The night session at Inalpi Arena saw world number one Carlos Alcaraz dismiss eighth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-2, 6-4 in one hour and 23 minutes, advancing to his first Nitto ATP Finals grand finale on Saturday.
In his on-court interview, he assessed his performance, stressing, “I felt like I could do everything on court in the first set. Forehand down the line, drop shot, backhand down the line, I felt like everything was going to be in.
“I think that confidence helped through the whole match, pushing him to the limit, pushing him to do something different, and I am happy that I continued playing such great tennis.”
The Spaniard, who earlier this week clinched the ATP Year-end No. 1 at the tournament, hit 25 winners (15 on the forehand) against 10 unforced errors, winning 82 percent of the points on his first serve overall.
Without dropping his serve across the entire match, the 22-year-old continued his sublime run of form on Italian soil, imposing an aggressive game with brilliant shotmaking while serving emphatically.
The opener set the tone of an intense, high-quality matchup between the players, fighting to reach the final for the first time in their careers.
Auger-Aliassime, who leads the tour in indoor wins (17), faced heavy pressure from the outset from a player who stayed nearly perfect, committing just two unforced errors in the process.
He raised his level, fending off 4 of 6 break points, but could not hold off the power and athleticism of Alcaraz, who ripped his forehand in breath-taking rallies, on the way to breaking twice before sealing the first set 6-2 in just 37 minutes.
In a balanced second set, the 25-year-old Canadian found momentum, rediscovering his power on the forehand side, putting up a fight, staying close in the scoreline.
However, the six-time major champion quickly shut the door to any potential recovery attempt, striking a picture-perfect cross-court forehand winner on the run, inching ahead 5-4.
Alcaraz closed out with a break, rounding up the set 6-4 by producing a statement win, becoming the first Spaniard to reach the final since compatriot Rafael Nadal in 2013.
Throughout a remarkable season, the Murcia native progressed to 10 finals in his last 11 events, claiming 8 of his 24 tour-level titles, including Rotterdam, Monte-Carlo, Rome, Roland Garros, Queens’ Club, Cincinnati, US Open, and Tokyo.
On Sunday, a new chapter of the “Sincaraz” rivalry will be written by the players who have dominated the tour in 2025, Alcaraz and local favorite Jannik Sinner.
“It’s great facing Jannik again. I know I have to play my best to beat him, so I think we’ll both raise our level,” commented the Spaniard on the much-anticipated encounter.
“It’ll be almost like a Davis Cup tie, everyone will be supporting him, but I’m going to be prepared for that. At least I have my friends and family, hopefully I’ll hear them more than the crowd.”
The first semifinal of Day 7 saw the Italian defending champion achieving his third consecutive final at the event over seventh seed Alex de Minaur, whom he beat 7-5, 6-2 in one hour and 52 minutes.
“The last event of the year, it’s great to finish this way,” said the world No. 2 courtside.
“It was a very tough match in the first set; he was serving great. In the second set, I broke very early, and then my level rose.”
Adding: “Making three consecutive finals in Turin means a lot to me. Tomorrow I will enjoy, but in any case, it’s been an amazing week. It’s the last match of the season for me, so let’s see what happens.”
The 24-year-old has been perfect all week on home soil, winning 17 consecutive games. As a result, he joins Novak Djokovic as the only men to have advanced to the championship match without dropping serve since the ATP Tour began recording serve statistics in 1991.
Following his triumph over the Australian player, he also reached a new career milestone, becoming the youngest man to make it to the final at all four Grand Slams and the Finals in a single season.
Alcaraz is bidding to lift his first trophy at the competition, while Sinner is in the battle to retain his title. Only one will get to accomplish their goal.