Novak Djokovic stepped up his quest for a record-equalling sixth Nitto ATP Finals crown Wednesday when he defeated Andrey Rublev 6-4, 6-1 to reach the semi-finals in Turin.

The Serbian, who overcame Stefanos Tsitsipas in his opening Red Group match, soaked up Rublev’s powerful forehand during the first set, demonstrating great agility to hang in points in the quick indoor conditions to frustrate the sixth seed.

The former World No. 1 also fired his watertight backhand with great depth to dictate baseline exchanges, committing just six unforced errors to seal his 43rd victory of the season in 68 minutes.

“I played very, very well. One of the best matches of the year without a doubt,” Djokovic said. “He is a tough opponent. A great competitor. He possesses a lot of strengths in his game. I managed to find the right attitude and the right game.

“In the 10th game of the first set, I think he was 40/30 and we played a long rally and I just stayed in there and told myself chances will come. He went down in his energy a little in the second [set] and I wanted to use the momentum and energy from my side in the first few games and it was a flawless second set.”

The 35-year-old now holds a 2-1 ATP Head2Head series lead against Rublev, having also moved past the 25-year-old at the prestigious year-end event last season. Djokovic will face Daniil Medvedev in his final round-robin match Friday.

Djokovic is aiming to tie Roger Federer’s record six titles at the event. He has not lifted the Brad Drewett Trophy since 2015, though, with his best results since then final runs in 2016 and 2018. Djokovic, who triumphed in Tel Aviv and Astana last month, lost to eventual champion Alexander Zverev at the semi-final stage last year.

The Serbian was impressive on return against Rublev, striking with great depth and precision to quickly neutralise points.

Sixth seed Rublev is 1-1 in Red Group action, having earned a comeback win against Medvedev earlier this week. Making his third appearance, Rublev will try to reach the semi-finals for the first time when he plays 2019 champion Tsitsipas on Friday.

Did You Know?
Djokovic is the second singles player to qualify for the semi-finals after Casper Ruud advanced from Green Group on Tuesday night.

Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic earned a statement win Wednesday at the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, where the Croatian duo defeated top seeds Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski 6-4, 7-6(3) to reach the semi-finals at the prestigious season finale for the second consecutive year.

There was a former Nitto ATP Finals champion on both sides of the net in Wednesday’s clash. Koolhof and Mektic lifted the trophy together in London in 2020, but it was Mektic and Pavic, the 14-time tour-level title-winning team, who marginally retained the upper hand throughout a high-quality 93-minute encounter.

“It is great to know that we have qualified after two matches,” Pavic said. “It was a great match. Not easy to play them. They had a great season, full of confidence. We have played them once before and we won and now again, so we have a great match up against them. We are happy to be through.”

Mektic and Pavic made a fast start at the Pala Alpitour, where they clinched the sole break of the first set in the opening game. The fourth seeds were both strong behind serve, with Pavic’s swinging lefty delivery proving particularly effective as the pair fired 10 aces and saved three of three break points. They clinched a crucial mini-break on the opening point of the second-set tie-break that proved enough to secure the win and move to 2-0 in Green Group.

“The match could not have started better for us,” Mektic said. “That was the crucial point in the match. We started with the lead and that is a big advantage on these courts. In the second set we were very confident on our serve, having good looks and making good chances on return.”

Mektic and Pavic arrived in Turin seeking to become ATP Tour champions for the sixth time this year. The duo won at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in May, when it also defeated Koolhof and Skupski in the quarter-finals on the Rome clay. The pair then lifted trophies in Geneva, at The Queen’s Club in London, in Eastbourne and in Astana.

Dutchman Koolhof and Briton Skupski, who defeated Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios in a Match Tie-break in their opening match, are now 1-1 this week in Turin. They will next take on Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek in their final Green Group match on Friday as they seek to join Mektic and Pavic in the semi-finals.

Which tennis players entertained you or caught your eye during the 2022 ATP Tour season? Show your support by casting your vote in the Fans’ Favourite Awards!

Select your favourite singles player and doubles team from the dropdowns below, submit your vote and stay tuned over the coming weeks as we celebrate players and tournaments in the 2022 ATP Awards.

Voting for the 2022 Fans’ Favourite Awards closes at 11:59pm GMT on Friday, 2 December.

If you have already cast your vote, you have the option to change your selection through the dropdown menu during the voting period, but your last submission will be the only one recorded. 

Note: Fans’ Favourite candidates are active players in the Top 100 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings and Top 25 teams in the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Team Rankings as of 7 November 2022. The Top 100 includes players with protected ATP Rankings who have played at least one tour-level match in 2022. Candidates with protected rankings are noted in the list with (PR). 

As Awards season gets underway, we pay tribute to 19-time Fans’ Favourite winner Roger Federer, who stepped into retirement earlier this year. The Swiss won a record 40 ATP Awards during his prolific career, including Fans’ Favourite from 2003-21. Thanks for the memories, Roger!

After Rafael Nadal became the first man to be eliminated from semi-final contention at the 2022 Nitto ATP Finals, Wednesday’s action will see Stefanos Tsitsipas and Daniil Medvedev playing to avoid the same fate.

An evening defeat for either man would deal a major dent in his hopes to progress out of the Red Group, while the winner of the afternoon matchup between Novak Djokovic and Andrey Rublev could have his place in the knockout rounds confirmed by day’s end.

In doubles action, top seeds Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski meet Croatians Mate Pavic and Nikola Mektic in a battle of 1-0 teams, while Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios face Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek as both pairs seek their first win of the week.

View Schedule | View Group Standings | Semi-final Qualification Scenarios

[2] Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) vs. [4] Daniil Medvedev

The 11th meeting in the longstanding ATP Head2Head rivalry between Tsitsipas and Medvedev will play out at the Pala Alpitour as the pair meets at the Nitto ATP Finals for a second time. After Medvedev won the first five meetings, Tsitsipas has claimed three of the past five to improve to 3-7 in their history. The Greek scored his first win in the series at the 2019 Nitto ATP Finals and went on to win the London title in his tournament debut.

Though both men lost their opening matches on Monday in Turin, both can take plenty of positives from their narrow defeats. Tsitsipas was broken just once in a 6-4, 7-6(4) loss to Djokovic, while Medvedev was edged 6-7(7), 6-3, 7-6(7) by Rublev.

Tsitsipas felt he was nearing top form late in the match against Djokovic, though the Serbian was still able to close out the tie-break with strong serving.

“I kind of found [my backhand] in the last rally we had before he served those two great serves,” Tsitsipas said post-match. “I found a rhythm, I got into the rally a little bit better, a few adjustments that I made. I just wish I could have done this earlier. I don’t know, certain things come at random times in matches, completely random. Could be the very last points of the match.”

Medvedev was generally happy with his performance against Rublev, though he sees plenty of room to grow.

“There are some matches where you feel like you’re untouchable, and you know that everything you do — let’s put it this way — turns into gold. Today was not one of them,” he said.

“I didn’t feel amazing during the match,” he later added. “I would enjoy it if I would feel better in terms of tennis. But, again, looking back, [we played] some great points. This can make you play better and turn things into gold in the next matches.”

While Medvedev and Tsitsipas described an adjustment period in their first match on the slick Turin hard court, both players also said they like the quick indoor conditions. If Tsitsipas plays with similar tactics to his three-set Cincinnati win against Medvedev — during which he attacked the net 36 times — the speedy court could help him take even more time away from his opponent.

[6] Andrey Rublev vs. [7] Novak Djokovic (SER)

With lead of the Red Group at stake, Rublev and Djokovic square off for the second straight year in Turin. Djokovic scored a 6-3, 6-2 victory on his way to the 2021 semi-finals, and another straight-sets win here would secure his place in the final four once again. 

The pair’s ATP Head2Head series is knotted at 1-1 entering Wednesday, with Rublev spoiling the Serbian’s run in the final of his hometown tournament in Belgrade earlier this year. While Djokovic was short of his best after a long layoff in that April meeting, fading down the stretch as he surrendered a 6-0 third set, Rublev’s victory will nonetheless give him confidence entering Wednesday.

The sixth seed escaped a dramatic opening match against Medvedev that was chock full of highlight shots and marathon rallies. But Rublev may have been most proud of his mental composure in the contest.

“I’m trying to work on [my mental game]. Obviously I think the match today shows that I have improvements,” he said. “It’s just not easy to do it like this. It takes time. Especially me, myself, I have so much fire inside, it’s double tougher for me.

“Every person has his own weaknesses. For some players it’s tough to play aggressive; it takes time for them to learn how to play aggressive. Or opposite, to play more defence, to learn how to play defence. For some players it’s tough to improve serve. For some players it’s tough to improve the mental part.

“I guess I’m one of the ones who it’s tough to improve the mental part, and it takes the most time… It’s like the same with the forehand, backhand. If you have not good forehand or weak backhand, it takes a really long time to improve it. I know it by myself because all my life I had a really bad backhand, and it took me years to improve, to be able to be solid or hit sometimes winners. It took me years to improve. So it takes time.”

As he seeks his first trip to the knockout rounds at the Nitto ATP Finals, the sixth seed will have both his mentality and his backhand tested by Djokovic.

The former world No. 1 is a master at prodding weaknesses. Against Tsitsipas, he took advantage of a slow start from the Greek to claim his only break of the match and kept the pressure on by holding in each of his 11 service games, facing just one break point. Now it’s Rublev’s turn to take the stress test.

As is so often the case with Djokovic, he is up against history in addition to a dangerous opponent. The five-time Nitto ATP Finals champ is bidding to match Roger Federer’s record six titles at the year-end event.

“Of course I’m aware of it,” Djokovic said of the opportunity. “Making history in this sport is always a big motivational factor for me. It doesn’t maybe necessarily affect the whole approach to the specific match, because I’m experienced enough and I know myself well and what I need to do in order to prepare for my next challenge and next opponent.

“But of course I’m aware of the possibility to make history again. It’s a great pleasure and honour to be in that position. So it does motivate me and inspire me to play even better tennis.”

Doubles Action

After both Green Group doubles contests were decided in Match Tie-breaks on Day 2, the four teams return to action on Wednesday with little separation in the standings. Following a 6-7(3), 6-4, 10-5 defeat to top seeds Koolhof and Skupski, Nitto ATP Finals debutants Kokkinakis and Kyrgios seek their first win at the event against Krajicek and Dodig.

“I think we had every opportunity to win this match today,” Kyrgios said after the opener. “Me and Thanasi are probably the outliers of every other doubles player here. We like to prioritise singles and we know we’re the better tennis players at the end of the day.”

The popular pair competed at just one event between the US Open and Turin — a semi-final run in Tokyo that was cut short by a Kyrgios knee injury.

Krajicek and Dodig lost 6-4, 3-6, 10-7 against Croatians Mektic and Pavic on Monday and enter Day 4 in third place in the group with a superior percentage of games won compared to their Australian opponents.

Koolhof and Skupski will open Wednesday’s play at the Pala Alpitour against Mektic and Pavic, with the group lead up for grabs. The teams previously met in the Rome quarter-finals in May, with the Croatians earning a 6-4, 6-4 win en route to the ATP Masters 1000 title.

After every match on the ATP Tour there is discussion around keys to the action. Jean-Julien Rojer added a new one to that list Tuesday at the Nitto ATP Finals: a haircut.

“I wanted to get a haircut that I usually don’t wear and a little bit more aggressive of a cut. Maybe it helps me be more aggressive on the court,” Rojer told ATPTour.com. “But the funny part is yesterday when I went to fix my hair, my barber here, Gianmarco, [told] me if I wanted to play well, I should touch my hair when I walk out to the court or in important moments.

“If you watch the match back, I’m just touching the hair the whole match. But nothing behind the haircut, just a little bit of fun and a different haircut than what I normally would have.”

It worked for the Dutchman, who with the power of a fresh mohawk partnered El Salvador’s Marcelo Arevalo on Tuesday to a 6-1, 6-7(3), 10-7 win against Spaniard Marcel Granollers and Argentine Horacio Zeballos.

From Sunday to Tuesday, fans could see a noticeable difference in the 41-year-old’s hairstyle. Rojer on Monday visited Gianmarco Tessier, the tournament hairdresser, who buzzed the hair off the sides of his head.

“I went first to a guy who does my hair in Amsterdam and then when I came here, Gianmarco at La Stampa [practice courts] ended up fixing it,” Rojer said. “My guy in Amsterdam didn’t quite do it the way that I wanted to and I wanted it a little bit more of an aggressive look, so I went to this guy to tweak it for me.”

^{Photo Credit: Gianmarco Tessier}
Sure enough, Rojer heeded Tessier’s advice. If you rewatch the match, you can see Rojer patting his head as he walked on centre court at the Pala Alpitour.

“I wanted a different haircut and a different vibe,” Rojer said. “It worked today. I was touching my hair on the court, thinking about my barber Gianmarco and it worked.”

Tessier’s family owns two salons in Rome, and he has dressed hair at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia since 2015. A former junior tennis player who said he once defeated Matteo Berrettini in the juniors, Tessier has enjoyed helping the competitors feel their best in Turin.

“All the players are fantastic… Rojer is very funny,” Tessier said. “I like my job. It’s fantastic to be here.”

Look good. Feel good. Play good. The Dutchman is feeling positive vibes leading into his team’s last match of round-robin play.

“[It was] important to get in the win column for sure and give ourselves a chance to hopefully go through to the semis depending on what happens. It’s just good that we’re here, we’ve had a good year,” Rojer said. “I think we’re deserving to be there with a chance for the semi-finals, so we’re happy with the win today. We worked hard for it and I think it’s fitting with the kind of year that we’ve had.”

He was pushed all the way in a night-session thriller on Tuesday, but Casper Ruud is a Nitto ATP Finals semi-finalist once again.

The third seed prevailed 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(6) in a high-powered clash against Taylor Fritz at the season finale in Turin to confirm his progression from Green Group. The Norwegian backed up his opening victory against Felix Auger-Aliassime by holding his nerve in the deciding-set tie-break to claim a tense two-hour, 12-minute victory.

After the pair split an opening two sets largely dominated by serve, a moment of Fritz magic maintained parity in the decider as the American saved a break point at 2-2, 40/A with a stunning diving backhand volley. Yet Ruud stayed solid throughout the third set, facing no break points and producing some heavy-hitting in a dramatic tie-break that saw Fritz save two match points from 4/6 before the Norwegian sealed his triumph in the pair’s first ATP Head2Head meeting.

“Only a couple of points decide a match like this,” Ruud said. “Fortunately for me, they went my way at the end. I was 5/1 up in the tie-break and he turned it around. He played some great points and hit some incredible winners to come back to 6/6. I hesitated a little bit at 6/4, but that is normal.

“There was a lot at stake… I am sad for Taylor, but I was so happy to see that last forehand sail long. To book my place in the semi-finals felt great.”

Ruud is a three-time champion on the ATP Tour this season. The 23-year-old lifted trophies on clay in Buenos Aires, Geneva and Gstaad, and he will now compete in the Nitto ATP Finals for the second consecutive year. The Norwegian reached the same stage on tournament debut in 2021, when he fell to Daniil Medvedev.

After winning just two matches in four tour-level tournaments prior to Turin, Ruud was happy with the way he has regained his best form at the Pala Alpitour.

“I think my movement has been much better in recent weeks,” Ruud said. “I feel I am moving better now than in the past months. You will face tougher moments in periods of your career when you are heavier in the legs, and they aren’t working. But here in Turin they are working well.

“Every time you feel your movement is good it gives you confidence, knowing you can reach a couple of extra balls.”

Ruud made a rapid start against Fritz in the fast conditions at the Pala Alpitour. He piled the pressure on the American early with clean hitting off both wings and claimed the only break of the opening set in the second game.

Fritz recovered well from that disappointment, slowing his opponent’s momentum with some big serving. He dropped just one point behind his first delivery in the second set and produced some clean baseline hitting in the 10th game to break the Norwegian’s serve and force a decider.

After Fritz pulled off his stunning volley and then fired an ace to save two break points at 2-2, a contest of fine margins came to a thrilling climax in the third-set tie-break. Fritz saved two match points from 4/6, but Ruud stayed consistent to outlast the American and seal his semi-final berth.

The close-fought nature of the match was reflected by the winner count. Both players hit 36 winners, including 14 aces for Ruud and 15 for Fritz.

When Rafael Nadal was eliminated from semi-final contention at the Nitto ATP Finals on Tuesday evening, history was made. Nineteen-year-old Carlos Alcaraz will become the youngest year-end ATP No. 1 presented by Pepperstone in history (since 1973), making him the first teen to accomplish the feat.

The Spaniard has enjoyed an unforgettable rise in 2022, ascending from World No. 32 at the start of the year to the top of the men’s tennis mountain on 12 September. That is the biggest jump to No. 1 in 50 editions of the year-end Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Before this year, the youngest year-end ATP No. 1 was Lleyton Hewitt, who was aged 20 years, 275 days when he did it in 2001. Alcaraz will be 19 years, 214 days on 5 December, the 2022 year-end ranking date following the last ATP Challenger Tour events of the season.

Alcaraz is the 18th year-end ATP No. 1 presented by Pepperstone in history and the first outside the Big Four of Novak Djokovic (7), Roger Federer (5), Nadal (5) and Andy Murray (1) since Andy Roddick in 2003. The 19-year-old joins Nadal (2008, 2010, 2013, 2017 and 2019) as Spanish year-end No. 1s.

The 2021 Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals champion made an early splash this year when he became the youngest ATP 500 champion in series history (since 2009) at the Rio Open presented by Claro. The Spaniard followed that victory with his maiden ATP Masters 1000 triumph in Miami.

Alcaraz led the Tour with two Masters 1000 crowns (Miami and Madrid) and five titles overall in 2022. In Madrid, he eliminated Nadal, Djokovic and then-World No. 3 Alexander Zverev in consecutive matches to lift the trophy.

Alcaraz’s biggest title run was at the US Open, where he became the youngest men’s singles winner at the American major since 19-year-old Pete Sampras in 1990. He is the youngest Grand Slam champion in men’s singles since 19-year-old Nadal at Roland Garros in 2005.

The teen completed his year with a 57-13 record, including nine wins from 14 matches against Top 10 opponents.

Renowned for his high-speed hitting, Casper Ruud immediately brought his free-flowing best to the 2022 Nitto ATP Finals. He downed Felix Auger-Aliassime in straight sets in his Green Group opener on Sunday in Turin and will seek a similar result on Tuesday against Taylor Fritz.

But when it comes to spending time in Italy, how does the Norwegian’s off-court taste compare to his on-court intensity? When asked by ATPTour.com about what he would do if given the choice between attending a Serie A match and watching the historic Italian Grand Prix at Monza, the Norwegian leant towards the more high-octane experience.

“Depends which match, but Monza would be awesome to watch one day,” said the 23-year-old. Ruud would also opt for a climb up the famous volcano Mount Vesuvius, which towers 1,281 metres above the Bay of Naples, ahead of another history-filled trip to the Colosseum in Rome.

“The climb would be fun, I think,” said the nine-time tour-level titlist. “I have visited the Colosseum before so it’s an easy choice.”

Ruud is chasing his maiden title in Italy, where he reached his fifth ATP Masters 1000 semi-final in May at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome. Yet despite his fond memories from that week on the clay of the Italian capital, he is less-than-sold on one particularly renowned aspect of Italian culture — coffee.

“Cappuccino,” said Ruud, when asked to choose between drinking the milky-style drink and an Espresso. “[But] I would just have the skimmed milk on top with the cream, because I don’t drink coffee.”

As for a trip to the cinema to watch The Godfather or The Italian job, Ruud would stick what he knows. “I don’t really know the Italian Job,” said the Norwegian. “So [I would choose] The Godfather.”

Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury edged closer to the semi-finals at the Nitto ATP Finals Tuesday when they downed Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara 7-5, 6-4 to improve to 2-0 in Red Group action.

The second seeds defeated Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos in their opening match and backed up that win with a hard-fought victory against the British-Finnish pair.

In an entertaining clash, both teams produced moments of brilliance throughout the 73-minute clash. However, it was Ram and Salisbury who delivered the key blows when it mattered. They were rewarded for their aggressive returning in the 11th game of the first set when they broke for 6-5, before they won 88 per cent (15/17) of their first-service points in the second set to triumph.

“Really happy to get the win,” Salisbury said. “They’re a tough team, we’ve lost to them twice this year. We’re happy with everything we did out there. They’re a strong serving team, didn’t have many chances but we stuck in there and took the chances we had. We were good on serve as well.”

“The thing is, they’ve just gotten better and better over the year,” Ram said. “We knew we were going to be up against it and we had to bring our best level.”

^{Photo Credit: Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour}
Ram and Salisbury will book their place in the semi-finals if they defeat Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer in their final round-robin match. American Ram, 38, has now earned 400 tour-level doubles wins.

“It’s a pretty big effort, big milestone,” Salisbury said when asked about Ram’s 400th win. “Congratulations. He’s better than ever, even with the age.”

The American-British tandem is aiming to go one step further at the prestigious year-end event this week after reaching the championship match in Turin last year. Ram and Salisbury have enjoyed another impressive season in 2022, winning ATP Masters 1000 crowns in Monte Carlo and Cincinnati, while they also triumphed at the US Open.

Glasspool and Heliovaara now hold a 1-1 record in the Red Group. They will play Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos in their final round-robin match.