After Jannik Sinner won the ATP Finals by beating world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz 7-6 (7-4), 7-5, many fans wondered whether Sinner had the better chance because Alcaraz was dealing with a hamstring issue. Even former pro Laura Robson noticed it, saying, “For me, I felt the pain in his thigh played a role,” and suggested it may have forced him to change his game. But is that really true?

Alcaraz himself doesn’t seem to fully agree. During his post-match presser, the Spaniard was asked about the injury, and he said, “I mean, I felt something in the hamstring after trying to catch one serve. I could say it didn’t affect me too much, to be honest, because I could run well, I could go to the balls well.” But if we see, the first set was very close, but Alcaraz was unable to go that extra mile, despite even having one set point.

With Alcaraz playing through the niggle, Sinner won the set in a tiebreak. Even in the second set, Carlos Alcaraz came back with his leg heavily strapped, though he got a break in the first game aided by back-to-back double faults by Sinner.

Alcaraz tried to stay in the match by keeping points short to protect his hamstring, but Sinner was too good on the night. A key moment went Sinner’s way when he hit a clever drop shot on a break point, catching Alcaraz off balance. Sinner later closed out the match with a second break, avoiding another tiebreak as Alcaraz made a few unforced errors.

It was clear that the hamstring affected Alcaraz a little, even though he hesitated to attribute his loss to it.  But still, Alcaraz admitted, “Obviously, the thoughts about how it’s going to be if I do crazy things that I’m used to doing, so those thoughts were in my mind sometimes.” 

Despite the injury, Alcaraz said he could still play well. “But I could play well, so don’t get me wrong, because I’m not going to say I could play better or I could do something better if my hamstrings were well, because I could play really good tennis with it, and the loss is because he deserved it.”

Even with the hamstring issue, he admitted Sinner deserved the win. While he acknowledged that Sinner earned the win, Carlos Alcaraz also sent a clear warning: their rivalry is far from over.

Carlos Alcaraz sends a warning to Jannik Sinner

Carlos Alcaraz refused to blame a hamstring for his defeat to Jannik Sinner at the ATP Finals and is already setting his sights on the Davis Cup finals in Bologna this week. Even without the trophy, the world No. 1 made it clear that he’s far from done and ready to challenge Sinner again.

After the match, Carlos Alcaraz said, “I’m just really happy with the level that I played today, with the performance… Hope you are going to be ready for next year, because I will be ready. Hopefully we will play more finals against each other.” Sinner was given a clear warning in that final line: Alcaraz is already planning for the future, and their rivalry is far from over.

Sinner earned $5.07 million as the unbeaten champion, riding a 31-match indoor winning streak and 20 straight ATP Finals sets.  This was their sixth meeting this season, with Alcaraz having won four of the previous ones. Despite the defeat, Alcaraz still earned $2.7 million and moved up to fifth on the all-time career earnings list with $57.5 million.

Reflecting on the year, Carlos Alcaraz added, “It’s been a really long year, a really great achievement, and really great level through the whole year. It wasn’t to be to win this final, but I just want to let you know that I’m going to leave the court with my head really high. I left everything.” Missing the ATP Finals trophy doesn’t slow him down. With the Davis Cup ahead and the 2025 No. 1 ranking still his, Alcaraz has sent a clear message: Sinner, and the rest of the tour, better be ready.