Day one of the 2025 Nitto ATP Finals went according to seeding, with players ranked 1 and 3 advancing in straight sets.
Top seed Carlos Alcaraz began his campaign with a confident straight-sets win over Alex de Minaur, while two-time champion Alexander Zverev had a tougher time but showed his indoor pedigree, edging Ben Shelton in a second set tie break where he erased three set points.
Quick recap, match stats and highlights below.
Nitto ATP Finals 2025 Day 1 Results
| Winner | Loser | Scoreline |
|---|---|---|
| Carlos Alcaraz (1) | Alex de Minaur (7) | 7-6(5) 6-2 |
| Alexander Zverev (3) | Ben Shelton (5) | 6-3 7-6(6) |
Carlos Alcaraz (1) def. Alex de Minaur (7) 7-6(5) 6-2
Carlos Alcaraz kicked off his 2025 ATP Finals campaign with a strong 7-6(5), 6-2 victory over Alex de Minaur in Turin on Sunday, marking his first-ever opening win at the season finale after previous losses to Zverev (2023) and Ruud (2024).
Key Match Highlights:
First Set (7-6(5), 55 minutes): Alcaraz raced to a 4-1 lead in just 25 minutes with flashy shotmaking and had three break points for 5-1, but De Minaur fought back to force a tie-break. Alcaraz twice erased mini-breaks, then won four straight points from 3-5 down to seal it. He hit 21 winners but had 19 unforced errors.
Second Set (6-2, 45 minutes): The Spaniard dialled in his aggression, built another lead, cut down on errors, and closed out comfortably. He improved to 5-0 in their ATP Head2Head
Post-Match Quotes (Alcaraz):
Praised the tournament’s prestige and difficulty against the world’s best. Noted improved end-of-year motivation after past struggles.
This tournament is one of the best tournaments we have on Tour, without a doubt. We’re playing against the best players in the world, which shows how difficult and important it is. I’ve been struggling in recent years to maintain motivation as the year comes to a close. This year is a little bit different, which I’m proud about [as] I’m doing the right things to give myself a shot to try and win this tournament. It was a really difficult match. On this surface, Alex makes the most of the speed of the ball, he’s super fast and really difficult on return. I’m just really happy to get through this really difficult challenge, and happy with how I’m playing [going into] the next matches. Alcraz on his win over de Minaur.
Broader Context:
- Match duration: 1 hour, 40 minutes.
- Alcaraz’s 2025 stats: Tour-leading 68 wins, 8 titles.
- Year-End No. 1 race: Needs 250 more points to clinch over Jannik Sinner (each RR win = 200 points).
- Next: Tuesday vs. Taylor Fritz or Lorenzo Musetti in Jimmy Connors Group.
Match Stats
| Carlos Alcaraz | Alex de Minaur | |
|---|---|---|
| Winners | 20 | 7 |
| Unforced Errors | 9 | 3 |
| Aces | 5 | 4 |
| Double Faults | 3 | 0 |
| 1st Serve % | 67% (48/72) | 52% (30/58) |
| 1st Serve Points Won | 63% (30/48) | 63% (19/30) |
| 2nd Serve Points Won | 58% (14/24) | 43% (12/28) |
| Break Points Saved | 60% (3/5) | 43% (3/7) |
| Service Games | 80% (8/10) | 60% (6/10) |
| 1st Return Points Won | 37% (11/30) | 38% (18/48) |
| 2nd Return Points Won | 57% (16/28) | 42% (10/24) |
| Break Points Won | 57% (4/7) | 40% (2/5) |
| Return Games | 40% (4/10) | 20% (2/10) |
| Pressure Points | 58% (7/12) | 42% (5/12) |
| Service Points | 61% (44/72) | 53% (31/58) |
| Return Points | 47 % (27/58) | 39% (28/72) |
| Net Points | 69 % (9/13) | 67% (8/12) |
| Total Points | 55% (71/130) | 45% (59/130) |
| Match Points Saved | 0 | 1 |
| Max Points In A Row | 8 | 5 |
| Total Games | 60% (12/20) | 40% (8/20) |
| Max Games In A Row | 4 | 3 |
Highlights
Alexander Zverev (3) def. Ben Shelton (5) 6-3 7-6(6)
Alexander Zverev kicked off his 2025 Nitto ATP Finals campaign with a composed 6-3, 7-6(6) victory over Ben Shelton on Sunday night, earning his first win in the Bjorn Borg Group and chasing a third career title at the season finale.
Key Match Highlights:
First Set (6-3, 38 minutes): Zverev dominated from the outset, never facing a break point. He pounced on Shelton’s second serve, winning 89% (8/9) of those return points, and broke twice to seal the opener efficiently.
Second Set (7-6(6), 55 minutes): Shelton raised his level, saving two break points at 2-2 and pushing to a tie-break. The American surged to 4/0, then held three set points at 6/3. But a netted forehand at 6/5 handed Zverev the momentum, and the German closed out clinically. He improved to 5-0 in their ATP Head-to-Head record, with four wins in 2025 (Munich final, Stuttgart semifinals, Cincinnati quarterfinals, and now Turin).
Post-Match Quotes and Context:
- Match duration: 93 minutes.
- Zverev, competing just eight days after a leg injury in his Paris SF loss to Sinner, showed no lingering effects in a high-quality performance
- The two-time champion (2018 London, 2021 Turin) is bidding to become the eighth man with three Nitto ATP Finals titles.
He’s an unbelievably aggressive player. Probably one of the most aggressive in the world. In the tie-break, he started off amazing. Yes, I missed maybe one or two first serves and the passing shot he hit (at 5/4) was ridiculous. I felt like I had to control the things that I could control and I was doing them well. At the end of the day, when the point is on his serve it is always in his control. When I get the return back and in the rally, then I can do something. I did that well at the end of the tie-break and I’m super happy with that win. Zverev on his win over Shelton.
Broader Context:
- Zverev’s 2025 stats: Hasn’t won the big events but has shown strong consistency over 52 weeks.
- Year-End No. 1 race: Never in contention (trails Sinner and Alcaraz by ~5,800 points pre-Finals). The 1000th-ranked player is closer to him than he is to Alcaraz/Sinner
- Next: Tuesday vs. Jannik Sinner or Felix Auger-Aliassime in the Bjorn Borg Group.
Match Stats
| Alexander Zverev | Ben Shelton | |
|---|---|---|
| Aces | 5 | 7 |
| Double Faults | 0 | 2 |
| 1st Serve % | 81% (44/54) | 70% (50/71) |
| 1st Serve Points Won | 84% (37/44) | 78% (39/50) |
| 2nd Serve Points Won | 70% (7/10) | 24% (5/21) |
| Break Points Saved | (0/0) | 60% (3/5) |
| Service Games | 100% (10/10) | 82% (9/11) |
| 1st Return Points Won | 22% (11/50) | 16% (7/44) |
| 2nd Return Points Won | 76% (16/21) | 30% (3/10) |
| Break Points Won | 40 % (2/5) | (0/0) |
| Return Games | 18 % (2/11) | 0% (0/10) |
| Pressure Points | 40 % (2/5) | 60% (3/5) |
| Service Points | 81% (44/54) | 62% (44/71) |
| Return Points | 38% (27/71) | 19% (10/54) |
| Total Points | 57% (71/125) | 43% (54/125) |
| Match Points Saved | 0 | 0 |
| Max Points In A Row | 12 | 7 |
| Total Games | 57% (12/21) | 43% (9/21) |
| Max Games In A Row | 3 | 1 |
Highlights
2025 ATP Finals Day 2 Schedule
- 11:30 am: Marcelo Arevalo / Mate Pavcic (4) vs Joe Salisbury / Neil Skupski (5)
- Not before 2.00 pm: Lorenzo Musetti (9) vs Taylor Fritz (6)
- 6.00 pm: Harri Heliovaara / Henry Patten (2) vs Christian Harrison / Evan King (8)
- Not before 8.30 pm: Jannik Sinner (2) vs Felix Auger-Aliassime (8)
