The Nitto ATP Finals began on Sunday, and the question everybody is asking is: will Novak Djokovic triumph again? The tournament kicked off in Turin for the second year running, and will see the top 8 ranked men’s players face off against each other. The players have been subdivided into two groups, with the top two from each advancing to the semifinals. This time around, Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Holger Rune have been draw in the blue group. The red group, on the other hand, comprises of Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev and Alexander Zverev. Let’s take a closer look at the groups and predict the final winner of this amazing tournament.
Blue Group
This group may look straightforward, but don’t underestimate Tsitsipas (who won the tournament in 2019), and young star Holger Rune. In the first games, Sinner defeated Tsitsipas in straight sets, while Djokovic needed three to beat Rune after losing the first. Today, the two winners will face each other for likely top spot in the group and a semifinal berth. Sinner has had tremendous trouble in recent years when playing Djokovic, but perhaps facing him in front of his home crowd will help the Italian. If Sinner wants to achieve the next level, he must defeat Djokovic in a major setting such as this one in Turin. Whether that happens or not, we see both Djokovic and Sinner advancing to the semifinals, as both will have to much for Tsitsipas and Rune in the following set of matches.
Djokovic to win Blue Group – 1.45
Sinner to win Blue Group – 2,65
Rune to win Blue Group – 21.00
Tsitsipas to win Blue Group – 35.00
Red Group
Interestingly, the top seeded player from this group – Alcaraz – lost his first match against Sasha Zverev. Zverev is rapidly returning to his old levels after the nasty injury suffered at the French Open 18 months ago. This is Alcaraz’s first ATP Finals appearance, and this first loss shouldn’t bother him too much as long as he manages to beat Rublev on Wednesday, which is no easy feat though. The other game, Zverev VS Medvedev – who beat Rublev on Monday – will likely determine the winner of this group. If Zverev takes home the victory, Medvedev will have the though task of taking on Alcaraz in the last match to qualify. Even though he has lost the fist match, we see the Spanish star as getting through this group, with Zverev winning it, but don’t be surprised if Medvedev ultimately wins all three group games.
Medvedev to win Red Group – 1.76
Zverev to win Red Group – 2.90
Alcaraz to win Red Group – 6.20
Rublev to win Red Group – 11.00
If these prediction come to pass, the semifinal pairing would be Zverev VS Sinner and Djokovic VS Alcaraz. We couldn’t ask for a better pair of games. Zverev and Sinner played each other last in the US Open Round of 16, where the German defeated the Italian. That game was the second-longest in the history of the Open, lasting almost five hours. On the other hand, Alcaraz and Djokovic met in the Wimbledon final in July, where the Spanish star won his second Grand Slam. These would be amazing games for tennis fans to witness, and we would likely give Djokovic the benefit of the doubt, as the 36-year old consistently demonstrates he can still outmatch the younger stars in any tournament. Djokovic to triumph again therefore? We believe so!
Djokovic to win ATP Finals – 2.19
Sinner to Win ATP Finals – 4.00
Medvedev to Win ATP Finals – 4.40
Zverev to Win ATP Finals – 8.40
Alcaraz to win ATP Finals – 10.00