This is how the eight ‘masters’ arrived at the ATP Finals 2023: from Alcaraz’s debut to Djokovic’s big challenge

The ATP Finals 2023 They start this Sunday in Turin and look for the ‘master’ of the season in eight days. In an event with the eight best players in the world, Novak Djokovic starts as a great favorite for the title in a tournament where Carlos Alcaraz wants to be the good alternative to achieve it.

After winning his fortieth Masters 1000 a few days ago, Serbian has a new date in history. Of the six titles in his Masters career this seventh would serve to break Roger Federer’s tie and keep the record alone. Furthermore, a victory in one of the matches or a loss in any of them for Alcaraz will prove the final number 1 of the year for the Serbian for the eighth time in his career.

By sensation, Djokovic arrived as a great favorite for an event where Alcaraz He will try to regain the good path he has not fully found since losing to Daniil Medvedev in the US Open semifinals. But the tournament will have six other players ready to surprise and win the title in Turin: Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev You already know what it is to win the tournament and Jannik Sinner, Andrey Rublev and Casper Ruud Their dream is to be included in the record of this event.

Novak Djokovic

-Rank: 1 st
-ATP Finals participations: It is the 16th
-Best results: Champion in 2008, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2022
-Titles in 2023: 6 (Australian Open, Roland Garros, US Open; Cincinnati and Paris Masters 1000; Adelaide)
-Balance in 2023: 51-5
​He is the overwhelming favorite for a title that has eluded him in recent years… until 2022. Djokovic has reclaimed the throne of a tournament he ruled with an iron fist between 2012 and 2015 and arrives in Turin there is a conviction that he can do it. to return to lift the trophy. His moment of form, after his recent Paris-Bercy title, puts him as a strong favorite to achieve it. In addition, he seeks to hold the record for titles in this tournament by himself: a seventh win will allow him to break Roger Federer’s tie with six.

2

Carlos Alcaraz

-Rank: 2nd
-ATP Finals participations: This is the 1st
-Best results: debutante
-Titles in 2023: 6 (Wimbledon; Indian Wells and Madrid Masters 1000; Buenos Aires, Barcelona and Queen’s)
-Balance in 2023: 63-10
Debutant after missing last season’s edition due to injury, he is another good candidate for the title. To do so, however, he will need to recover the good feelings he has not shown since his loss in the semifinals of the US Open against Daniil Medvedev. Neither the Asian tour nor the recent Paris-Bercy Masters 1000 saw Alcaraz with his usual spark, so the Murcian hopes that the motivation of playing in one of the most important tennis tournaments will be a plus to recover. .

3

Daniel Medvedev

-Rank: 3rd
-ATP Finals participations: This is the 5th
-Best results: Champion in 2020
-Titles in 2023: 5 (Miami and Rome Masters 1000; Rotterdam, Doha, Dubai)
-Balance in 2023: 64-16
One of the players who best adapts to indoor hard court conditions, despite the fact that last year he came to the tournament far from his best form. Despite an early setback in Paris against Grigor Dimitrov, the Russian held his own late in the season in his finals at the US Open and the Beijing and Vienna tournaments. He is one of the great threats for Djokovic and Alcaraz.

4

Jannik Sinner

-Rank: 4th
-ATP Finals participations: This is the 2nd
-Best results: Group stage in 2021
-Titles in 2023: 4 (Canada Masters 1000; Montpellier, Beijing and Vienna)
-Balance in 2023: 57-14
Because of his style of play, he adapts very well to indoor hard courts and arrives at a good time after covering tournaments in Beijing and Vienna in recent weeks. However, his greatest asset so far has been the big tournaments, with this year’s Wimbledon semi-finals the first time he has broken the quarter-final barrier. Perhaps this situation can reduce favoritism with respect to other rivals.

5

Andrey Rublev

-Rank: 5th
The-ATP Finals participations: This is the 4th
-Best results: Semifinals in 2022
-Titles in 2023: 2 (Monte Carlo and Bastard)
-Balance in 2023: 56-23
Indoor hard court conditions are not the a priori that best suit his tennis, but the fact is that he has been performing at a high level on them in recent weeks. Finalist in Shanghai and semi-finalist in Vienna and Paris, he put Djokovic in a lot of trouble in the French capital. Therefore, without being one of the favorites, he is looking to give more than a scare to repeat his presence in the semifinals that he already played last year.

6

Stefanos Tsitsipas

-Rank: 6th
-ATP Finals participations: This is the 5th
-Best results: Champion in 2019
-Titles in 2023: 1 (Los Cabos)
-Balance in 2023: 51-22
The figures suggest that he has had one of his worst seasons in recent years, despite his promise after his first Australian Open final. He also lost to Godó and, since then, has barely seen a title shot in Los Cabos. Without regular results, without finding his best game in the second half of the season, he experienced his most outstanding moments of this season precisely in his semifinals in recent weeks in Vienna and Paris. They must improve in order to aim to advance in a tournament where, after their 2019 title, they have not passed the first stage for three years.

7

Casper Ruud

-Rank: 7th
-ATP Finals participations: This is the 3rd
-Best results: Finalist in 2022
-Titles in 2023: 1 (Estoril)
-Balance in 2023: 37-23
He is almost invisible off the clay in a season where his results on hard courts are very cautious. The weight of his final at Roland Garros was key for him to get the ticket to try to regain confidence in a tournament where he has been perfectly suited in recent years, with a semi-final in 2021 and the last defeat against to Djokovic last year .. Of course, sensationally he seems to be far from the candidates for the title.

8

Alexander Zverev

-Rank: 8th
The-ATP Finals participations: This is the 6th
-Best results: Champion in 2018 and 2021
-Titles in 2023: 2 (Hamburg and Chengdu)
-Balance in 2023: 53-26
He has secured his ticket at the last minute in a season he has struggled with since a serious injury sustained last year at Roland Garros. Far from his best level in terms of sensations and results, only at the Parisian Grand Slam and the American tour occasionally he remembered the best Zverev. But the ATP Finals is a tournament he loves, he has been crowned twice and will try to get a good result to start 2024 in a good mood.