Carlos Alcaraz moved to within one win of clinching the year-end world No 1 ranking and he also remained on course to finish 2025 with the most prize money in the history of the game from a single season.
Alcaraz’s incredible year has included wins at the French Open and US Open, with victories against his great rival Jannik Sinner in both of those finals.
He has also won six titles on the ATP Tour and now needs just one more victory to clinch the prestigious No 1 ranking for the season after his epic 6-7(2), 7-5, 6-3 victory against Taylor Fritz.
American Fritz was in sparkling form in the first set of their match in the Jimmy Connor Group in Turin, as the two players who clinched victory in their opening contests met in front of a sell-out crowd.
Alcaraz looked agitated and concerned as he was well beaten in the first set tie-break, but the brilliant Spaniard found a way to get back into the match and saw off a fading Fritz with an impressively powerful display in the third set.
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“It was pretty tight, I was struggling more than him in the first set,” said Alcaraz. “I wasn’t serving well, and I think he was pretty comfortable from the baseline, from everywhere…
“I was really relieved after the win because of everything I went through during the match. I wasn’t feeling the ball as well as I was in the first round, but I’m really happy that I found a way to come back and find weakness from him.”
He was asked about the battle with Sinner for the world No 1 ranking and added: “I will try not to think about it. It’s going to be a really big match for me. I will try not to let the nerves play a bad time in the match. I will think about my goals, about feeling much better than today.”
Alcaraz’s impressive finish to the Fritz battle will fuel his hope that he can win his first ATP Finals title and if he can go all the way and clinch victory on Sunday in Turin, he will also have pieced together the most lucrative season in tennis history.
Novak Djokovic set a prize money record as he dominated the men’s game in 2015, with his $21,146,145 the most money won by a player in a single season.
Djokovic’s prize money record is all the more remarkable as the cash on offer was much less in the game a decade ago, with Sinner coming closest to breaking his total as he won $21,069,473 last season.
If Alcaraz wins the ATP Finals and seals victory in all five of his matches in Turin, he will collect $5,071,000.
Alcaraz’s current total of $16,099,427 in prize money would be boosted to $21,170,427 if he is an unbeaten champion at the ATP Finals, which would put him top of the prize money charts for a single season.
MOST PRIZE MONEY IN A SINGLE SEASON
Novak Djokovic – $21,146,145 (2015)
Jannik Sinner – $21,069,473 (2024)
Andy Murray – $16,349,701 (2016)
Rafael Nadal – $16,349,586 (2019)
Carlos Alcaraz – $16,099,427 (2025)
The post Carlos Alcaraz on course to break Novak Djokovic’s prize money record after ATP Finals win appeared first on Tennis365.
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