Carlos Alcaraz clinched the year-end world number one ranking and secured top spot in the Jimmy Connors Group with a 6-4 6-1 win over Lorenzo Musetti at the ATP Finals on Thursday, a result that also sent Alex De Minur into the semi-finals following his victory over Taylor Fritz.

The Spaniard downed two Italians with one strike, eliminating Musetti from the season-ending championships and railroading Jannik Sinner's hopes of regaining top spot in the rankings despite a far from stellar performance in his third round-robin win from three. "The match was really important for me, playing for year-end number one," Alcaraz said.

"It wasn't easy at the beginning with the nerves. I tried to handle that pressure the best I could, so I'm just really happy with the level I played and to be able to end the year as the number one."

Alcaraz, who previously ended the year at top spot in 2022, has had the best season of his career, reaching the final of three Grand Slams, winning the French and U.S. Open and losing the Wimbledon decider, facing Sinner on all three occasions.

The 22-year-old, who won eight titles in total this season, remains on course to win his first ATP Finals after overcoming a brave Musetti performance, where Alcaraz broke at 5-4 up in the first set before comfortably winning the second.

Earlier in the day, when Alcaraz and Musetti were shown on the giant screen as they arrived at the Inalpi Arena, there were huge cheers for the Italian and boos for the Spaniard. However, when they walked onto the court for their showdown, the Spaniard was greeted by warm applause.

Alcaraz took time to settle and hit a total of 21 unforced errors, while Musetti more than held his own in the opening set. He won two service games to love before being broken in a nerve-jangling final game of the set that stretched to over 11 minutes.