The Nitto ATP Finals will close out the year on the men's circuit. The eight best rackets in the world, although without the injured Carlos Alcaraz, current number 1, will try to become the new masters of tennis at the Pala Alpitour in Turin between November 13 and 20, including the Spanish Rafa Nadal, who in his long and successful career he has yet to win this tournament.
The Spaniard, who has only played six games since his injury in July in the Wimbledon quarterfinals, the last one being an unexpected defeat against Tommy Paul in Paris-Bercy, will appear without rhythm on the Turin court and will try to qualify for the semifinals ( the first two pass) in the a priori most affordable group.
The current number 2 in the world has been framed in this Thursday's draw in the 'green group' with Casper Ruud, Félix Auger-Aliassime and Taylor Fritz, Alcaraz's substitute. In this way, Nadal has avoided Novak Djokovic, Stéfanos Tsitsipás, Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev, who make up the 'red group', much more demanding on paper.
Despite not arriving at the event in the best shape, Nadal will face three rivals with whom, being in full physical condition, he has never lost. He beat Aliassime, a pupil of his uncle Toni Nadal, in the 2019 Madrid tournament and in the last edition of Roland Garros, where he also beat Ruud in the final.
Against Fritz he did lose the Indian Wells final this year, although the man from Manacor was clearly affected by a crack in his ribs. The American met a physically diminished Nadal again in the 2022 Wimbledon quarterfinals, but on that occasion the Spaniard overcame his problems to achieve an epic victory that however prevented him from taking the court in the semifinals.
Nadal has only reached the final of this tournament twice, in 2010 and 2013, a goal that he will have to repeat in order to snatch the number 1 from his compatriot Alcaraz. The Spaniard did not participate in the previous edition of the Nitto ATP Finals due to persistent discomfort in his battered left foot. Injuries also kept him out of the tournament in 2005, 2008, 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018.
The current champion of the Australian Open and Roland Garros, who has recently become a father at 36 years old, last participated in the ATP finals in 2020, when he fell in the semifinals against Medvedev. The Russian, who lost the 2021 final to the German Alexander Zverev, recently won the Vienna tournament, but is not in his best form, eliminated the first time in Paris against De Miñaur.
Despite being classified as number 8 in the world, the great rival to beat in the 'red group' is Djokovic, winner of the Nitto ATP Finals five times (2008, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015). After being absent on the American tour, due to his refusal to be vaccinated against covid, the Serbian has been approaching his level. The Wimbledon champion has won two tournaments recently, although to a lesser extent in Tel Aviv and Kazakhstan, and lost last Sunday the final of the Paris Masters against the young Dane Holger Rune.
Djokovic won both in Kazakhstan and in Paris against Tsitsipas, who also lost the Stockholm final to Rune just a few weeks ago. For his part, Rublev, a player always dangerous but initially inferior (he has not yet passed the quarterfinals in a Grand Slam) is emerging as the outsider of a 'group of death' that promises surprises. Nadal, for his part, will try to make his way.
