The ATP Finals begin on Sunday in Turin, Italy, featuring the eight best singles players and doubles teams of 2023.
Six-time and defending champion Novak Djokovic has all but clinched the year-end No.1 ranking, as he vies for a record-breaking seventh ATP Finals crown. On Sunday, he plays Holger Rune, who is now coached by Novak’s long-time coach, Boris Becker.
Day 1’s other singles matchup sees Italian No.1 Jannik Sinner square off against 2019 champion Stefanos Tsitsipas, who is 5-2 lifetime against Sinner.
Each day, this preview will analyze the most intriguing matchup, while highlighting the other matches on the schedule. Sunday’s play begins at 12:00pm local time.
Jannik Sinner (4) vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas (6) – Not Before 2:30pm
Sinner currently sits at a career-high ranking of No.4, thanks to a record of 56-14 and four titles (Montpellier, Toronto, Beijing, Vienna). That includes his first Masters 1000 title, and he also achieved his first Major semifinal at Wimbledon. Jannik’s only previous appearance at the ATP Finals came two years ago, when he replaced fellow Italian Matteo Berrettini after one match and went 1-1 in round-robin play, defeating Hubert Hurkacz in straight sets.
Tsitsipas is 49-22 on the year, with just one title (Los Cabos). He reached his second Major final to start the season, losing to Djokovic in straight sets. After winning this tournament four years ago in his debut, Stefanos has failed to advance out of round-robin play in each of the last three years.
Four of Tsitsipas’ five victories over Sinner have been straight-setters, with the exception being his most recent one in the quarterfinals of this past January’s Australian Open, which Jannik pushed to five sets. A month later, the Italian earned just his second career win over the Greek, by a score of 6-4, 6-3 on an indoor hard court in Rotterdam.
On Sunday, Sinner should be favored to win the first singles match of the 2023 ATP Finals, despite his troubling history against Tsitsipas. Jannik has played extremely well this fall, with a record of 13-2 and two titles, while Stefanos is just 9-5 during the same span. And I expect Sinner to embrace the energy of the partisan Italian crowd, rather than letting nerves overcome him. Jannik’s experience of playing this event in the same city two years ago will be helpful, and he’s matured considerably as a player during 2023.
Other Notable Matches on Sunday:
Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek (1) vs. Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni (7) – Dodig and Krajicek claimed four titles this season, though they haven’t reached a final since June. Gonzalez and Molteni claimed five titles, going 5-0 in finals this year.
Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin (4) vs. Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos (5) – Gonzalez and Roger-Vasselin are also five-time champions in 2023, and arrive on an eight-match win streak after winning both Basel and Bercy. Granollers and Zeballos earned just one title this season, but were also finalists at Wimbledon.
Novak Djokovic (1) vs. Holger Rune (8) – They have split four previous meetings, all of which have been fascinating encounters. Just over a week ago in the quarterfinals of the Paris Masters, Djokovic prevailed 6-4 in the third after nearly three hours, avenging a loss in the final of the same tournament a year prior. This is Rune’s ATP Finals debut, while this is a 16th appearance for Novak, who holds a record of 46-17 at this event.
Sunday’s full Order of Play is here.
