New Delhi [India], November 9 : After enjoying a career-best season, Carlos Alcaraz kicked off his Nitto ATP Finals campaign in style with a much-awaited opening victory, as per ATP's official website.
The top seed defeated Australia's Alex de Minaur 7-6(5), 6-2 on Sunday, marking a confident start to his hunt for a maiden title at the prestigious season finale. Having lost his opening matches in Turin to Alexander Zverev (2023) and Casper Ruud (2024).
"This tournament is one of the best tournaments we have on Tour, without a doubt," Alcaraz said, as quoted from ATP's official website.
"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 noted.
Alcaraz began strongly at the Inalpi Arena, dazzling the crowd with his shot-making to take a 4-1, 40/0 lead in 25 minutes. However, De Minaur fought back and forced a tie-break.
Despite tallying 21 winners and 19 unforced errors in the opener, Alcaraz maintained his attacking mindset in the second set. He quickly established another strong lead but, this time, managed his errors efficiently to close out the match, extending his head-to-head record against De Minaur to 5-0.
"It was a really difficult match," said Alcaraz, as quoted from ATP's official website.
"On this surface, Alex makes the most of the speed of the ball, he's super fast and really difficult on return. I'm just really happy to get through this really difficult challenge, and happy with how I'm playing (going into) the next matches," he noted.
The victory also boosts Alcaraz's bid to reclaim the ATP Year-End World No. 1 ranking, for the first time since 2022. He now needs 250 more points in Turin to overtake Jannik Sinner, with each round-robin win worth 200 points.
Next up, Alcaraz will face either Taylor Fritz or Lorenzo Musetti on Tuesday. He leads the ATP Tour this season with 68 wins and eight titles.
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