Can Sinner end eventful year with a title? ATP Finals lowdown
The frenzied scene which greeted Jannik Sinner when he arrived at the ATP Finals is an indication of how eventful his season has been.
The Italian world number one, mobbed by home fans and photographers in Turin earlier this week, has been the dominant player in the men’s game this year – and the central figure in an ongoing doping controversy.
Sinner is back on home turf looking to cap a successful season with a first triumph at the season-ending Finals, where eight singles players and eight doubles teams do battle.
The Australian and US Open champion has been drawn in a group alongside Russia’s Daniil Medvedev, American Taylor Fritz and Australian debutant Alex de Minaur.
Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz, who won the French Open and Wimbledon this year, faces Germany’s Alexander Zverev, Norway’s Casper Ruud and Russia’s Andrey Rublev.
Serbia’s Novak Djokovic qualified as the sixth-best player but pulled out of the event, which he has won a record seven times.
In the doubles, Britain’s Henry Patten makes his tournament debut. The 28-year-old teamed up with Finland’s Harri Heliovaara in April, winning the Wimbledon title and finishing as the seventh-best team this season.
The eight-day tournament starts on Sunday, culminating with the final on 17 November.
Sinner, whose unassuming personality contrasts with his ferocious hitting, landed his first major title in Melbourne as he lost just once going into April. Shock news arrived in August that he had failed two doping tests but he was allowed to continue playing as an independent panel accepted there was “no fault or negligence” on his part. He went on to win the US Open and has been beaten only once in his past 23 matches.
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