Djokovic favourite for 'the best of best'

TURIN • Winning on the ATP Tour means surviving perpetual battles of endurance inside a war of attrition. Relentless baseline rallies lead to longer and more draining matches in a season that runs nearly the whole year.

There was additional concern that, after the Covid-shortened 2020 season, this term's schedule might take an even greater toll as players get back into shape.

Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem were sidelined by injuries and, at the Paris Masters last week, Stefanos Tsitsipas retired with a nagging arm injury.

He said he dropped out to preserve his shot at an even bigger prize, the year-end ATP Finals, which starts today.

The Finals, which moves this year to Turin, Italy from London, is what the game's elite have been grinding to reach. It has the game's top eight players split into two groups of four in a round-robin format, before two from each half advance to the semi-finals.

Paul Annacone, who coached Pete Sampras and Federer and is a Tennis Channel analyst, believes players will always aim to make it to the ATP Finals to feel a sense of accomplishment, no matter how tedious the season gets.

"They understand the magnitude of this event, featuring the best of best, so they'll do whatever they can to win," he added.

The players said that they would indeed play through their fatigue after a gruelling season.

Alexander Zverev, Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev also said they would not change tactics with bigger serves or ground strokes, more drop shots or rushing to the net - just for the sake of ending points quickly to preserve their energy.

"I'll play the way I play," said Zverev, who in his US Open semi-final against Novak Djokovic, won a 53-shot rally in a game where the other five points averaged nearly 20 shots each.

Tsitsipas said his game had not changed just because of the time of year, so the players' strategies would not budge much either.

The Serb is seeking a record-equalling sixth ATP Finals title, following a historic season in which he clinched the first three Grand Slams of the year. Having won 27 of 28 matches at the Majors this campaign, he is one for the biggest stages and the favourite to win in Turin.

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS (Gre), 23 World ranking: 4

The 2019 champion reached a career-high ranking of No. 3 this season, captured his first ATP Masters 1000 title in Monte Carlo and entered his first Grand Slam final at Roland Garros.

ANDREY RUBLEV (Rus), 24 World ranking: 5

The rising star won his eighth ATP Tour title in Rotterdam in March and helped his country win the ATP Cup and was runner-up at two Masters 1000 tournaments in Monte-Carlo and Cincinnati.

CASPER RUUD (Nor), 22 World ranking: 8

A new face at the ATP Finals, he became the first player to win three titles (Nordea Open, Swiss Open and the Generali Open) in as many weeks since Andy Murray in 2011.

RED GROUP

DANIIL MEDVEDEV (Rus) 25; world ranking: 2

After claiming his first Slam title at the US Open by beating Djokovic, world No. 2 is on a high. He is possibly the closest rival to Djokovic after losing to the Serb in the finals of the Australian Open and last week's Paris Masters.

The 2018 champion has won five titles this year, highlighted by his singles gold at the Tokyo Olympics. He also added two Masters 1000 trophies in Madrid and Cincinnati.

The runner-up at Wimbledon and the Madrid Open won two titles - the Serbia Open and the Queen's Club Championships. He also helped Italy reach the ATP Cup final.

The debutant became the lowest-ranked (No. 37) Masters 1000 champion in 16 years at the Miami Open. He also shocked Medvedev and Roger Federer en route to the last four of Wimbledon.

"If there's some sort of difference it will be very small," he said.

Rublev felt that Tsitsipas, who had the ability to charge the net and the finesse to win on drop shots, was perhaps best suited to change his game if the match demanded it, whereas he was set in his ways.

"I'm an aggressive player, and I like to be the one to lead the rally, to dictate the point," he said. "This is the goal for all the matches."

The home crowd should give an advantage to world No. 7 Matteo Berrettini, the only Italian.

"Berrettini has a huge serve and a huge forehand, so he can keep points short," Annacone said.

"And this is a new event for Italy, featuring one of their top young superstars, so I expect the crowd to sound like a concert of Italian fanatics. Berrettini could be right there with the top players."

Annacone also said Daniil Medvedev and Zverev had a strong shot at winning because they had improved their stamina, playing excellent tennis since the summer. He added that they had big serves and first strikes, so they could shorten points without changing tactics.

And Zverev proved his staying power in those long US Open rallies, while Medvedev thrived on counter-punching and could wear tired opponents down, Annacone added. By contrast, Tsitsipas and Rublev have faltered in the second half of the season, making them less likely to survive this gauntlet.

Still, Djokovic, the world No 1, remains the favourite. While the second-ranked Medvedev beat him in the US Open final, and in last year's ATP Finals, the Serb has not lost an ATP match in the last two years to any of the other competitors.

Djokovic, who won three Grand Slams this year, also took time off after the US Open, meaning he may be fresher than his rivals.

"I just felt like I needed that break in order to rejuvenate and try to get ready for a strong finish to the season," said the 34-year-old, who is aiming to emulate Federer's six ATP Finals titles.

"Playing at the highest level against the top eight every single match is high intensity. With a semi-full tank you maybe can't play at your best here, which is what you need to do in every single match."

NYTIMES, REUTERS