Yannick Sinner stayed on course to defend his ATP Finals title, while Felix Auger-Aliassime clinched the last spot in the semi-finals.
Published November 15, 2025
Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime advanced to the last four with a 6-4, 7-6 (4) round-robin victory over two-time ATP Finals champion Alexander Zverev on Friday, while Jannik Sinner extended his unbeaten indoor hard court record with a win over American Ben Shelton.
Germany’s Zverev and Auger-Aliassime both beat Shelton and lost to Sinner to set up a winner-take-all showdown for the Bjorn Borg Group runner-up spot, with the Canadian earning a spot in Saturday’s semifinals against world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz.
Recommended stories
list of 4 itemsend of list
“You want to get to the final, but you have to go through great players to get there,” said Auger-Aliassime.
“If I get a chance, I’ll take it.”
Zverev was disappointed not to convert any of his seven break points against Sinner, and it was just as disappointing against the Canadian.
The German had break points in both sets but was again unable to convert them, and the Canadian broke Zverev 5-4 to take the first set and win the second set tiebreak.
Auger-Aliassime was under pressure in the first set, holding off break points at 2-2 and 4-4, but Zverev rallied from a 40-0 deficit before losing his serve to hand the set to the Canadian.
Zverev spent most of the second set showing off his team, with Auger-Aliassime winning his first two service games and winning a lovely service game before both players were guilty of throwing away break opportunities.
Auger-Aliassime gave up a 2-0 lead in the tie-break, but when Zverev went up to serve at 4-5, the Canadian pulled it off brilliantly to earn back-to-back mini-breaks and send the German home.
The sinner remains undefeated
Sinner defeated Shelton 6-3, 7-6 (3) in a dead-rubber round-robin match and is undefeated in 29 matches on indoor hard courts.
There was a relaxed atmosphere at the Inalpi Arena as the Italian had already secured top spot in his group and a place in the semi-finals with Alex de Minaur.
Shelton was broken in the first and last games of the first set, trailing 2-1 and unable to capitalize on break points, but Sinner always had the ability to pull out an ace at key moments, hitting two in the fourth game to hold serve.
The American struggled even more in the second set, salvaging a match point at 5-4 down with three serve-to-loves and forcing Sinner into a tiebreak for the first time in the last two tournaments of the season-ending championship before the Italian clinched the victory.
On Thursday, Alcaraz completed the Jimmy Connors Group with a win over Lorenzo Musetti, leaving little risk against Shelton other than his undefeated record, and any chance of Sinner ending the year as world No. 1 disappeared.
Before Sinner and Shelton’s rise, Alcaraz was presented on court with the ATP year-end world number one trophy won by the Italian last year, and the pair could meet for the last time in Sunday’s final in 2025.
“I’m happy to be number one in the world. That’s what I work hard for every day. To be honest, that’s my goal,” Alcaraz said.
“For me, this is a great accomplishment. It means the world to me and I’m really proud and happy.”
