 4-6 to sixth-ranked Fritz on his ATP Finals debut on Monday.

What happened when Alcaraz played Djokovic at the 2023 ATP Finals?

Alcaraz, who holds a 4-5 record against Djokovic, referenced his loss to the 24-time Grand Slam champion at the 2023 ATP Finals.

In that match, Djokovic delivered an outstanding display to dismantle Alcaraz 6-3, 6-2 in the semi-finals in Turin.

The Serbian went on to claim a record seventh ATP Finals crown that year as he saw off Sinner 6-3, 6-3 in the final.

READ NEXT: Carlos Alcaraz makes ‘kinda weird’ confession as he responds to Andy Roddick’s ‘darkness’ claim

The post What did Carlos Alcaraz say about impact of Novak Djokovic’s controversial ATP Finals decision? appeared first on Tennis365.

The 2025 WTA Tour season concluded with the WTA Finals in Riyadh last week, but which stars earned the most prize money in women’s tennis this year?

There are 65 WTA Tour players who have secured at least $1million in on-court earnings this campaign (across singles and doubles), with 23 of these women having surpassed the $2million mark.

Veronika Kudermetova ($2,809,563), Ekaterina Alexandrova ($2,689,766), Belinda Bencic ($2,609,769), Naomi Osaka ($2,515,892) and Jelena Ostapenko ($2,328,202) occupy 11th to 15th on the 2025 WTA prize money list.

The top 10 prize money earners on the WTA Tour in 2025

• Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek are the only women to earn over $10million in prize money this season
• Elena Rybakina soared to third on the list after winning the WTA Finals, while Coco Gauff and Amanda Anisimova make the top five
• Less than $1million separates Jessica Pegula in sixth and Madison Keys in ninth

Here, we count down the 10 players who collected the most prize money on the WTA Tour in 2025.

10. Elise Mertens – $2,895,029 ($1,495,709 in doubles)

Elise Mertens is the 10th highest prize money earner this season, having collected more money in doubles than any other woman.

The Belgian won the WTA Finals and Wimbledon doubles titles, and finished as a runner-up in Madrid and Rome, with her partner Kudermetova.

9. Madison Keys – $4,357,787 ($32,900 in doubles)

Madison Keys collected $2,209,109 for winning her maiden Grand Slam title at the 2025 Australian Open after she started the season by winning the WTA 500 in Adelaide. The American was also a semi-finalist in Indian Wells, and a quarter-finalist at the French Open, the Madrid Open and the Canadian Open.

8. Mirra Andreeva – $4,726,226 ($768,074 in doubles)

Mirra Andreeva claimed successive WTA 1000 titles in Dubai and Indian Wells, while she also reached quarter-finals at the French Open, Wimbledon, Madrid and Rome.

7. Jasmine Paolini – $5,253,997 ($1,192,598 in doubles)

Jasmine Paolini won her only singles title of 2025 at the Italian Open, and she also reached a final in Cincinnati and a semi-final in Miami. The Italian won four doubles titles with her partner Sara Errani: the French Open, the Qatar Open, the Italian Open and the China Open.

6. Jessica Pegula – $5,262,311 ($174,783 in doubles)

Jessica Pegula was a runner-up at the Miami Open and the Wuhan Open, a semi-finalist at the US Open, the WTA Finals and the China Open, and a quarter-finalist at the Qatar Open.

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5. Amanda Anisimova – $7,260,577 ($10,000 in doubles)

Amanda Anisimova was a runner-up at back-to-back Grand Slams at Wimbledon and the US Open, and she won WTA 1000 tournaments in Doha and Beijing this year. The American also made the last four at the WTA Finals.

4. Coco Gauff – $7,969,845 ($188,940 in doubles)

Coco Gauff claimed $2,901,024 for winning her first French Open title — and second Grand Slam overall — in June.

The world No 3 won the Wuhan Open WTA 1000 and was a runner-up at the 1000 tournaments in Madrid and Rome during the clay season. The American also reached the quarter-finals at the Australian Open and in Cincinnati.

3. Elena Rybakina – $8,456,632 ($26,470 in doubles)

Elena Rybakina won WTA 500 events in Strasbourg and Ningbo, and she reached the semi-finals in Dubai, Montreal, Cincinnati and Tokyo.

The 2022 Wimbledon winner collected the biggest paycheque in the history of women’s sports ($5,235,000) for her undefeated run to the season-ending WTA Finals title in Riyadh.

2. Iga Swiatek – $10,112,532 ($200,000 in doubles)

Iga Swiatek earned $4,069,500 for winning her maiden Wimbledon crown and sixth Grand Slam overall in July.

The world No 2 also triumphed at the WTA 1000 in Cincinnati and the WTA 500 in Seoul, while she was a finalist in Bad Homburg. The Pole reached the semi-finals at the Australian Open, Roland Garros, Doha, Indian Wells and Madrid.

1. Aryna Sabalenka – $15,008,519

Aryna Sabalenka was the best player on the WTA Tour in 2025, and she crowned her campaign with her triumph at the US Open last month.

The world No 1’s victory at Flushing Meadows, which saw her claim her first major of the season and fourth in total, earned her a record Grand Slam winner’s cheque of $5,000,000. She also secured WTA 1000 titles in Miami and Madrid and a WTA 500 title in Brisbane this year.

The Belarusian was a runner-up at the French Open, the Australian Open, the WTA Finals, the Indian Wells Open and the Stuttgart Open, while she was a semi-finalist at Wimbledon.

READ NEXT: Aryna Sabalenka’s biggest opponent is revealed again as Elena Rybakina wins WTA Finals

The post Prize money earned by Sabalenka, Swiatek, Gauff, Rybakina, Anisimova in 2025 WTA Tour season appeared first on Tennis365.

Felix Auger-Aliassime has been a mainstay on the ATP Tour for several years and, despite being only 25, has already achieved an impressive level of success during his career.

While his father, Sam Aliassime, has proven a key influence in his career, long-time coach Frederic Fontang has also been a significant driving force behind the Canadian’s rise to prominence over the past decade.

Here, we look at Fontang’s journey to coaching Auger-Aliassime and the impact the 55-year-old has had on the Canadian’s career.

Playing career

Before his successful coaching career, Fontang was himself a professional tennis player.

The Frenchman won the prestigious Petits As as a junior in 1984 and was the French 16s champion in 1986, before entering the senior game.

The 55-year-old reached a career-high ranking of world No 59 in 1991, the same year he achieved the greatest successes of his career.

Fontang defeated Emilio Sanchez in Palermo to win his sole ATP Tour title, having finished as the runner-up at a tournament in San Marino earlier that year.

He reached the second round of his home Grand Slam at Roland Garros in 1997, playing the tournament seven times, and also made Australian Open and Wimbledon appearances during his career.

Fontang retired from the sport in 1999.

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Coaching career

Following the conclusion of his playing career, Fontang switched to coaching and initially worked with compatriot Jeremy Chardy, their partnership starting when the latter was still a junior.

Fontang guided Chardy to the junior Wimbledon title in 2005 and a junior US Open runner-up finish that same year, and helped the Frenchman on his journey into the senior game.

Under Fontang’s guidance, Chardy won his sole career singles title at the 2009 Stuttgart Open and reached the fourth round of the 2008 French Open, cracking the top 30 before an acrimonious split.

Fontang then worked with future WTA world No 4 Caroline Garcia while she was a junior, helping her reach the US Open girls’ singles final in 2011.

That was then followed by a lengthy and successful spell with Vasek Pospisil, working with the Canadian from 2012 to 2016.

Pospisil moved from outside the top 100 to a career-high of 25th in the singles ATP Rankings during his time with Fontang, also reaching fourth in the doubles rankings — and winning Wimbledon in 2014.

After their split in August 2016, Fontang started working with Auger-Aliassime in early 2017.

Time with Auger-Aliassime

Auger-Aliassime was just 16 years old when he and Fontang started working together, and, at nearly eight years in length, it is one of the longest-standing player-coach partnerships on tour.

He made his ATP Tour debut in 2018 and has become one of the most successful Canadian players of the Open Era, winning eight tour-level titles during his time working with Fontang.

Auger-Aliassime is also a two-time Masters 1000 runner-up, in Madrid last year and Paris this Autumn, and is a two-time US Open semi-finalist, and an Australian Open and Wimbledon quarter-finalist.

The Canadian reached a career-high ranking of sixth in 2022, though difficult 2023 and 2024 seasons saw him fall back outside the top 25.

However, he and Fontang continued working together and that paid dividends in a resurgent 2025, with Auger-Aliassime winning three titles, returning to the last four at Flushing Meadows, and qualifying for the ATP Finals.

It would have been easy for either to want to part ways amid a difficult two-year spell, but Fontang was ready to deal with any potential setbacks within their partnership.

“The progression usually goes smoothly. But at some point, there can be setbacks,” he told L’Equipe.

“For us, it was the injury that somewhat halted the process. Although we shouldn’t blame everything on that. We experimented a bit with certain tactical aspects, we tried things that didn’t work.

“Felix was taking the ball a little less early, for example. There were some back-and-forths in his tactical approach to the game.

“Felix is ​​an intelligent player who watches a lot of tennis; he sensed things and wanted to improve during this transition to the next level. And he’s reconnected recently.”

Having started 2025 ranked 29th in the world, a strong start to the season — and a late-season surge — has seen Auger-Aliassime return to the top 10.

With Fontang set to remain in his corner, all eyes will be on how much further he can progress in the years to come.

Read Next: Who are Felix Auger-Aliassime’s parents? Tennis coach Sam Aliassime and Marie Auger

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Carlos Alcaraz is back at No 1 and he didn’t have to lift a racket the past week while Ben Shelton and Learner Tien have broken fresh ground in the rankings.

On the back of winning the Paris Masters last week, Jannik Sinner reclaimed top spot from Alcaraz, but his stay was always going to be brief as the points from the 2024 ATP Finals were due to drop.

Now that the formalities have been completed, Alcaraz has returned to No 1 as he lost only 200 points from last year’s season-ending event, giving him a 1,050-point cushion as Sinner dropped 1,500 points after winning the 2024 title.

Of course, the Italian can still finish as the year-end No 1, but he will need to be flawless in Turin and hope that Alcaraz exits earlier.

Alexander Zverev remains third, but he is more than 5,000 points behind Zverev while Novak Djokovic is up one place and just 130 points behind the German after his Hellenic Championship title win over the weekend.

But Djokovic’s decision not to compete at this year’s ATP Finals means Zverev is favourite to finish the year at No 3.

With Taylor Fritz moving down two places, Shelton is the new American No 1 as he is up one place to a new career-high No 5, although the battle between the two players will go down to the wire in Turin.

Although Alexander Bublik lost in the second round of the Moselle Open, is up two places to a new high of 11 while Casper Ruud dropped two spots.

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Rising star Tien was the man to win the title in Metz as he defeated Cameron Norrie 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (8-6) in the final to win his maiden ATP Tour singles title and with it came a 10-place rise to a career-high No 28, just one place behind the Brit.

Former world No 6 Matteo Berrettini reached the quarter-final at the Moselle event before losing to Tien, and he is up seven places to No 56.

In terms of big droppers, Benjamin Bonzi is down 37 places to No 94, Hamad Medjedovic slipped 18 places to No 83 and Laslo Djere dropped 17 spots to No 99.

With the ATP Finals the final regular event on the ATP Tour season, the 2025 year-end ATP Rankings will be completed at the completion of the Turin tournament.

It will also then determine the seedings for next year’s Australian Open following a tweak to the ATP rules.

ATP Rankings Top 20

1. Carlos Alcaraz Spain – 11,050 (+1)
2. Jannik Sinner Italy – 10,000 points (-1)
3. Alexander Zverev Germany – 4,960
4. Novak Djokovic Serbia – 4,830 (+1)
5. Ben Shelton United States – 3,970 (+1)
6. Taylor Fritz United States – 3,935 (-2)
7. Alex de Minaur Australia – 3,935
8. Felix Auger-Aliassime Canada – 3,845
9. Lorenzo Musetti Italy – 3,840
10. Jack Draper Great Britain – 2,990 (+1)
11. Alexander Bublik Kazakhstan – 2,870 (+2)
12. Casper Ruud Norway – 2,835 (-2)
13. Daniil Medvedev – 2,760 (-1)
14. Alejandro Davidovic Fokina Spain – 2,635
15. Holger Rune Denmark – 2,590
16. Andrey Rublev – 2,520
17. Jiri Lehecka Czech Republic – 2,325
18. Karen Khachanov – 2,320
19. Jakub Mensik Czech Republic – 2,180
20. Tommy Paul United States – 2,100

The post ATP Rankings: Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner swap places, Ben Shelton’s new career high, Learner Tien +10 appeared first on Tennis365.

The 2025 WTA Tour season has come to an end with Elena Rybakina winning the final tournament of the campaign while Aryna Sabalenka finishes the year where she started: at No 1.

Rybakina completed her brilliant late-season charge by beating Sabalenka in the final of the WTA Finals to win the second-biggest title of her career following her 2022 success at Wimbledon.

And she did it in style, winning the tournament undefeated as she beat Amanda Anisimova, Iga Swiatek and Ekaterina Alexandrova during the group phase before holding off Jessica Pegula in three sets in the semi-final. In the final, she overcame Sabalenka 6-3, 7-6 (7-0) to win the year-end event for the first time in her career.

The five wins in Riyadh earned her 1,500 points and she moved up one place in the WTA Rankings to No 5, which is just reward for her excellent form since the start of the Asian swing as she was down at No 10 on September 15.

The Kazakh star – who peaked at No 3 in the rankings in June 2023 – reached the quarter-final of the Wuhan Open, won the Ningbo Open and made it to the semi-final of the Pan Pacific Open before completing her run with the title in Saudi Arabia.

Besides the 1,500 ranking points, Rybakina also earned $5,235,000 – a record in women’s tennis – for winning the WTA Finals undefeated.

But the WTA Rankings star of the year was undoubtedly Sabalenka as she will complete a full calendar at No 1, having wrapped up the year-end top spot before the WTA Finals.

The Belarusian finished the 2024 season on 9,416 points and she has gone better in 2025 as she finishes on 10,870 points with her biggest gains coming from her US Open victory, runners-up spots at the Australian Open, French Open and WTA Finals, and Miami Open and Madrid Open titles.

The four-time Grand Slam winner will start the 2026 season with a 2,475-point lead over Iga Swiatek, who in turn is 1,632 points ahead of Coco Gauff.

Although Gauff exited the WTA Finals after the round-robin stage, she managed to hold off Amanda Anisimova in the battle for the American year-end No 1 spot as the latter’s run to the semi-final saw her move to within 476 points.

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Despite reaching the last four, Pegula drops one place – although it is more a case of Rybakina moving up a spot – while the rest of the top 50 remains unchanged as the regular WTA Tour season finished last week.

However, there are still some WTA 125 tournaments and ITF events scheduled until early December and there was some movement lower down the list as Renata Zarazua climbed 12 places to No 70 after winning the Austin 125.

Oleksandra Oliynykova was the other WTA 125 title winner last week as she won the event in Tucuman, Argentina, to rise 23 spots to No 109.

But the top 20 will remain the same for the rest of the 2025 season, but please do keep an eye out for our 2025 WTA Rankings Winners & Losers that will feature the likes of Sabalenka, Victoria Mboko and Alex Eala.

WTA Rankings Top 20

1. Aryna Sabalenka – 10,870 points
2. Iga Swiatek Poland – 8,395
3. Coco Gauff United States – 6,763
4. Amanda Anisimova United States – 6,287
5. Elena Rybakina Kazakhstan – 5,850 (+1)
6. Jessica Pegula United States – 5,583 (-1)
7. Madison Keys United States – 4,335
8. Jasmine Paolini Italy – 4,325
9. Mirra Andreeva – 4,319
10. Ekaterina Alexandrova – 3,375
11. Belinda Bencic Switzerland – 3,168
12. Clara Tauson Denmark – 2,770
13. Linda Noskova Czech Republic – 2,641
14. Elina Svitolina Ukraine – 2,595
15. Emma Navarro United States – 2,515
16. Naomi Osaka Japan – 2,487
17. Luidmila Sansonova – 2,209
18. Victoria Mboko Canada – 2,157 (+3)
19. Karolina Muchova Czech Republic – 1,996
20. Elise Mertens Belgium – 1,969

The post WTA Rankings: Sabalenka’s year at No 1, Gauff wins American No 1 battle, Rybakina ends on a high appeared first on Tennis365.

Novak Djokovic and the ATP Tour have rarely been singing from the same hymn sheet and the events of the last few days are unlikely to improve relations.

As Djokovic delayed confirming whether he would play in the ATP Finals in Turin, tournament organisers were left to scramble together a pre-tournament plan that left them in a challenging position.

We need to appreciate how big a moment in the year this is for the ATP Tour.

For the organisation that runs the men’s tour, the eight-day event at the end of the season is bigger than any of the Grand Slams, as this is the one tournament they have full ownership of and it generates millions in revenue for them with sponsors and broadcast agreements.

The eight players who qualify to compete are lavishly paid for their appearance, with a player who wins all five of their matches over the next few days walking away with $5,071,000, the richest payout in the event’s history for a non-exhibition event.

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Part of the deal to earn that cash is making appearances at pre-tournament events, completing a lot of media duties and doing what is requested to promote the event at the ATP Tour.

Djokovic’s actions over the last few weeks have severely damaged the ATP’s efforts to promote their marquee tournament, as he delayed confirming whether he would play and only confirmed he was not heading to Turin the evening before the event was due to get underway.

Djokovic’s announcement that he wouldn’t play in Turin after he won the ATP 250 event in Athens was not a surprise, as it seemed highly unlikely that a player who has not played a full tennis schedule over the last few years would rush from Greece to Italy to play in a tournament he also pulled out of last year.

The question is, when did Djokovic decide that he was not going to take up his place at the ATP Finals?

If we are to believe his version of events, he only decided not to play in Turin after a long match against Lorenzo Musetti in the Athens finals, but some will suspect he was never going to compete against the best in men’s tennis in what is a gruelling event.

As he refused to reveal if he would play, the draw was made with Djokovic’s name included and his decision to withdraw has left an imbalance in the groups.

He also left Musetti and Felix Auger-Aliassime waiting as they pushed to qualify for the ATP Finals, with both now set to compete after Djokovic’s announcement created an extra place in the draw.

Djokovic was asked about his ATP Finals decision time and again in Greece as he progressed through the tournament and always declined to answer, but he would have needed to make a lot of plans if he was going to fly from Greece to Italy in double quick time and it would be interesting to know if those plans were ever put in place.

While Djokovic now heads off for a longer off-season before pondering what tournaments he will play in next year, the ATP are finally getting a chance to put the finishing piece of their event in Turin in place and fans looking to buy tickets will belatedly know who they will be watching.

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Djokovic made no apology for the confusion he caused in his announcement that he was not travelling Italy, but he will doubtless feel he has earned the right to pick and choose when he plays.

Also, the Serbian has not tried to hide his annoyance at elements of how the ATP run men’s tennis, with the Professional Tennis Players Association he supports looking to stand up to the game’s decision makers and they look to take control of how the sport is run.

Djokovic made some inflammatory comments while speaking in Saudi Arabia last month that suggested he is already looking to a new role trying to make changes to the men’s game and the words he used left little to the imagination.

“In our sport, it is a big monopoly that has been there for decades,” said Djokovic at the Joy Forum. “That was the biggest inspiration for me and my college Vasek Pospisil, my fellow tennis player, we founded the Professional Tennis Players Association.

“Now we have the PTPA, but we still don’t have the voice at the table where the decisions are being made. That’s the downside of our sport and the way it is structured. The system is the way that it is.

“I’m always looking for a place where there is innovation and thankfully with my achievements, I have a platform and a mic in my hand and I can say certain things that will hurt a lot of people and disturb along of chairs. But I don’t care. At the end of the day, I love this sport. This sport has given me everything in my life, so I want to give it back.

“What can I do for the players? How can I personally engage in some changes so we can force that, in a right way.

“A lot of people are going to oppose that, they are not going to like it, but I can sleep well knowing I’m doing something good and my heart is in the right place.

“The fire just keeps going in me. As long as you live, as long as you breathe, you want to make this world a better place.”

When a sporting icon vows to take on the game’s authorities to force change, everyone stands up and takes notice.

Djokovic’s actions over the last few days and his predictable withdrawal from the ATP Finals may be evidence that he feels no obligation to work with tennis chiefs he clearly feels need to do more for the sport.

The post Novak Djokovic’s frosty relationship with ATP chiefs will not be helped by his latest decision appeared first on Tennis365.

Carlos Alcaraz was pushed all the way by Alex de Minaur in his opening match at the ATP Finals in Turin, but he found a way to win in straight sets as he continued his push to finish the season as the world No 1.

Alcaraz jumped back to the top of the live ATP rankings heading into the Turin finals, but he could still finish a stellar year behind his great rival Jannik Sinner in the rankings.

Sinner’s wins in the ATP 500 tournament in Vienna and his victory at the Paris Masters allowed him to get back into contention to finish 2025 as the world’s best player.

Yet if Alcaraz wins three matches at the ATP Finals, the Spaniard will claim that prestigious end-of-season rankings prize.

His 7-6(5), 6-2 win against De Minaur was far from straight forward, as he was pushed by the battling Aussie in a tight first set before he moved up a gear or two to secure the second set in more clinical fashion.

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“This tournament is one of the best tournaments we have on Tour, without a doubt,” said Alcaraz. “We’re playing against the best players in the world, which shows how difficult and important it is.

“I’ve been struggling in the past few years to come to the end of the year with motivation. This year is a little bit different, which I’m proud about [as] I’m doing the right things to give myself a shot to try and win this tournament.”

He also opened up on his battle for the No 1 ranking with Sinner as he said: “As everybody knows, I’m fighting for not only the trophy but for the No 1 (ranking) as well so I’m just really happy with the way that I played today. 

“I was focused on all my goals against someone like Alex, he’s really difficult to play against. I’m happy to get my first win and excited for what’s next.

“Ending as the No. 1, it’s been an important goal for me since half the year, to be honest. Because at the beginning, I didn’t think about it.

“I’m just really motivated to perform well, to play my best tennis, trying to get some wins here, trying to qualify to the semi-finals.

“I think doing good in this tournament, winning matches here, it comes together with ending the year as No. 1. It’s kind of the same motivation, they stick together.”

Alcaraz can clinch the year-end No 1 ranking if he wins all three of his group stage matches in Turin, but he could afford to lose one and still claim the crown if he reaches the final next Sunday.

The post What Carlos Alcaraz needs to do to steal world No 1 ranking from Jannik Sinner after ATP Finals opener appeared first on Tennis365.

The 2025 ATP Finals field was set at the last minute following Novak Djokovic’s eleventh-hour decision to withdraw from the tournament, and that resulted in some tweaks to the original groups.

The draw for the season-ending tournament in Turin was made on Thursday – three days before the official start of the event – with top seed Carlos Alcaraz, Djokovic, Taylor Fritz and Alex De Minaur drawn in the Jimmy Connors Group.

Jannik Sinner headlined the Bjorn Borg Group and he was joined by Alexander Zverev and Ben Shelton, while one other player was still to be confirmed as Felix Auger-Aliassime and Lorenzo Musetti were still battling it out for the final position.

The pre-match tournament photo shoot only featured six player who had already qualified with Djokovic still in action in Athens while the identity of the eighth player was unknown.

With Djokovic beating Musetti in the final of the Hellenic Championship, Auger-Aliassime then went into the Borg group as the final and eighth qualifier with the Italian taking one of the alternate spots alongside Alexander Bublik.

But seven-time ATP Finals champion Djokovic then threw a spanner in the works as he pulled out of the event due to a shoulder injury as he revealed the injury got worse during the ATP 250 event in Athens.

That meant Musetti got pumped into the main draw as he took Serbian’s position in the Connors group with their round-robin matches set for Monday.

There was no doubt that Djokovic was Alcaraz’s biggest rival as the former leads their head-to-head rivalry 5-4, but the Spaniard is 4-1 against Fritz and 4-0 against De Minaur.

With the 24-time Grand Slam winner dropping out, Alcaraz has a winning record against all his rivals as he is 4-1 against Musetti.

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Carlos Alcaraz pushed to the brink as Alexander Zverev crashes to defeat – ATP Finals Day 1 predictions

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Sinner is 5-4 against Zverev, 7-1 against Shelton and 3-2 against Auger-Aliassime.

But with Musetti moving up, Bublik took his spot as the first alternate, opening up a second alternate spot with Casper Ruud next in line, but there were doubts over his participation as he was already on holiday, resulting in fears the ATP might have to scramble to find another player to fill the slot.

However, the world No 12’s manager Tina Falster has confirmed to Norway’s NTB that he has accepted the position and will soon make his way to Turin.

Of course, the fact that players earn $155,000 as an alternate is a big lure while there is always the possibility that one of the top eight could withdraw, meaning they would step up and earn more money.

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There was an awkward moment during the WTA Finals trophy presentation involving champion Elena Rybakina and WTA CEO Portia Archer, and while the player refused to go into detail, it no doubt stems from the WTA Tour’s decision to suspend the 2022 Wimbledon champion’s coach Stefano Vukov.

Rybakina won her biggest title since her Wimbledon success four years ago as she defeated world No 1 and four-time Grand Slam winner Sabalenka in straight sets in the WTA Finals in Riyadh.

Players traditionally take photos with officials during the post-match ceremony and Rybakina had no problem posing alongside Sabalenka in the centre of the court, but when Archer started making her way to the middle, the Kazakh player walked away and stood a few metres away.

The 26-year-old was called over to rejoin the shoot, but she gestured with her hand to indicate they go ahead without her and looked away while photos were being taken.

When asked during the post-match press conference why she didn’t want to pose with Archer, Rybakina told reporters that she wanted “to keep the reason between her and the WTA chief”.

But the tension between the player and officials originates from the WTA’s handling of her coach Vukov’s suspension in 2024.

The Croatian’s coaching methods made headlines at the 2023 Australian Open when he was criticised for the way he talked to Rybakina during her run to the final, but she defended her mentor.

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On the eve of the 2024 US Open, Rybakina announced that she had ended her working relationship with Vukov and not long after, the WTA announced that he had been provisionally suspended pending an investigation into his conduct.

But Rybakina and Vukov started working together again at the start of 2025 and in February this year, it was announced that the Croatian had been handed a 12-month suspension and Archer was quite critical when the findings was released.

She stated that Vukov’s behaviour was a “contradiction” to the “safe environment” needed for everyone on the WTA Tour, adding: “It’s clear to me you have a toxic relationship.”

Vukov appealed the decision and in August he was cleared to return to action.

But there is certainly bad blood between Rybakina and the top officials on the WTA Tour with the latest incident in Saudi Arabia proving it is not something that will go away any time soon.

Why did #Rybakina refuse to take a picture with Portia Archer the CEO of WTA ? #WTAFinals #WTAFinalsRiyadh #portiaarcher #wta #tennis #sabalenkaa pic.twitter.com/15Z53UgSvN

— Harmony K Lokenye (@Hlokenyee) November 8, 2025

During her post-match press conference, the newly crowned WTA Finals champion was asked if she held talks with Tour officials in an attempt to clear the air and replied: “I think we’re all doing our job and we had the opportunity to have conversations but in the end it never happened so we’re all doing our job and I think we’re going to keep it this way.”

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The ATP Finals are set to get underway in Turin and the schedule has been reshuffled amid confusion created by Novak Djokovic’s refusal to confirm whether he will compete.

After qualifying for another end-of-season finals, Djokovic has held back on revealing whether he will play in Turin.

He pulled out of last year’s ATP Finals due to injury, amid some suggestions that he didn’t have the motivation to play in an event he has won seven times.

Now the uncertainty over whether he will play in 2025 forced organisers to abandon the traditional plan of players in the same group competing on the same day.

It means Carlos Alcaraz will take on Alex de Minaur in the opening match in the Jimmy Connors Group on Sunday, with Alexander Zverev playing Ben Shelton in the Bjorn Borg group in the evening session.

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Here are our predictions for the opening day of action in Turin.

Carlos Alcaraz vs Alex de Minaur
Head-to-head record: Alcaraz leads 4-0

The previous meetings between these two suggest there will only be one winner in this curtain raiser for the ATP Finals, but don’t write off De Minaur.

The Aussie battler is one of the most under-rated players on the men’s tour, with his presence as a consistent member of the top 10 over the last couple of years a tribute to his success in getting the very best out of his game.

Alcaraz’s uncertainty playing on indoor courts will give De Minaur hope that he can pull off an upset and don’t be surprised if he pushes the French Open and US Open champion all the way.

With Alcaraz chasing the year-end world No 1 ranking, his motivation should be enough to take him through to the next round.

Verdict: Alcaraz to seal a three-set win.

Alexander Zverev vs Ben Shelton
Head-to-head record: Zverev leads 4-0

Zverev has won all three of his meetings with Shelton in 2025 and his victories in Munich and Cincinnati fell into the ‘comfortable’ category.

That is a surprisingly one-sided record for a player who has struggled badly this season, with his big serve getting him out of trouble in the matches he has won.

Zverev’s horrible record against Shelton’s big-serving American compatriot Taylor Fritz suggests he struggles against player who have similar power to him and play a game that could be comparable.

Yet Shelton has not troubled him up to now and the task for the ATP Finals debutant is to change that narrative.

Given Zverev’s recent form and question marks over his fitness heading into Turin, this has to be Shelton best chance to get a first win against the world No 3.

Verdict: Shelton to come through in straight sets.

Full order of play for Sunday at the ATP Finals in Turin

Start 11:30 am: 
[3] Marcel Granollers (ESP) / Horacio Zeballos (ARG) vs [6] Kevin Krawietz (GER) / Tim Puetz (GER)
Not Before 2 pm: 
[1] Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) vs [7] Alex de Minaur (AUS)
Not Before 6 pm
: [1] Julian Cash (GBR) / Lloyd Glasspool (GBR) vs [7] Simone Bolelli (ITA) / Andrea Vavassori (ITA)
Not Before 8:30 pm: 
[3] Alexander Zverev (GER) vs [5] Ben Shelton (USA)

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