TURIN, Italy — Carlos Alcaraz got off to a strong start with a straight-sets win over Alex De Minaur on Sunday to win his first ATP Finals crown and capture the year-end No. 1 ranking.
Alcaraz recovered from a chaotic start to beat seventh-seeded De Minaur 7-6 (5), 6-2 in the first match of the men’s quarterfinals season finale.
Later on Sunday, American Ben Shelton made his ATP Finals debut against two-time champion Alexander Zverev.
Top seed Alcaraz is battling defending champion Janik Sinner for the number one spot this year, and the Spaniard can ensure that if he reaches the final, no matter what his opponent does.
Alcaraz seemed to have a firm grip on the opening frame. He had already broken De Minaur’s love in game six and threatened to do the same in game six to lead 5-1, but the Australian fought back and equalized before saving another break point before taking the game.
De Minaur then broke serve to take the set into a decider, leading 5-3 before Alcaraz fought back.
The 22-year-old Alcaraz dominated the second set, losing his serve early, but then won every other game and sealed the victory with a cross-court backhand on the second match point.
Taylor Fritz is also in the Jimmy Connors group along with Alcaraz, De Minaur and Lorenzo Musetti, who replaced the injured Novak Djokovic.
Bjorn Borg’s team includes Sinner, Zverev, Shelton and Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime.
The top two teams in each group advance to the semi-finals.
