This season, dominated by superstars Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, was a memorable and maybe era-defining 12 months on the ATP Tour.
However there’s yet one more match to play — and there is a lot on the road.
Whereas {most professional} tennis gamers have began their blink-and-you’ll-miss-it offseason, the elite males are nonetheless in motion and centered on closing out 2025 with the ATP Finals crown. Held on the Pala Alpitour Enviornment in Turin, Italy, for the fifth straight 12 months, the occasion options the highest eight singles gamers and eight doubles groups and will get underway on Sunday with round-robin group play. After six days of competitors, with every participant or pair enjoying three matches, the highest two from their respective teams advance to the semifinals.
The match ends on Nov. 16 with an undefeated singles champion incomes a record-breaking $5,071,000, and the profitable doubles crew making as much as $959,300. An undefeated victor, in each singles and doubles, additionally earns 1,500 in rankings factors. (A title-winning participant or crew would earn much less, in prize cash and rating factors, in the event that they lose a match throughout group play.)
Unsure what to anticipate or who to look at for within the season’s final ATP match? This is the whole lot that you must know.
Who’s in
Singles
Jimmy Connors group
1. Carlos Alcaraz
4. Novak Djokovic
6. Taylor Fritz
7. Alex de Minaur
Bjorn Borg group
2. Jannik Sinner
3. Alexander Zverev
5. Ben Shelton
8. Felix Auger-Aliassime or Lorenzo Musetti (extra on this beneath)
Doubles
Peter Fleming group
1. Julian Money and Lloyd Glasspool
3. Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos
6. Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz
7. Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori
John McEnroe group
2. Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten
4. Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic
5. Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski
8. Christian Harrison and Evan King
The Large Two’s battle for No. 1
It is arduous to adequately categorical simply how spectacular Alcaraz and Sinner have been this season. The 2 — who presently have greater than a 5,000-point hole between them and the remainder of the tour within the rankings — break up the 4 main titles, with Alcaraz claiming the French Open and the US Open and Sinner taking the Australian Open and Wimbledon. They confronted each other within the closing of three of these Slams.
And their fierce grip on the trophies remained robust even away from the majors. Alcaraz received six different titles on the 12 months, together with three at Masters-1000 occasions, and Sinner claimed three titles this fall, together with on the Paris Masters earlier this month.
However whereas the deficit between the Large Two and everybody else is huge, little or no separates Alcaraz and Sinner — and the year-end No. 1 distinction can also be in play. Sinner, 24, narrowly reclaimed the highest spot after his victory in Paris however will probably be a brief stint. Alcaraz, 22, will return to the place main into the ATP Finals, and can be capable to stay there for the remainder of the 12 months if he goes undefeated in his three round-robin matches or if he reaches the ultimate.
Alcaraz, who was the year-end No. 1 in 2022, has by no means received the ATP Finals, and Sinner received the title final 12 months and completed the 2024 season on prime. If not already made crystal clear right here, each are unquestionably the favorites getting into the occasion. The one query is: Can anybody cease them?
The Djokovic issue
There’s been loads of hypothesis round Novak Djokovic’s standing within the year-end occasion as a result of he has performed sparingly throughout the second half of the season. Exterior of the Slams, he has appeared in simply two tournaments since Might and he skipped the ultimate Masters 1000-event of the 12 months in Paris earlier this month.
Djokovic, 38, formally certified for the ATP Finals final month, following a season by which he reached the semifinals in any respect 4 majors and received the 250-level title in Geneva. He has been elusive about his plans to play although.
“We’ve got affirmation that Djokovic can be in Turin,” Angelo Binaghi, the pinnacle of the Italian Tennis Federation, mentioned on Italian radio channel Rai Gr Parlamento on Monday.
However the 24-time main champion denied Binaghi’s claims on Tuesday. “I do not know the place [Binaghi] acquired this info from. Definitely not from me or my crew,” Djokovic advised reporters following a win within the Spherical of 16 on the Hellenic Championships in Athens — at which his brother Djordje is the match director. “I’ll make my determination on the finish of this match.”
As of Friday, Djokovic nonetheless hasn’t shared his plans, however, in equity, he hasn’t made it to the top of the match both. On Saturday, he’ll play in his third closing of the season as he takes on Lorenzo Musetti (extra on what makes this an extremely compelling matchup beneath) and can then absolutely announce if he’s going to Turin or calling it a season.
It doesn’t matter what he does, it marks Djokovic’s 18th time qualifying for the ATP Finals — tying Roger Federer’s all-time document — and, if he performs, he may have the prospect to increase his personal document by profitable the title for the eighth time. Djokovic withdrew from the 2024 version, however he received it the earlier two years, in 2022 and 2023. Whereas even he has admitted his struggles in dealing with Alcaraz and Sinner, maybe Turin could possibly be the location the place he will get his revenge.
If he performs that’s.
The People
Ben Shelton and Taylor Fritz can be in motion in Italy — and it marks the primary time two American males can be competing for the year-end singles title since Andy Roddick and James Blake did so in 2006. And whereas neither is taken into account a favourite (please see the earlier part on the Large Two for readability right here), each have had robust seasons and are able to reaching the semifinals or pulling off the final word upset.
In actual fact, Fritz returns to the ATP Finals after reaching the ultimate in 2024, so he is aware of precisely what it takes. Following his breakthrough season final 12 months, by which he additionally reached the ultimate on the US Open, the 28-year-old reached his first Wimbledon semifinals this 12 months, along with making the quarterfinals on the US Open and profitable two ATP titles. He appeared within the closing on the Japan Open in September and misplaced to Alcaraz. Making his third look on the ATP Finals, Fritz reached the semifinals in his debut in 2022 and can be seeking to advance out of group play but once more.
Whereas Fritz has the expertise on his aspect, the 23-year-old Shelton certified for the primary time this 12 months after a momentous season. Shelton, who’s presently ranked a profession excessive of No. 6, reached the semifinals on the Australian Open and the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, along with profitable his first Masters 1000-level title on the Canadian Open. A shoulder damage derailed him on the US Open and he was in the end sidelined for over a month — however nonetheless managed to safe his spot in Turin with a quarterfinal run on the Paris Masters on the finish of October.
Shelton mentioned he was attempting to not concentrate on making the ATP Finals whereas enjoying in Paris — however could not disguise how a lot it meant to him after formally punching his ticket.
“I knew on the finish of the day that if I needed to be in command of my very own future I needed to exit and win immediately,” Shelton mentioned after qualifying. “And I knew once I stepped out on the court docket that I used to be going to need to die on this court docket earlier than I went down … It is enormous. It is enormous for me. It was all the time an enormous objective, [and] most significantly, to get again to this degree I performed immediately. That is the place I wish to be at.”
On the doubles aspect, the all-American duo of Christian Harrison and Evan King claimed the final spot following a exceptional debut season collectively. Getting into the 12 months, neither Harrison, 31, nor King, 33, had ever received an ATP title. This 12 months, they’ve received three, together with on the 500-level occasions in Dallas and Mexico, and reached their first main semifinals on the French Open. They’re the primary American crew to make the ATP Finals since eventual champions Mike Bryan and Jack Sock did so in 2018 — and can look to finish 2025 like their compatriots did by incomes their greatest title but.
The procrastinators
Whereas Alcaraz clinched his berth for Turin in July, and Sinner adopted swimsuit the next month, different gamers waited till the very final minute to finalize their journey plans. (Warning: For individuals who prefer to plan their journeys and ebook their flights months prematurely, this part won’t be for you.)
Like Shelton, Alex de Minaur certified for the match (for the second straight 12 months) on Oct. 30 following a profitable run on the Paris Masters. And that left only one spot remaining. At the moment, Musetti was subsequent consistent with a 290-point lead over Felix Auger-Aliassime.
However that is the place issues acquired attention-grabbing. Musetti had misplaced within the Spherical of 32 in Paris and Auger-Aliassime then seized on the chance by reaching the ultimate. Whereas a win would have clinched the spot, he misplaced to Sinner however nonetheless held a 160-point lead over Musetti getting into the final week of the common season.
Nonetheless, a knee damage pressured the Canadian to withdraw from the match — placing destiny solely in Musetti’s arms. Enjoying in Athens, Musetti can solely clinch the berth by profitable the title on Saturday. Sure, simply sooner or later earlier than the ATP Finals are set to start abroad.
And, nevertheless inconceivable as it could sound, that’s the place we stand now. As talked about earlier than, Musetti will face Djokovic on Saturday within the closing. It has been a difficult week for Musetti — who wanted three units in opposition to Stan Wawrinka within the Spherical of 16 and saved match level in opposition to Sebastian Korda in a decent three-set semifinal on Friday — however he is one way or the other discovered a method to preserve his hopes of qualifying for his first ATP Finals alive.
Can he finish his miraculous run on Saturday with the trophy and a ticket to Turin? Or will Auger-Aliassime get the bid? Keep tuned.
Double the enjoyable
Whereas Harrison and King will look to shock the sector, Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz will look to defend their trophy in Italy. The German duo made their preliminary look collectively as a crew in 2024 and walked away with the final word parting reward. They received the titles in Halle and Shanghai this 12 months, along with a semifinal displaying on the Australian Open. Can they be a part of the checklist of repeat champions?
Possibly! However it will not be simple. Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos received each the French Open and the US Open this season, in addition to three different titles, and have a 5-0 document in finals in 2025. They reached the ultimate in 2023, and Granollers received the title in 2012, and may simply be the favourite to win all of it.
Australian Open champions Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten and Wimbledon winners Julian Money and Lloyd Glasspool are additionally within the discipline. Heliovaara and Patten are coming off a victorious run on the Paris Masters and the top-seeded British pair of Money and Glasspool reached an astounding 11(!) tour finals in 2025 and received seven of them. Each of these groups will definitely be extra motivated than ever to shut out their milestone seasons with yet one more trophy.