Carlos Alcaraz visibly moved by ATP Finals gesture moments after defeat to Jannik Sinner | Tennis | Sport

Carlos Alcaraz was left speechless despite suffering a tight two-set defeat to Jannik Sinner at the ATP Finals. The world No. 1 wasn’t just playing against Sinner on Sunday night – he found himself facing the entire Inalpi Arena crowd, who were cheering on northern Italy native Sinner as he clinched a 7-6(4) 7-5 victory.

But the fans showed their respect for Alcaraz as soon as the match was over. As the 22-year-old stepped up to the microphone to give his runner-up speech, chants of “Carlos” broke out around the 12,000-strong arena. Alcaraz was moved by the gesture and later thanked the crowd for showing him respect during such an important match.

After booking his spot in the final on Saturday night, the Spanish star prepared himself for the worst against Sinner, and jokingly asked for just “three or four” people in the crowd to cheer for him in the championship match.

He needn’t have asked, however. Alcaraz still received plenty of support from the fans in Turin, even though they were clearly rooting for their man. And that support only grew after he suffered a straight-set loss.

The world No. 1 attempted to start his runner-up speech multiple times, being interrupted by the fans cheering for him and chanting his name. “Thank you. Grazie,” he repeated as he soaked up the atmosphere.

When he was able to speak, Alcaraz congratulated Sinner and thanked his team before addressing the fans. “Of course, Torino it’s been a pleasure playing here once again,” he smiled.

“I mean, this final, the energy has been incredible. Obviously, most of you were cheering for Jannik, but at the same time, you were really respectful, which I really appreciate, to be honest. I felt great playing during this final playing during the whole week, thank you very much, and I just hope to see you next year, thank you, Torino.”

Alcaraz was also full of praise for Sinner, who is now on a 31-match winning streak indoors and has won 20 successive sets at the ATP Finals. The Spaniard said: “I’m really, really happy with the level that I played today, with the performance.

“I mean, I just played against someone that hasn’t lost a match on an indoor court since two years ago so that means how a great player you are, with your team, putting great work every time. [You] come back really strong, even stronger, after every loss, you don’t have many! But after every loss you come back stronger, so well-deserved final.

“It is a great year for you. It’s time to rest. I hope you’re going to be ready for next year because I will be ready! Hopefully playing more finals against you, so well-deserved year and well-deserved trophy.”