Australian Alex de Minaur lost his opening match at the season-ending ATP Finals to Spanish world number one Carlos Alcaraz in Turin on Sunday. The final score was 7-6(5), 6-2 in favor of Alcaraz.
De Minaur showed resilience in the first set, recovering from a 4-1 deficit to force a tiebreak, but Alcaraz prevailed. The Spaniard then dominated the second set, breaking serve twice to lead 4-1 and closing out the match without further trouble.
Despite the loss, De Minaur remains in contention for the semifinals. He must defeat Italian Lorenzo Musetti and American Taylor Fritz to finish in the top two of the Jimmy Connors Group and advance.
Alcaraz, aiming for his first ATP Finals title, improved his record in the tournament after losing two of three round-robin matches last year. He also seeks to end the year as world number one, needing at least one round-robin win or a clean sweep to guarantee the year-end top ranking.
The ATP Finals, featuring the top eight singles players and doubles teams, offers a record prize pool of $15.5 million and 1,500 points. The final will be held at the Palasport Olimpico in Turin on November 16.
