Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner's blockbuster final clash at the ATP Finals: 10 things to know

As they've done time and time again on the biggest stages over the last few years, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have brought out some of their best tennis at the ATP Finals in Turin this week, and now they'll go head-to-head for season-ending glory on Sunday.

Here are 10 things to know about their blockbuster final clash:

This is the first ATP Finals final between No. 1 and No. 2 since 2016, when then-No. 1 Murray defeated then-No. 2 Djokovic in the final. That was also the last time two players both made it to the ATP Finals final with an undefeated 4-0 record on the week.

This is the first time ever that two players have split the four Grand Slam titles in a season evenly, 2-2, and then played each other in the final of the fifth biggest tournament of the year, the ATP Finals. Which one of Alcaraz and Sinner will finish 2025 with three of the five biggest titles of the year, and which one will finish with two?

Alcaraz and Sinner are only the fourth pair of men this century to meet in five finals in a season as No. 1 and No. 2. The other three pairs were, as you may have guessed, the three different combinations of the Big 3—Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in 2006, Nadal and Djokovic in 2011 and Djokovic and Federer in 2015.

Alcaraz is playing his 11th final of the year (the most since Murray's 13 in 2016) and going for his 9th title of the year (which would be the most since Murray's 9 in 2016). Sinner, meanwhile, is playing his 10th final of the year and going for his sixth title of the year.

Sinner comes into the final having won his last 18 sets in a row at the ATP Finals, as well as his last 30 matches in a row on indoor hard courts. He's also held 59 service games in a row going into the final, which includes the last 19 of his run to the title in Paris two weeks ago, and all 40 en route to the final in Turin this week.

Alcaraz is the first Spaniard to reach the ATP Finals final since Nadal in 2013. And Nadal never won the ATP Finals, the biggest title missing in his legendary career, so you have to go all the way back to Alex Corretja in 1998 to find the last Spaniard to win here.

Sinner is the first player to reach three straight ATP Finals finals since Djokovic reached five in a row from 2012 to 2016. The 24-year-old Italian is trying to become the first back-to-back winner at this event since Djokovic in 2022 and 2023, and the youngest back-to-back winner at this event since Federer in 2002 and 2003.

Sinner is also going for the milestone 10th indoor hard-court title of his career today. Alcaraz is going for his second indoor hard-court title—he captured his first in Rotterdam earlier this year.

Alcaraz leads Sinner in their overall head-to-head, 10-5, but there's a clear split—Sinner led 4-3 at the end of 2023, and Alcaraz is 7-1 since the start of 2024. The Spaniard also leads 5-2 in finals, 7-2 on hard courts, and more specifically 1-0 on indoor hard courts, a 7-6 (1), 7-5 win in the second round of the Masters 1000 event in Paris in 2021 (at the time, Sinner was No. 9 and Alcaraz was No. 35).

And finally, Alcaraz and Sinner have accounted for 9 of the 10 final spots at the five biggest tournaments of 2025, almost completely shutting out the rest of the men's tour from competing for titles at the Grand Slams and ATP Finals. The only other player who even had a chance at playing for one of those titles this year was Alexander Zverev, who made the Australian Open final... where he fell to Sinner.