Carlos Alcaraz further cemented his name in the tennis world on November 13, 2025, when he defeated Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti 6-4, 6-1 at the Nitto ATP Finals to capture the ATP year-end No. 1 ranking for the second time. ​​The 22-year-old Spaniard not only made it to the semi-finals with a stunning 3-0 group-stage win at the Jimmy Connors Group, but also defeated his rival Jannik Sinner to reach 11,650 points—even if Sinner wins the title, it is unassailable.

Battling his nerves in the noisy Enalpi Arena, Alcaraz hit 26 winners despite 21 unforced errors, converting 3 out of 5 break points and fending off two of Musetti’s break points. “At the beginning of the season, No. 1 seemed far away because of Janik’s dominance,” Alcaraz said after the match. “Midway through the year, I set goals—now this is everything.” This is his 70th win in a 70–8 season, and joins Novak Djokovic (eight times) as the only active player to be ranked No. 1 for multiple years. At 22, he is the second youngest player to be ranked No. 1 more than twice, behind only Björn Borg.

Alcaraz’s brilliant 2025: eight titles, Slam record, unmatched streak

Alcaraz’s stellar year broke many records: eight trophies—a personal best—including the Roland Garros and US Open majors, the Monte-Carlo, Rome and Cincinnati Masters 1000, as well as the Rotterdam, Queens Club and Tokyo 500. He went from the quarterfinals of the Australian Open to nine consecutive finals (April–September), and ended a Masters 1000 streak of 17 matches—the fifth-longest ever behind Djokovic, Federer, Nadal, and Sampras.

Paris was marked by his clay-court heroics: saving three match points in a record 5:29-minute final against Sinner—the longest decider at Roland Garros—Alcaraz made his ninth comeback comeback from two sets down in a major final in the Open Era, the first since Gaston Gaudio’s 2004 epic. At Flushing Meadows, he became the youngest player (after Borg) to win six Grand Slams and the fourth man (along with Djokovic, Nadal, Wilander) to win multiple Slams on all surfaces.

Now topping the Big Titles leaderboard with 14 Grand Slams (six Grand Slams, seven Masters 1000s, one Olympic gold), Alcaraz has his sights set on his first ATP Finals trophy—to face either Zverev or Auger-Aliassime on Saturday. Sinner is 5-4 in their first meeting of 2025, but Alcaraz’s 10-5 career record remains intact. There is a buzz in Turin—“Carlitos has done it again!”—the Spaniard’s reign signaling a new era, followed by a Davis Cup victory.