Carlos Alcaraz dreams about winning the Nitto ATP Finals. He also says he does not know whether he ever will.

That was his position on Sunday after lifting the Paris Masters trophy, his second title in as many weeks. The Spaniard beat Ben Shelton 7-6(5), 7-5 at La Défense Arena, stretching an unbeaten run to nine matches after also winning Vienna seven days earlier.

The résumé he brings to Turin is almost complete. Alcaraz, 23, finished the career Grand Slam in February, when he beat Novak Djokovic to lift the Australian Open and became the youngest man in the Open Era to own all four majors. The year-end championship is the one trophy that still eludes him.

Alcaraz shrugs at favourite tag

He was given every chance in Paris to take the pre-tournament billing. He declined it.

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“If I’m the favourite or not or I feel the favourite or not, to be honest, it is not in my hand or I don’t really want to take that in my hand and not think about it,” he told reporters after the final.

Asked what the title would mean to him, he was franker about the gap.

“This is a tournament that I really want to win one day. I don’t know if it’s gonna be this year, next year, if I ever gonna be able to win this tournament, but I’m gonna work hard.”

Sinner misses the defence

Jannik Sinner beat Alcaraz in last year’s final in Turin. The Italian is not back to defend: he withdrew with a knee injury, and that reshuffles the top of the draw. Alcaraz slots in as second seed, behind Alexander Zverev.

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The German moved to world No. 1 for the first time on 2 November, a milestone that also secured him the year-end top ranking, according to Olympics.com. He is a two-time winner of the event, in 2018 and 2021, and is defending only 200 points.

Because the top two seeds are automatically placed in different groups, Alcaraz and Zverev cannot meet in the round-robin phase. The eight-man field has been split between the John McEnroe and Ivan Lendl groups, with four first-time qualifiers, Flavio Cobolli, Arthur Fils, Frances Tiafoe and Rafael Jodar, joining Shelton and Daniil Medvedev.

‘The best I’ve played since my comeback’

Alcaraz spent four months of 2026 on the sidelines with a wrist injury. That lost time, he argues, is now paying him back.

“Probably these two last weeks have been the best I’ve played since my comeback,” he said to The Herald.

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The tournament runs from 15 to 22 November at the Inalpi Arena.

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