Alcaraz avoids Sinner in the ATP Finals draw
Uncertainty surrounds Carlos Alcaraz: Will he be capable? Already in Turin, he is preparing for the ATP Finals that begin on Sunday alongside Brazilian Joao Fonseca, junior number one, and the doubt remains.. They threaten the inflammation in the plantar fascia of the left foot that left him out of the ATP 500 in Basel and the fatigue, above all, the fatigue. In the last tournaments, Shanghai and Paris, Alcaraz was exhausted, exhausted, and barely 10 days have passed. To go far in his first Masters Cup, he will need freshness. And there the unknown.
In the latest training sessions recorded for Instagram and TikTok, he looks fast – against a great talent like Fonseca – but the competition is another thing.. For the first time in several years, the eight best of the year will be in the ATP Finals, with no casualties – last season Alcaraz himself failed, for example -, and the tournament dresses brilliantly. Novak Djokovic is aiming for his seventh victory after winning in Paris, and three other candidates, Daniil Medvedev (2020), Alexander Zverev (2018 and 2021) and Stefanos Tsitsipas (2019) also know what it means to lift the last trophy of the year.
This Thursday at the Turin Olympic Palosport the group draw was held and, in some way, chance helped Alcaraz. While in the green group Djokovic will face Jannik Sinner, Tsitsipas and Holger Rune, the Spaniard's rivals in the red group will be Medvedev, Andrey Rublev and Zverev. A priori, with the ranking, both quartets are similar, but Alcaraz has avoided a danger. Which? This brilliant season, with victories in Wimbledon, Indian Wells and Madrid, Godó, Queen's and Argentina, with an overall balance of 63-10, it is difficult, really difficult to find an opponent who has really committed their game. In fact, there are only four with a favorable head-to-head against the Spaniard in 2023: Djokovic (2-1), the anecdotal Fábián Marozsán (1-0) and Roman Safiullin (1-0) and… Sinner (2-1).
Plenary of Europeans
The Italian, who will also play at home – and today will sign autographs with Alcaraz at the Nike store in the center of Turin – was the great threat of the hype this Thursday and fell on the other side. After Sinner's victories in Miami or Beijing, an early confrontation against him weakened Alcaraz's options and he will wait at least until the semifinals. Medvedev is coming off setbacks in Shanghai and Paris, Zverev is not in great shape either and has not beaten the Spaniard this season and Rublev appears to be the strongest opponent.
To advance to the next round, as always happens, Alcaraz will need to overcome two of them, not an easy challenge.. Yesterday's draw was done in private, but today the classic group photos will be taken where a curiosity can be observed: the eight participants are European. As happened in 2019 and 2021, apart from the army of Americans that comes (Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, Frances Tiafoe or Ben Shelton), only one continent will be represented and practically only one generation.
With Djokovic as the only thirty-year-old, the presence of Alcaraz (20 years old), Rune (20) or Sinner (22) shows that there has already been a generational change. In fact, all three of them were playing in the ATP Next Gen Finals a short time ago.. Also yesterday, in the context of the group draw, the ATP took the opportunity to announce the prizes it will award during the tournament. The 'purse' will far exceed that offered by any of the Grand Slams since the total crash to 15 million dollars and the champion could take home almost five million, the largest heel ever signed in tennis. Just for participating, Djokovic, Alcaraz and company will take home $325,500, each victory in the round robin will mean an extra $390,000 and so it adds up.