Preview Paris Masters Final: Jannik Sinner fights for world No. 1 spot against blazing Felix Auger-Aliassime

Everything is ready for the Paris Masters final this Sunday between Jannik Sinner and Felix Auger-Aliassime, arguably the two players who have benefited most from the final stretch of the year. The Canadian seeks to secure his place in the ATP Finals after a notable few months, and a victory against Sinner would crown a remarkable couple of months.

On the Italian's side, he will have the chance to recover the World No. 1 ranking and snatch the top spot from Carlos Alcaraz, should he win the title. This could potentially be his fifth title of the season and a huge injection of confidence heading into the ATP Finals, keeping alive the possibility of finishing the year atop the rankings—despite the significant number of points he defends at the ATP Finals as the 2024 champion.

Jannik Sinner will look for the 23rd title of his career and 5th of the season this Sunday, after another notable week from the Italian. This will be the Italian's 9th final of the season—second only to Alcaraz's 10—and he will have the chance to reclaim the World No. 1 ranking if he wins the title, following the Spaniard's early first-round elimination.

Sinner has fulfilled his responsibility this week, with convincing straight-set victories against Zizou Bergs (6-4, 6-2), Francisco Cerúndolo (7-5, 6-1), Ben Shelton (6-3, 6-3), and Alexander Zverev (6-0, 6-1). The performance against the German was impressive and nearly perfect, taking advantage of Sascha's physical problems in the second set. Sinner won 90% of points on his first serve and did not concede a single break point opportunity to Zverev, who has now fallen to Sinner for the third time this year.

Félix Auger-Aliassime extends his late-season winning streak and advances to his second Masters 1000 final, after being defeated at the Madrid Open 2024 against Andrey Rublev. The 25-year-old saved match point against Alexandre Müller (5-7, 7-6, 7-6) on his way and gained confidence as he accumulated wins against Daniel Altmaier (3-6, 6-3, 6-2), Valentin Vacherot (6-2, 6-2), and Alexander Bublik (7-6, 6-4). The Canadian continues to rack up victories in this final part of the year, with semi-final appearances at the US Open, quarter-finals at Shanghai and Swiss Indoors, in addition to the European Open title: a total record of 19-3 since the US Open.

The World No. 10 was in contention for an ATP Finals spot, and his semi-final victory against Alexander Bublik momentarily placed him in the 8th spot, leaving Lorenzo Musetti behind by 160 points. After the Italian registered for the Athens Open at the last minute, he keeps his possibility alive if he wins that title—and Félix does not win the title tomorrow or fails to advance past the quarter-finals in Metz.

The H2H is currently tied between Auger-Aliassime and Sinner, both with two victories. The World No. 2 Italian took wins in their last two encounters, both in the latter part of the year. Sinner eliminated Félix in the quarter-finals of Cincinnati and the semi-finals of the US Open, while the Canadian previously won in 2022 in Madrid and Cincinnati.

Félix holds a 47-21 record for the season and has three titles this year: Adelaide, Montpellier, and Brussels, in addition to losing in the Dubai final to Tsitsipas. On the other side, Sinner has a 52-6 record and 4 titles this year (Australian Open, Wimbledon, China Open, and Vienna), plus appearances in four other finals—all lost to Carlos Alcaraz (Italian Open, Roland Garros, Cincinnati, and US Open).