ATP Finals preview: Medvedev can cap golden year with Italian victory

Although both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal aren’t in attendance, the remainder of the world’s best tennis players are taking part in the ATP Finals, which takes place for the first time in Turin. With eight of the top-nine in the world gracing the Italian courts, it’s set to be a thrilling week of tennis and here is our look ahead to the tournament.

Ahead of the start of the season-ending event for the eight highest-ranked players in the world, which gets under way on Sunday, we’ve previewed the key action.

Djokovic is the man to beat again

It’s very obvious to say but as is the case with virtually every tournament he plays in, Novak Djokovic is the man to beat in Turin. We hadn’t seen the Serb since he was dominated by Daniil Medvedev in the US Open final, but he showed no ring rust when he took home the Paris Masters title at the beginning of November. Although he got the job done in the end, he did drop sets on three occasions, including to Marton Fucsovics in the opening round, which showed his game might not quite be where he wants it.

However, a tournament victory can never be sniffed at and Djokovic will be hopeful of winning this title for the sixth time. He has a habit of winning the same tournament on several occasions and with that Paris Masters victory under his belt, he is very much the player all the other seven will know they need to better in order to take home the ATP Finals title. Djokovic is 1/8 to open his account with a win against Casper Ruud.

Russian can go back-to-back

While Djokovic has only played one tournament since that US Open final, Daniil Medvedev has been much busier playing in three tournaments. However, it hasn’t been plain sailing with a solitary loss in the Laver Cup before a remarkable defeat to Grigor Dimitrov in the Indian Wells Masters. The Russian won the first set 6-4 and looked home and hosed when leading 4-1 in the second, but he imploded to lose eight straight games before being knocked out soon after.

It was a defeat that would have hurt, especially as Medvedev was the favourite for the title, but he soon bounced back when reaching the final in Paris last time out. He was obviously beaten by Djokovic there, but this is a player who saves his best for when it really matters, as shown by his win in this event in London last year, as well as his victory at Flushing Meadows. Not many dominate Djokovic in a Grand Slam final the way the Russian did and he could take another major title, this time in Italy. He’s 1/6 to get up and running with a victory over Hubert Hurkacz.

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