Today, at 15:30 Bulgarian time starts the 54th singles and 49th doubles edition of the Finals of the eight best men's tennis players. The competition, which ends on November 19, will be held for the third consecutive year at the Palazzo Alpitura in the Italian city of Turin, and the reigning champion is world No. 1 Novak Djokovic.
The Serbian enters the competition in good spirits and with confidence after winning his 40th Masters 1000 title in Paris, defeating our best tennis player Grigor Dimitrov in the final. Nole continues to break records even at 36 years of age, with several more could come before the end of the year - he could end the year as world No.1 for the eighth time in his career, also reaching the 400-week mark at the top of men's tennis. Another record in the sights of the 24-time Grand Slam champion is that of most ATP Finals trophies - a record he currently shares with legend Roger Federer. Both have six titles.
Last year, Novak equaled the Swiss, beating Casper Ruud in straight sets in the final. This year, the Norwegian will not play in Turin, but in front of the Joker there are quite a few quality rivals who are ready to stop him from breaking a new record. The draw for the final Masters was made on Thursday and Djokovic has been drawn into the Green Group, where he is the leader and will face home favorite Jannik Sinner, Stefanos Tsitsipas and debutant Holger Rune. The Serbian tennis player has a positive balance against Sinner and Tsitsipas, but is 2-2 in head-to-head matches with Rune, who has recently been coached by former Nole coach Boris Becker. In a tough three-set match at the Bercy Hall, Djokovic managed to level the overall head to head record with the young Dane, who will again want to make life miserable for the number 1 candidate for the title.
The Red group also suggests many intriguing clashes. While Djokovic is the favorite both in the Green one and to win the trophy, in the other group the draw brought together Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev and Alexander Zverev. For the second-ranked Alcaraz, who until recently was recovering from an injury and returned to Paris, where he lost at the start to Russian Roman Safiulin, this will be a debut in the top eight and a last chance to topple Djokovic after the continuous battle and change of places between the two during the season. However, Alcaraz will have serious competition to get out of the group, with Medvedev and Zverev both former champions, while Rublev is in great form and ready to show it at the end of the year. The curious thing is that Alcaraz is equal in the balance against his three opponents in the Red Group – 2-2 with Medvedev, 3-3 against Zverev, and with Rublev he has a debut clash in the direct rivalry. Reserves in singles are Hubert Hurkacz and Taylor Fritz.
In the first two matches of the daily schedule of the singles tournament today, Sinner faces Tsitsipas from 15:30, and in the evening session, Djokovic begins his title defence with a match against Rune. Alcaraz plays Zverev on Monday afternoon and from 10:00 p.m. it's the all-Russian clash between Medvedev and Rublev. /BGNES
