ATP Finals: Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz head to Turin for season-ending tournament | Tennis News

The ATP Finals are the season-ending finale to the men’s tennis season, where the top eight singles players and doubles teams compete for the titles. We ask the key questions ahead of this year’s event in Turin.

Djokovic will aim to win a record-breaking seventh ATP Finals title in Turin before trying to lead Serbia to a second Davis Cup crown.

He’s on a winning run of 18 matches, six of them against top-10 players – losing only five matches in 2023 – so who can stop the Serbian juggernaut?

When does it start?

The ATP Finals will begin on Sunday November 12 and end one week later on Sunday November 19.

Who will end the year as world No 1?

Djokovic is on track for the year-end No 1 ranking for a record eighth time (9,945 points) with a lot of pieces falling nicely in the puzzle for the Serbian after winning the Paris Masters.

Alcaraz is the only player who can overtake Djokovic (8,455 points) after Daniil Medvedev dropped out of contention in the French capital.

Djokovic wasn’t able to clinch the year-end No 1 spot in Paris as Alcaraz still collected 10 points for his second-round defeat.

There are 1,000 points for the Paris Masters winner.

Novak’s motivation

Djokovic holds the men’s record with seven year-end No 1 finishes, one more than Pete Sampras. Women’s tennis great Steffi Graf holds the overall record with eight but the 24-time Grand Slam champion is closing in on the German great.

“Of course, my greatest motivation is still love for the game. I really like competing. So, as simple as that,” Djokovic said.

“And then, you know, I always have goals, you know, and to win another Slam, to be No 1 again, to finish the year as No 1. Those are let’s say the big goals.”

Djokovic has qualified for the season finale on 16 occasions and last year equalled Roger Federer’s record of six ATP Finals trophies. He’s won titles at the Australian Open, French Open, US Open, Cincinnati and Adelaide and he now has the opportunity to overtake Federer in Italy.

He is only two weeks short of hitting 400 weeks at world No 1 while he will be the hot favourite to win an 11th Australian Open title in January, which would put him out on his own as the most successful Grand Slam singles player in history.

Djokovic Fact: After 40th Masters 1000 title, he is seeking a seventh finale crown.

Will Alcaraz be fit?

The Spaniard suffered a shock exit in his opening contest at the Paris Masters, as the world No 2 was defeated in straight sets, 6-3 6-4, by 45th-ranked Roman Safiullin.

Wimbledon champion Alcaraz said: “There are a lot of days of practice to be able to reach that level, the level that I want to play. Honestly, after this loss (to Safiullin), I have to take some time before thinking about the next days, and the days (of) what I have to do or what I am going to do. But, obviously, before the ATP Finals have begun, we have time.”

Alcaraz qualified for the event after ATP Masters 1000 victories at Indian Wells and Madrid. He also became just the eighth player in the Open Era to win the Queen’s Club-Wimbledon double.

Alcaraz Fact: Chasing seventh title of year as he makes his Turin debut.

Who else has qualified?

Daniil Medvedev

The Russian won the year-end championships in 2020 and reached the title match in 2021.

He has claimed titles in Rotterdam, Doha, Dubai and emerged victorious in Miami and Rome as well as reaching the US Open final.

Medvedev Fact: 2020 champ comes in with five titles on the season.

Jannik Sinner

The Italian star is a first-time qualifier for the ATP Finals after competing in the event as an alternate in 2021.

He reached his first Grand Slam semi-final at Wimbledon and lifted his maiden ATP Masters 1000 trophy in Toronto. The 22-year-old also won titles in Beijing and Montpellier.

Sinner Fact: Home favourite qualifies for the first time.

Andrey Rublev

The Russian has qualified for the ATP Finals for a fourth consecutive year having claimed his first ATP Masters 1000 title in Monte Carlo as well as lifting the title in Bastad.

Rublev, 26, also made finals in Dubai, Banja Luka, Halle and Shanghai.

Rublev Fact: He will make his fourth straight finale appearance.

Stefanos Tsitsipas

Four years ago the Greek ace became the youngest ATP Finals champion since Lleyton Hewitt in 2001.

Now 25, Tsitsipas reached championship matches at the Australian Open, Barcelona and triumphed in Los Cabos for his 10th ATP Tour trophy.

Tsitsipas Fact: The 2019 champion tops 50 wins for third straight year.

Alexander Zverev

After Hubert Hurkacz’s hopes were ended when he lost in three sets against Grigor Dimitrov in Paris, it resulted in Zverev becoming the seventh player to qualify.

The 26-year-old will be making his sixth appearance at the prestigious year-end event, having triumphed in 2018 and 2021.

Zverev Fact: The two-time champion is capping a huge comeback season having suffered ankle ligament damage at the French Open in 2022.

Holger Rune

Alex De Minaur had to beat Andrey Rublev in Paris to stay in the hunt, but he suffered a three-set defeat to put Rune into the main draw.

Rune believes that coach Boris Becker has helped him pull out of a downward spiral.

“It’s never easy to reverse a negative spiral like the one I went through, and he helped me do it,” said the Dane.

Rune Fact: The 20-year-old Dane is set to make his debut.

Hubert Hurkacz: Will serve as first alternate in Turin
Taylor Fritz: Will serve as second alternate in Turin

All eyes on Turin

The ATP Finals are currently being played on the hardcourts at the Pala Alpitour in Turin, the largest indoor arena in Italy with a capacity of 15,000.

Turin, which took over from London’s O2 Arena following a 12-year run, is the 15th city to host the event, and first in Italy, since it was first staged in 1970.

The Italian city will host the tennis event until 2025.

What’s the format, how many points are on offer & what’s the prize money?

The tournament has two groups of four players and uses a round-robin format. The top two from each group advance to the knockout semi-finals, with the semi-final winners meeting for the title.

Each round-robin match win was worth 200 points, with 400 points on offer for a semi-final win. If a player wins the tournament without losing, they will receive 1,500 ranking points.

This year’s tournament will award a record $15m in prize money. If the champion at this year’s event lifts the trophy without losing a match, he will earn more than $4.8m, the largest prize money for an individual player in the history of tennis.

Former champions

Some of the biggest names in men’s tennis have won the ATP Finals including Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg, Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Djokovic.

Salisbury in doubles action

The doubles field is also set with Britain’s Joe Salisbury looking to seal his second season-ending title alongside Rajeev Ram.

Ivan Dodig/Austin Krajicek, Wesley Koolhof/Neal Skupski, Rohan Bopanna/Matthew Ebden, Marcel Granollers/Horacio Zeballos, Santiago Gonzalez/Edouard Roger-Vasselin, Rajeev Ram/Joe Salisbury, Maximo Gonzalez/Andres Molteni and Rinky Hijikata/Jason Kubler all set to compete for the title at the Pala Alpitour.

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