Tennis Professionals Association (ATP) starts on Sunday in Turin, Italy. Russian fans will closely follow the performances of Daniil Medvedev and Andrei Rublev. They were in the same group with the famous Serb Novak Djokovic. Sports reveal the details of the upcoming tournament.
The best tennis players in the world will fight for the title in Turin from 13 to 20 November. In the «Red» group with Medvedev, Rublev and Djokovic, the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas will also perform. The «green» group consisted of Spaniard Rafael Nadal, Norwegian Christian Ruud, Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime and American Taylor Fritz.
Medvedev in the final ATP tournament was seeded under the fourth number, Rublev — under the sixth. Djokovic received the seventh seed, and Tsitsipas became the second racket of the tournament. The world's strongest tennis player, Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, is missing the championship due to injury. Thus, Nadal is seeded under the first number in Turin. Ruud is the third racket of the competition, Auger-Aliassime is the fifth, Fritz is the eighth.Daniil qualified for the final championship at the end of October. It is the fourth consecutive time he will perform at these competitions. In 2020, the Russian won. This season, Medvedev won two ATP tournaments — in Los Cabos (Mexico) and Vienna (Austria). As part of the Grand Slam series, the best result of the ex-first racket of the world was reaching the final of the Australian Open, where the Russian lost to Nadal. At Roland Garros and the US Open, Medvedev reached the 1/8 finals. He did not compete at Wimbledon due to the non-admission of Russians and Belarusians.
Rublev participates in the tournament for the third time in his career. He won the ticket at the beginning of November. At the two previous championships, the Russian did not leave the group. This season, Rublev won four tournaments — in Marseille (France), Dubai (UAE), Belgrade (Serbia) and Gijon (Spain). As part of the Grand Slam, the best result of the Russian is reaching the quarterfinals at the French and US Opens. At the Australian Open, Rublev dropped out in the third round, did not play at Wimbledon.Medvedev and Rublev will meet each other on Monday, on the second day of the tournament. The personal account of these tennis players is 4-1 in favor of Medvedev. However, Rublev won the last match. It happened at the tournament in Cincinnati (USA) in 2021. Daniil and Andrei did not meet this season.
Experts have already called the «group of death» a quartet with the participation of Russians. The fact is that Djokovic did not play at the Grand Slam tournaments in Australia and the United States due to unwillingness to disclose his vaccination status against coronavirus. Serbs did not allow the authorities of these countries to enter their territory. Therefore, Novak missed a large number of points. Accordingly, his official rating does not correspond to real strength.
Earlier, both Medvedev and Rublev defeated Djokovic. However, in Turin, the surface is most suitable for the game of the Serbian tennis player, so he is a favorite to reach the semi-finals. Strong this season and Tsitsipas, who currently ranks third in the world rankings. It was the Greek who was tipped off for a second ticket to the semi-finals of the final ATP tournament.
Nadal is called the favorite of the «Green» group. He won the Australian Open and Roland Garros this season. They also talk about Ruud. The Norwegian became a finalist in the French and US Opens.
The final tournament of the year will determine which of the tennis players will finish the season with the first racket of the world. Only two players stand a chance ahead of Alcaraz, who misses the championship.
Tsitsipas will end the year at the top of the world rankings if he wins all the group stage matches, the semi-final and the final in Turin. In the case of the championship and one defeat in the group, Nadal will have a chance for the title of the first racket of the world at the end of the year. if they play the group stage undefeated and reach the final. Also, Nadal will become the first racket of the world in the event of a championship. Regardless of the results of Tsitsipas. In all other scenarios, Alcaraz will remain at the top of the world ranking.