Sinner Wins First Paris Masters Title, Reclaims World No. 1

Jannik Sinner
Jannik Sinner

PARIS/WASHINGTON, November 2, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)

When Italy’s Jannik Sinner and Felix Auger-Aliasime of Canada walked out to great fanfare for their Rolex Paris Masters title match in sold-out La Défense Arena Sunday afternoon, the stakes couldn’t have been higher. 

After all, the World No. 2 Sinner was merely playing for the World No. 1 ranking, while World No. 10 Auger-Aliassime was competing for the eighth and last spot in the Nitto ATP Finals, which start a week from now in Turin, Italy. Each also looked to win his first Rolex Paris Masters crown.

With their head-to-head even at two wins each, by the end of their entertaining one-hour, 52-minute championship final, Sinner brought the 17,500-strong Court Central fans to their feet with his 6-4, 7-6 (4) victory. Throughout, Sinner played with great certainty. His tennis was impenetrable. At the end of the afternoon, Sinner had won the Paris title for the first time – becoming the first Italian champion at this event – and added another big trophy to his growing collection that now has reached 23 in all. It was his first ATP Masters 1000 title triumph since claiming Shanghai a year ago, but also his second ATP Tour crown in two weeks after triumphing in Vienna last week.

“It’s huge, honestly. It was such an intense final here, and we both knew what was on the line,” Sinner said, during a brief on-court interview with ATP Media after his latest title conquest. “I’m extremely happy, the past couple of months have been amazing. We try to work on things – trying to improve as a player – and seeing this kind of result makes me incredibly happy. Another title this year … it’s been an amazing year regardless of what comes in Turin.”

Although Auger-Aliassime kept the contest close, there was little he could do to overcome the focus and determination of Sinner, who improved to 53-6 this season and won his fifth title of 2025. Meanwhile, the Montreal native, who leads the ATP Tour in indoor wins this decade with 83 and sought his eighth and biggest ATP Tour title of his career, fell to 3-10 against Top-2 opponents.

“It’s never easy to lose in a final,” Auger-Aliassime said, standing proud and offering praise to Sinner and his team during his trophy speech, “but Jannik, congrats to you and your team. You push all the players and myself to improve and get better. I can only give you credit and tip my hat off to all the improvement since we’ve known each other.”

As it happened, after breaking Auger-Aliassime in the opening game of the match, Sinner closed out a high-quality 44-minute first set with a flourish. He hit a fifth-shot forehand winner to garner the opener 6-4. Sinner won all but three points (20 of 23, 87 percent) on his serve, faced no break points, hit eight winners all the while benefiting from 12 unforced errors by Auger-Aliassime. Sinner also controlled many of the points from the baseline, outscoring Auger-Aliassime 17-8.

Next, Auger-Aliassime dug himself out of a hole by saving a pair of break points and won the seven-minute-plus opening game of the second set by firing his fourth ace. Then, he won at love in his next service game for a 2-1 lead. Although Sinner countered with an effective hold of his own for 2-all, Auger-Aliassime made things uncomfortable for the Italian No. 1 by winning the 11th straight point on his first serve in holding for a 3-2 advantage. 

However, in his next service game, Auger-Aliassime found himself facing break points at 15-40. He saved the first one after Sinner struck a cross-court backhand wide of its target, then gained deuce after saving the second one with a body serve that handcuffed his opponent into hitting a long return. More pressure ensued when Auger-Aliassime faced his third break point of the game after hitting a double fault. However, he gained another deuce point with his sixth ace out wide. A point later, Auger-Aliassime found another big serve in the nick of time and held for 4-3 after striking his seventh ace. His eighth ace gave him another hold for 5-4, putting the onus on Sinner’s next service game. 

The South Tyrolean responded to some tough pressure during the 10th game but held for 5-all in what had become a very tough set for both players. Auger-Aliassime guaranteed himself at least a second set tiebreaker – not backing down at all – after he held at love for 6-5, winning the game with a forehand winner. A love hold by Sinner after he hit his fifth ace leveled the score at 6-all.

In the first tie-break of a Rolex Paris Masters final since Andy Murray beat John Isner for the 2016 title, Sinner broke to go ahead 3-2, then hit a brilliant inside-out forehand winner that handcuffed Auger-Aliassime and gave him a 4-2 lead. He increased his advantage to 5-2 on an unforced error. Although the Canadian No. 1 narrowed the gap to 5-4 by winning a couple of points to stay alive, the match and championship rested on Sinner’s racquet. First, he hit an inside-out forehand winner to set up match point at 6-4, then won the title by ripping a backhand winner that capped a dramatic 11-shot rally.

Upon securing championship point to gain his 26th straight indoor hard-court victory, Sinner raised his arms in celebration and shared a warm embrace with Auger-Aliassime at the net.

The final statistics favored Sinner, who has now beaten Auger-Aliassime in three consecutive meetings this year. He struck 25 winners to 15 unforced errors, hit six aces, won 91 percent (40 of 44) his first-serve points and 84 percent (51 of 61) of his service points overall, faced no break points while breaking Auger-Aliassime’s serve once, and outpointed his opponent 74-60. Auger-Aliassime, whose win-loss record dropped to 48-22, counted with 21 winners but also committed 27 unforced errors. He won 81 percent (38 of 47) of his first-serve points.

“It was a very difficult match, he was serving incredibly well, especially from the first break on,” Sinner said. “I didn’t have many chances. … You have to use the small chances you have, and in the breaker it was just a small mini break, so I’m very happy with how I played there. I was very consistent with how I play. I’m very happy.”

During his post-match news conference, Auger-Aliassime offered his assessment on the final. “It was difficult on the court, you know, having to sit there rethinking a few points. Yeah, having to just accept that the match is over and that once … as long as I’m in the match, even match point down, you feel you have a chance to come back, you have belief,” he said.

“When it’s over, you just have to accept that, okay. I wish I had a better start, I wish I didn’t make those mistakes to start the match with, I can’t give him that at the level he plays. It’s unfortunate, but, you know, I have to move on and focus on the positive.”

Looking back, Sinner had the final say at the final ATP Masters 1000 event of the season. It was a brilliant performance by the 24-year-old from San Candido, near the Italy-Austria border, who returns to World No. 1 on Monday for the first time since the US Open. By winning his fifth career ATP Masters 1000 title, Sinner has tightened the race for ATP Year-end No. 1. He’s currently in second place, just 1,050 points behind six-time major champion Carlos Alcaraz in the PIF ATP live Race To Turin, while Auger-Aliassime climbed into eighth place, ahead of Lorenzo Musetti by 160 points. Musetti will attempt to surpass Auger-Aliassime at the ATP 250 event in Athens this week. 

Sinner will head to Turin, which begins Nov. 9, looking to defend his Nitto ATP Finals title. It’s also where the Year-End No. 1 honors will be decided between him and Alcaraz.

Heliovaara and Patten win first Masters 1000 title together

After winning half a dozen ATP Tour titles, including two majors, No. 3 seeds Harri Heliovaara of Finland and Henry Patten of Great Britain have finally won their first ATP Masters 1000 title together. After Patten served an ace on championship, the 6-foot-6-inch British lefty jumped for joy.

On Sunday afternoon, Patten served his team’s eighth ace to clinch a a 6-3, 6-4 victory over No. 2 seeds Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool of Great Britain in an hour and five minutes. 

In their fifth head-to-head meeting this year – and second eight days after Cash and Glasspool beat the Finn/British pair in Vienna last Sunday – Heliovaara and Patten finally found the winning formula against the British duo. They won 88 percent (29 of 33) of their first-serve points, saved all three break points they faced, converted two of five break points, and outpointed their opponents 57-42.

“It’s amazing,” the 29-year-old Patten said during his team’s on-court interview with ATP Media. “We’re two very, very happy boys. Julian and Lloyd are the best in the world right now. We’re still 4-1 down, so we have a bit of catching up to do. I’m extremely proud of our performance. No better place to do it than in Paris. We’re elated.”

The 34-year-old Heliovaara, who teamed with Glasspool from 2021-23, added: “I had one other team in the past whom I lost to four times in a row. I told them after the fifth, ‘nobody beats Harri five times in a row.’ We, of course, learned from the four previous matches. 

“We know each other so well, having me played with Lloyd for many years and Henry with Julian. It’s any interesting dynamic. We such good friends until about 10 minutes before we step on court. Then, it’s just battle, battle, battle. I’m so happy it was our turn today.”

Heliovaara and Patten, who moved from fourth to second in the ATP Doubles Team Rankings with their Paris championship, improved to 85-31 overall – 46-19 this season – and it was their third title victory in 2025 following their success at the Australian Open and China Open in Beijing.

The No. 1-ranked team Cash and Glasspool, who earlier this season lifted trophies by winning Brisbane, Doha, Queen’s Club, Eastbourne, Wimbledon, Toronto and Vienna, fell to 65-20 overall – 58-15 in 2025.

The ATP Year-End No. 1 Doubles race will be decided in Turin, and Patten, for one, can’t wait. “We’re really excited to play Turin,” he said. “Our number one goal is to enjoy the week and hopefully we can play some good tennis.”

Around La Défense Arena

During an end of the tournament Q & A with Cedric Pionline, the Rolex Paris Masters tournament director said that this year’s event – the first one held in Paris La Défense Arena – has been successful in terms of increased attendance, and overall feedback from players has been positive, too.

“We have an attendance of 220,000 spectators for this edition. We don’t have the precise figures yet. In 2024 the figures were 176,000 spectators, so that’s a great leap forward, and we are very proud of this,” Pioline said.

“We can say that our best ambassadors were the players, because they were convinced by the project that we offered them with the dedicated facilities, the facilities dedicated to them.” 

Pioline pointed to the newness of the players’ locker room, players’ lounge and the overall game setup that was made available to players. He also noted the increased capacity at La Défense Arena – 17,500 – made it the largest arena capacity in Europe and second-largest to Arthur Ashe Stadium at the US Open in all of tennis – and fans turned out all week in big numbers.

Also, Pioline pointed to the improved Court 1 and Court 2, compared to the old ones in Bercy, where the Rolex Paris Masters was previously held.

“The Court 1 worked very well,” he said. “This is something that we thought was wonderful. This was exactly what the tournament’s organization wanted, namely to have some kind of new equilibrium between the side court and the center court, and it seems that it was a bet that was won here. The fans really took ownership of this new court, this new area.

“We have had wonderful moments together,” Pioline added. “Once this has been said, we are fully aware that not everything is perfect. There is room for improvement.”

By the numbers

Jannik Sinner did not drop a set en route to the final. He became the first ATP Masters 1000 champion since Carlos Alcaraz at Indian Wells in 2023 to sweep all sets. He is also the fifth active player to win five ATP Masters 1000 titles.

“Quotable …”

“Regardless of the result, I think both players were giving everything and, you know, playing some of their best tennis. My last two matches were great, as well, with the wins.

“I had a really fun week, good week, great tennis, obviously with high stakes and high pressure, coming up with a good level when I needed to.

“I can thank the crowd, as well. … All the way through they were supporting me. Even today you felt that, yes, they wanted a third set, they wanted more tennis, as Iwanted. They were great all week.”

– Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada, during his post-match news conference Sunday, after losing Sunday’s Rolex Paris Masters final to Jannik Sinner.

 

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