Jannik Sinner defeats Alex de Minaur to return to Nitto ATP Finals | ATP Tour
match report
Defending champion Sinner sinks De Minaur and returns to Nitto ATP Finals Championship
The Italian will face Alcaraz or Auger-Aliassime for the trophy
November 15, 2025
Colleen Dubreuil/ATP Tour
Jannik Sinner notched his 30th consecutive indoor victory at the Nitto ATP Finals on Saturday.
Sam Jacott
Defending champion Jannik Sinner reached the Nitto ATP Finals Championship for the third consecutive year on Saturday, beating Alex de Minaur 7-5, 6-2 to maintain his perfect record against the Australian.
Sinner went through the entire round-robin stage without dropping a set or a serve and dominated again amid the roar of support at home in Turin. The Italian remained patient in the first set and took advantage on the eighth break point. The 24-year-old then used intensity and clean hitting to beat the tenacious De Minaur in the second set to become the youngest player to reach three finals at the prestigious year-end event since Lleyton Hewitt in 2004.
“First of all, I’m happy,” Sinner said. “It was the last match of the year and it was great to end it like this. It was a very difficult match, especially at the beginning of the first set. I felt like his serve was great, very precise. In the second set, I broke serve very early and then my level went up.
“I tried to be more aggressive and it worked well, but it was a tough match. But being in the final three years in a row means a lot to me. It’s a great atmosphere for me to play tennis and a great place for me to end a great season. I’ll enjoy it tomorrow and try my best to get the best result.”
Sinner has won his last 30 indoor matches, with his last defeat coming to Novak Djokovic in the championship match in northern Italy two years ago. Since then, he has won indoor titles in Rotterdam, Turin, Vienna and Paris, while helping Italy win two Davis Cup titles.
The second seed will aim to add to his growing trophy cabinet when he meets either Carlos Alcaraz or Felix Auger-Aliassime in the title match on Sunday. Alcaraz, who is chasing his first trophy in the year-end tournament, ended Sinner’s pursuit with a 3-0 record in this week’s round-robin stage to take the ATP year-end No. 1 honors presented by PIF.
Sinner currently leads De Minaur 13-0 in the Lexus ATP Head2Head Series and has defeated the 26-year-old De Minaur to capture the title at the Australian Open, Beijing and Vienna this season.
De Minaur surged to 0/40 on Sinner’s first service game in a packed Inalpi Arena, briefly silencing the 13,000 home crowd. But when he failed to convert, the Italian collected himself and never looked back. From that moment on, the world No. 2 bided his time, looking for an opening.
De Minaur dug deep, covering every inch of the court and fending off seven break points to keep pace. But at 5-5, Sinner finally broke through his opponent’s defense and hit a backhand winner to break serve. The Italian finally took the lead on serve when he scored 59 points in De Minaur’s second service game.
Sinner consolidated her control at the start of the second set, breaking the Australian’s serve twice. The Italian hit 32 winning shots in this game, with a first-server hit rate of 75%. His serve timing was clean and he sealed the victory at a comfortable pace after 1 hour and 52 minutes.
The defeat capped an otherwise excellent year for De Minaur. The Australian finished his first season with a 56-24 record, amassing over 50 wins, according to the Infosys ATP Win-Loss Index. De Minaur’s only title in 2025 came at the ATP 500 event in Washington.
did you know?
Sinner joined Djokovic in 2018 as the only men’s players to advance to the championship match at the Nitto ATP Finals without losing serve since the ATP Tour began recording serve statistics in 1991. The Italian has held serve in all 40 of his matches this week.
