FAA tamps down early fire but can’t stop Alcaraz

Carlos Alcaraz played out of his skull as he crushed any upset hopes of Felix Auger-Aliassime on Saturday to set up a title showdown with Jannik Sinner at the ATP Finals.

Spain’s world No, 1 turned in likely the best indoor set of his career as he crushed FAA  in barely half an hour and finished the job 6-2, 6-4 to advance to the Sunday evening final which most could have predicted.. 

Alcaraz is bidding for a ninth title this season and has expressed hope of making it 10 next week when he leads Spain in the Davis Cup.

The world No. 1 mowed down his Canadian opponent in a merciless first set, but his level dropped ever so lightly in the second.

That was little solace to FAA, who could not make a dent in the Spanish superiority in Turin.

Alcaraz finished off a win in 82 minutes as his opponent drove a return wide, with the top seed ending with 25 winners and reaching an 11th final of 2025.

“I felt I could do everything in the first set,” Alcaraz said. “I was able to make him do something different.

“I’m happy I was able to play such a good tennis.”

Alcaraz, into his first year-end final said that facing defending champion Sinner for the sixth time this season – he stands 4-1 – remains a challenge.

“I would not mind if it had been someone else,” the 22-year-old confessed. “I’ll try to approach with focus.

“I need my plan A to beat him. Both of us will raise our level to the top. It will be almost like Davis Cup… the whole stadium will be supporting him but I hope to have three or four from my team that I can hear them cheering for me..”

Sinner will be playing in his third consecutive year-end final and has won the last two editions here.

Alcaraz is the first Spaniard to reach the year-end final since Rafael Nadal in 2013; the last from Spain to win the event was Alex Corretja in 1998.   

Main photo:- Carlos Alcaraz celebrates semi final win – by ISF