ATP Finals: Carlos Alcaraz into semi-finals after victory vs Lorenzo Musetti to secure No 1 world ranking

Carlos Alcaraz secured the year-ending No 1 ranking in men's tennis on Thursday by beating Lorenzo Musetti to sweep his group at the ATP Finals.

Alcaraz needed to win one more match to beat Jannik Sinner to the No 1 spot and the Spaniard duly did so as he eased to a 6-4 6-1 victory to progress to the season-ending semi-finals.

It is the second time in his career that Alcaraz has ended the year at the top of the rankings.

The Spaniard became the youngest player to finish a year at No 1 when he achieved the feat as a 19-year-old in 2022.

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Musetti had been in the mix to progress to the semi-finals but Alcaraz didn't give him that chance as he swept aside the Italian in less than 90 minutes, sealing the result on his third match point for his third win in the Jimmy Connors group.

"Obviously it's always great to achieve your goals," Alcaraz said following victory.

"To end the year as world No 1 wasn't a goal at the beginning of the year because I saw it really far away with Jannik [Sinner] at the top.

"But from the middle of the season I started to play such great tennis, winning a lot of tournaments and trophies in a row, so since that it was one of the main goals and I'm really happy I was able to achieve that here in this tournament after three wins.

"Today I played with a lot of nerves. It was really difficult to handle it to be honest. The No 1 was there in my mind.

"I couldn't play relaxed, as I wanted, but overall I think I handled it best I could. Hopefully in the semi-final I raise my level a little bit, but I'm excited to do it."

Fritz eliminated from ATP Finals after straight-sets defeat to De Minaur

Australian Alex de Minaur pulled off a stunning 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 win over Taylor Fritz in their last ATP Finals round-robin match on Thursday to eliminate the American. The victory also saw him progress to the semi-finals after Alcaraz beat Musetti.

De Minaur lived up to his 'Demon' nickname, showing energy and character as he hustled the lethargic-looking American all over the court, and after taking the first-set tiebreak, stormed to victory following an early break in the second set.

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Last year's losing finalist Fritz, who beat Musetti in his opener before losing a thrilling three-setter against Alcaraz, struggled with his normally reliable serve, and was put to the sword by the Australian, desperate for his first ATP Finals win.

De Minaur, who lost all three round-robin matches on his debut last year, was beaten by Alcaraz and then suffered a devastating defeat to Musetti having held a 5-3 lead in the final set.

"I have dealt with a fair bit of heartbreak recently, so it was good to finally get a win here in Turin," De Minaur said.

The Australian bounced back from that loss, which had left him in a dark place, while Fritz appeared heavy-footed as he lacked the pace required to deal with De Minaur's dynamism.

De Minaur broke to lead 3-1 in the first set, and while Fritz rallied to force a tiebreak, the Australian dominated it, racing into a 4-1 lead with two mini-breaks. He began the second set in a similar vein where he broke to love and went 3-0 up.

This time there was no comeback from Fritz. He managed to save a break point at 2-5 down but De Minaur served out for the win.

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