It is the last event on the ATP Calendar, and it features the very best in the world.
The end-of-year ATP Finals are set to begin from Turin, as the top eight players have descended upon the beautiful Italian landscape and are promptly adapting to the conditions and preparing themselves for the showdowns to come.
Felix Auger-Aliassime successfully qualified for the field, becoming the first Canadian to reach the event since Milos Raonic did so in 2016.
Veteran superstars Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic both return to the field after outstanding seasons, while newly anointed world number one and recent U.S. Open winner Carlos Alcaraz was forced to withdraw due to an abdominal tear.
The event opens with two groups of four competing in a round robin format, before the top two in the standings on either side advance to the semifinals.
Let’s preview the action that lies ahead:
Rafael Nadal, Casper Ruud, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Taylor Fritz
22-time grand slam champion and world number two Rafael Nadal is the headline name of the Green Group, despite limping, almost literally, towards the end of his 2022 campaign.
The first half of the season was fantastic for the Spaniard, as he opened on a 20-match winning streak and secured a second Australian Open crown.
Despite problem injuries to his foot in the clay-court season, he still won a record 14th French Open title too.
Since then, an abdominal injury forced his withdrawal from Wimbledon before the semifinals, he suffered a surprise round of 16 exit to Frances Tiafoe at the US Open and lost his only indoor hardcourt match of the fall to Tommy Paul at the Paris Masters.
Despite Nadal’s incredible and record shattering achievements across the sport, he’s never been able to win the ATP Finals.
He’s finished runner up twice — back in 2010 and 2013 — but at times has struggled to adjust to the court conditions (Nadal has just two of his 92 career titles on indoor surfaces).
Nadal does have a path to finish as year-end number one, if he wins the title in Turin, or reaches the final and gets some help.
Meanwhile, Norway’s Casper Ruud is again a qualifier of the event after a career year.
Previously panned as a clay-court specialist, Ruud has further proven his versatility in 2022.
He finished runner-up at the French Open and the U.S. Open, and won three ATP titles across a formidable campaign.
Ruud’s court coverage and footwork are some of the best in the game, and he has a potent, heavy spin forehand that he can unleash when required.
In Canada, all eyes will be on Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, who will close out his best season on tour competing in Turin.
Auger-Aliassime produced one of the greatest stretches in Canadian tennis history in the month of October.
The 22-year-old won three consecutive ATP singles titles, with victories at the Firenze Open, Antwerp Open, and Swiss Indoors Basel.
He also held a 16-match winning streak before finally falling in the semifinals of the Paris Masters.
Such a stretch is the best in Canadian tennis since Bianca Andreescu won 17 consecutive matches in 2019.
Auger-Aliassime is now excited at the prospect of challenging and fighting against the world’s very best.
“It’s excitement, but it’s motivation as well,” said the Canadian.
“We have a good mix of legends with Rafa and Novak, and then all the others are 26 and under. That’s also different.”
With Carlos Alcaraz on the mend, American Taylor Fritz takes the final spot in Turin, and is a worthy competitor for the field.
Fritz captured the Indian Wells title earlier this season, recently won the Japan Open, and reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon, the best grand slam result of his career.
Fritz and Nadal open the Sunday night session in Turin (3 p.m. ET start time).
Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Novak Djokovic, Andrey Rublev
21-time major winner Novak Djokovic is the class of the red group and perhaps the favourite of the entire event, and the Serbian is certainly motivated to add one more trophy before the season is out.
Djokovic is one of the most accomplished players in tennis history, and despite an abbreviated season in which he missed two of the four majors, he still managed to win Wimbledon for the seventh time of his career and earned enough ranking points on his own merit to qualify for Turin.
Djokovic is a five-time champion of the ATP Finals, lifting title trophies in 2008, and 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015.
While Djokovic plays mostly elite tennis wherever he goes, he always thrives on indoor surfaces, where he’s hoisted 16 titles.
He should be brimming with confidence heading into Turin.
After missing the U.S. Open due to his vaccination status, Djokovic promptly went on a fall tennis tear, winning consecutive titles in Tel Aviv and Astana, Kazakhstan.
Last week, he reached the finals of the Paris Masters before finally being stopped by fast-rising Danish star Holger Rune in a three-set epic.
He may technically be listed as eighth in the ATP rankings, but for all intents and purposes, Novak looks like a world number one.
Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas is once again returning to the ATP Finals, which is the site of the best title of his career.
Tsitsipas won the end-of-year championship in 2019, his first appearance at the event.
Since then, he’s been a top 10 staple of the ATP tour.
He has nine career ATP singles titles, a runner-up finish at the 2021 French Open, and two Masters 1000 trophies in Monte Carlo.
Tsitsipas has had a somewhat disappointing 2022 for his lofty standards, but is coming off a pair of runner-up finishes in Stockholm and Astana.
Russia’s Daniil Medvedev no longer holds the world number one ranking that he briefly grasped a hold of earlier this spring, though he is more than capable of playing that level of tennis.
Medvedev has been in the championship match of the ATP finals in two consecutive seasons, winning it in 2021.
The tall, wafer-thin talent reached the Australian Open final to begin the season, before undergoing hernia surgery and missing a block of the clay season, sitting out Wimbledon due to his nationality (Russians and Belarusians were barred from the tournament), and suffering a loss of form through part of the hard-court season.
Medvedev bounced back three weeks ago, winning his second title of the season at the Vienna Open, defeating Canadian Denis Shapovalov in the final.
Medvedev’s quickness and length around the court is sublime. If he’s serving well, he’s a candidate to make a deep run in Turin.
Fellow compatriot Andrey Rublev does feel like the odd man out in a loaded group and has yet to advance past the round robin stage of the tour finals.
However, the clean ball-striking baseliner has one of the most lethal forehands in the game and can certainly spar with the world’s best players when he is dialled in.
Rublev is a combined 6-11 across 17 matches against the other three players.
The red group opens play Monday as Rublev will meet Daniil Medvedev to begin, and Novak Djokovic faces Stefanos Tsitsipas.
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