17 November 2025
And just like that, the 2025 tennis season is over (more or less). If you didn’t have the stamina to stay tuned into all of the final week, then don’t worry. We breakdown everything you might have missed over the past seven days in tennis, including that epic finale between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
Sinner defends ATP Finals title, Alcaraz secures year-end No 1
Sinner and Alcaraz have been neck-and-neck all year, and in a league of their own. The final week of the year was no different.
Earlier in the week, Alcaraz secured the year-end No 1 ranking by sailing through his three group matches to top his pool at the ATP Finals. But it was Sinner who had the last laugh when the pair met in the championship match, with the Italian prevailing 7-6(4), 7-5 to defend his title.
In doing so, Sinner makes the pair’s head-to-head 4-2 across 2025, with the last four meetings shared. Incredibly, over their 16 meetings so far, the two have won 1,651 points each.
Sinner’s win also means the year essentially finishes as a tie between the two: two Grand Slams each, and then of the next two biggest honors, Sinner has the ATP Finals while Alcaraz has year-end No 1.
Highlights from the final in Turin:
Sinner vs Alcaraz rivalry alive and well
Heading into 2026, it’s safe to say that the Sinner vs Alcaraz rivalry is alive and well. Not only was their head-to-head razor tight, but their relationship and commitment to pushing each other is impressive.
Both made comments following the final of Turin that implied 2026 is going to be another year of epics:
Alcaraz: “It didn’t surprise me at all that I was really close. I felt the improvements of Jannik. I said many times, I think a player like him, he always comes back stronger from the losses. He always learn from the losses.”
Sinner: “You are definitely a player I look up to, a lot of motivation. I hope to see you again next year with great battles ahead of us. We have a very good relationship, rivalry. I feel like we can talk about everything still.”
Year-end top 10 confirmed
The rest of the action in Turin had big implications on the year-end top 10 rankings for the ATP Tour too.
Felix Auger-Aliassime’s push to the semi-finals elevated him to the year-end No 5 spot, his highest-ever ranking. It also meant Novak Djokovic finished fourth, while Jack Draper finished top 10 despite playing just half the season.
American’s Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton both took hits, with Fritz falling to No 6 and Shelton down to No 9. Alex de Minaur and Lorenzo Musetti round out the elite group, slotting in at No 7 and No 8 after their runs in Turin.
Alexander Bublik (most improved player this season according to Tennisnerd readers) narrowly missed out on making his top-10 debut, with the Kazakh unable to get a match in as an alternate at the ATP Finals, despite half the field carrying niggles.
Osaka and Townsend living their best lives
While the best of the ATP Tour fought it out on the tennis court, Naomi Osaka and Taylor Townsend were far from it. The duo posted some of their antics on Instagram, living their best lives while singing on a yacht.
The song – a remix of Nicki Minaj’s “Beez in the Trap” and 4 Non Blondes’ “What’s Up?” has since blown up online.
Coming up this week
That’s it for all of the main ATP and WTA Tour action until the United Cup kicks off in January 2026. But don’t worry, there will still be fuzzy yellow balls flying this week.
November and December still have half a dozen WTA 125s scheduled, with each featuring a few top-100 players across South America and Europe. There’s also Davis Cup Finals action this week – which Alcaraz will play in, according to his post-Turin presser.
Further down the track, the youngest on tour will be preparing for the NextGen ATP Finals as well, which aren’t for another month in Riyadh.
