Alex de Minaur had vowed to do some damage at the ATP Finals but his promise came to little on the opening day of the end-of-season championships in Turin as Carlos Alcaraz proved the bulldozer of the Australian's dreams.

De Minaur, in his second straight crack at the end-of-season men's championship featuring the world's best, looked good to his word when he fought back valiantly and had a golden chance to nick a marathon first set in the tiebreak on Sunday.

Yet once the world No.1 had edged that stanza, he moved up into a different gear to the Aussie No.1 with his powerful 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 triumph.

The bad news for de Minaur, who lost all three of his matches on his ATP Finals debut last year, was that another defeat has again put him on the backfoot to earn a semi-final place.

The good

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