Carlos Alcaraz said securing the year-end world number one ranking “meant everything” after reaching the ATP round of 16 with three consecutive victories.
Alcaraz was already assured of a place in the semi-finals, after Alex de Minaur beat Taylor Fritz earlier on Thursday – but he would not be denied in his bid to leapfrog rival Jannik Sinner in the race to be crowned the highest-ranked men’s player of 2025.
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The 22-year-old Spaniard let out a huge roar as he achieved the feat, beating Italian ninth seed Lorenzo Musetti 6-4 6-1 – also ensuring he recorded 70 wins in a season for the first time in his career.
Leading the Jimmy Connors Group, Alcaraz avoided a semi-final meeting with Sinner – who is already confirmed as the winner of the Bjorn Borg Group ahead of Friday’s final round of matches.
Sinner will face De Minaur in the last four, while Alcaraz awaits the winner of Germany’s Alexander Zverev and Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, as the world’s top two aim to stage a tantalizing blockbuster final showdown to cap off a year in which they have once again dominated the circuit.
“It means a lot to me, to be honest. End of year number one is always a goal,” Alcaraz said.
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“At the start of the year I saw number one as a long shot, with Jannik winning almost every tournament he entered.
“Then in the last three or four tournaments of the year, I was fighting head to head with Jannik for this place, and finally I got it. For me, that means everything.”
Alcaraz will finish the year at the top of the rankings for the second time, becoming the first teenager to achieve this feat in 2022.
In addition to his tour-leading 70 victories, Alcaraz has also won an unmatched eight titles in 2025 – including two Grand Slams – equal to his total number of defeats.
He will now look to complete another stunning season by winning the ATP Finals for the first time.
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Musetti was buoyed by passionate home support at a packed 12,000-capacity Inalpi Arena as he looked to build on the momentum from his dramatic victory over De Minaur on Tuesday.
The Italian, battling fatigue in his seventh match in nine days after his run to the Athens Open final, took on Alcaraz deep in the first set – but his admirable resilience finally ended in a thrilling 11-minute 10th match.
Although Musetti continued to dig in, holding off a break point in his first service game of the second set, his relentless opponent continued to apply pressure and broke at love for a 3-1 lead.
That sparked Alcaraz’s race to the finish line, but only after a free-kick Musetti created his first two break points to re-energize the crowd.
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That excitement was short-lived as Alcaraz hit back with four straight points, and there would be no recovery for a fading Musetti, who was broken again before Alcaraz secured victory to score the first of his goals in northern Italy.
De Minaur recovers from ‘dark place’ to progress
De Minaur was among those who wanted Alcaraz to win after maintaining his interest in the end-of-season competition, despite opening with back-to-back defeats.
The Australian said he had recovered from “a dark period” after his painful loss to Musetti, in which he led 5-3 in the deciding set before losing four straight games to concede the match.
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Needing a straight-sets victory to stay in contention two days later, De Minaur closed out sixth-seeded American Fritz’s tournament with an impressive 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 victory.
“It means a lot. A few days ago I was in a pretty dark place,” De Minaur told Sky Sports.
“More than anything, I’m proud of my effort. Not just for my outing and my victory, but also for my mindset. I made peace with what happened and just committed.”
De Minaur was reluctant to believe he would qualify with a win at Alcaraz when he was initially informed of it during his post-match interview.
The 26-year-old had lost his last 16 matches against top 10 players, as well as each of the five matches he had previously played at the ATP Finals. The last defeat against Musetti had shaken his confidence.
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But, facing an opponent he had lost in the previous two meetings, De Minaur mentally reset to produce an inspired performance against Fritz.
Before leaving the court, he wrote “finally” on the television camera lens.
“I’ve had quite a bit of heartbreak recently,” De Minaur said in his post-match interview.
“(The loss to Musetti) was a tough pill to swallow. I didn’t think too much today, I just went out and committed to doing what I had to do. I continued to support myself and whether it worked or not, I was going to leave it all behind today.”
In the men’s doubles, world number one duo Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool staged an all-British semi-final against Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski by beating Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos 6-3 7-5 to finish second in the Peter Fleming group.
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Fellow Briton Henry Patten and Finnish teammate Harri Heliovaara will look to join them in the round of 16 when they face Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic on Friday.
