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Preamble
All roads in Turin seem to be leading to a Carlos Alcaraz v Jannik Sinner final and the latest chapter in what’s already becoming one of tennis’s greatest rivalries, just as all roads at every event they’ve both entered this year have led to another title for the Sincaraz collection.
The numbers that sum up their supremacy are ubiquitous: they’ve faced each other in the past three grand slam finals (the escape from Alcaraz in that French Open final the pick of the lot), won a combined 13 tournaments in 2025 and shared the past eight major titles between them. But one eye-catching stat has been less told: Alexander Zverev, the world No 3, is closer in ranking points to the world No 1000 than he is to Sinner, the No 2. No one can get near them. The chasing pack aren’t in the same universe, even though they’re playing the same sport.
So where does this leave Alex De Minaur and Felix Auger-Aliassime today? At least Auger-Aliassime knows what it’s like to beat Alcaraz, having done so in three of their seven meetings, though the last of those wins was in 2022, when Alcaraz was still working on becoming a smiling assassin. But De Minaur has lost to Sinner in all 12 of their previous matches. The Demon said he’d banished his demons after defeating Taylor Fritz for his first ever win at the ATP Finals on Thursday, but how can he not be haunted by his record against the Italian going into their semi-final? Clutching at the positives for the Australian, at least he’s got nothing to lose. Sinner, in front of his home crowd, is expected to win with ease – that’s the pressure that being the defending champion, with 29 victories in a row on indoor hard courts, brings.
Sinner and De Minaur are first up at 2.30pm local time/1.30pm GMT, with Alcaraz and Auger-Aliassime to come at 8.30pm/7.30pm. I’ll be here for both matches, so let’s hope I’m still standing by the end; barring the tennis world being knocked off its axis before then, Sinner and Alcaraz will be too.
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