Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard is a tennis junkie. Not only is the 19-year-old finding early success on the ATP Challenger Tour, he also manages to watch his close friends, such as Arthur Fils, on Challenger TV.

Amidst all his matches, practices, work outs, travelling, and the minute details that go into a professional tennis player’s life, the Frenchman is a true supporter of his friends.

This week at the Helsinki Challenger, he didn’t have to go online to watch Fils. He was across the net for a first-round qualifying match.

“I try to watch every single match of Arthur’s on Challenger TV,” Mpetshi Perricard told ATPTour.com.

In 2021, ‘Gio’ made his first breakthrough as he partnered with Fils to win the Roland Garros boys’ doubles title. That same week, Fils got the better of him in the boys’ singles semi-final en route to a runner-up finish (l. Van Assche). In Finland, the roles were reversed as Mpetshi Perricard qualified for the Helsinki Challenger main draw. The #NextGenATP Frenchmen are hoping to be among the next generation of top professionals in their country.

“It was nice to win the boys’ doubles title at home with my friend,” Mpetshi Perricard said. “Now when I see the results of Arthur and guys like Gabriel Debru, we push each other in a good way. When we are back training at the [French Tennis] Federation, there is a good atmosphere together.”

The Lyon native, who has competed in just eight Challenger events in his career, is already learning valuable lessons through the highs and lows of the professional circuit. One important learning curve came after a tough loss in May.

“At the Bordeaux Challenger, I lost in qualifying to Salvatore Caruso after having two match points,” Mpetshi Perricard said. “After the match I told myself, ‘Giovanni, you had two match points against a very good player, so you can go higher!’

“The beginning of the season was very complicated for me. I had a shoulder injury and I was sick. Now I’m really happy to be playing at 100 percent.”

This summer, ‘Gio’ advanced through qualifying en route to reaching his first Challenger semi-final at the Liberec Challenger, where he lost to eventual champion Jiri Lehecka. The Frenchman continued to play well on the clay-courts, including the Lima-2 Challenger, where he was a quarter-finalist (l. Coria).

The youngster stands tall at 6’7” and carries an aggressive game style. Boasting a heavy delivery, solid forehand, and a one-handed backhand, ‘Gio’ pounces on any opportunity to close the net.

Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in action at the 2022 Lima-2 Challenger. Credit: @igmachallengers

Coached by Emmanuel Planque, who has previously worked with former Top-25 players Michael Llodra, Lucas Pouille, and Fabrice Santoro, the World No. 382 has his eyes set on following in the footsteps of his French tennis idols Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils to achieve a childhood dream.

“Growing up you see Roland Garros on TV, and I told myself, ‘I want to be there!’” Mpetshi Perricard said.

The Frenchman isn’t the only tennis player in his family with a bright future. His 13-year-old sister Daphnee won the J3 Saint Cyprien ITF event this past month. Giovanni cracked a laugh as he shared that he will never allow her to beat him.

Whether he’s watching his friends on Challenger TV, finding success of his own, or enjoying a sibling rivalry against his younger sister, ‘Gio’ has the sport of tennis flowing through his veins.

Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic moved to within one with of capturing their biggest title of the season Saturday when they clawed past Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara 6-4, 6-7(4), 10-6 to reach the championship match at the Nitto ATP Finals.

The Croatians dropped just one set during the round-robin stage and played with confidence throughout the dramatic semi-final clash, crunching returns and dispatching volleys at the crucial moments to earn their 51st tour-level win of season as a team after one hour and 39 minutes.

“During the match there were some tough games on our serve but we survived it,” Mektic said. “We were focused and we really wanted this win and I am so happy we gave ourselves a chance tomorrow.”

The fourth seeds fell to Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury in the semi-finals in Turin last year. They will have the chance to gain revenge in Sunday’s final, though, after the American-British tandem downed top seeds Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski earlier.

“I remember in the semis we lost a tough match,” Pavic said when looking ahead to the final against Ram and Salisbury. “We didn’t drop our serve, they won in a Match Tie-break, and I am expecting the same thing. They like the court and the conditions. I am looking forward to it. That is why you play, to go on the big stage.”

Mektic and Pavic are seeking their sixth tour-level title of the year this week in northern Italy. They triumphed together at an ATP Masters 1000 event in Rome, while they also lifted trophies in Geneva, at The Queen’s Club in London, in Eastbourne and Astana.

In a hard-fought clash, Mektic and Pavic were strong on serve, winning 82 per cent (42/51) of points behind their first delivery as they fended off attacking onslaughts from the sixth seeds. They also held their nerve, saving all five break points they faced, before pulling clear in the Match Tie-break to improve to 4-0 in their ATP Head2Head series against Glasspool and Heliovaara.

Mektic is aiming to win his second Nitto ATP Finals crown, having triumphed with Wesley Koolhof in 2020.

Glasspool and Heliovaara were making their debut this week in Turin. They have enjoyed a consistent year on Tour, highlighted by winning their maiden ATP 500 title in Hamburg in July. The British-Finnish pair finishes the season holding a 47-27 record.

As Novak Djokovic walked from his locker room towards centre court at the Pala Alpitour on Saturday, the Serbian closed his eyes for a moment. The five-time Nitto ATP Finals winner was in the zone. Call it the champion’s zone.

The 35-year-old found that area of focus when he needed it most in the Turin semi-finals against Taylor Fritz, whom he defeated in two tie-breaks to advance to the championship match at the season finale.

“I was looking forward to being in this position. I’m very happy to be able to compete for another big trophy, one of the biggest ones that we have in our sport,” Djokovic said. “So far a great week for me. Four out of four wins. Of course, the last match of the season, I’m going to give it all. I’m going to obviously try my best.”

Watch Djokovic vs Fritz SF Highlights:

More often than not, Djokovic has discovered his best tennis on the world’s biggest stages under the most pressure. It is a champion’s intangible that the Serbian has relied on in the toughest of moments.

It is not always easy for the former World No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. On Friday, Djokovic needed more than three hours to claw past Daniil Medvedev while under physical distress. He put that behind him to battle past Fritz in a tense semi-final.

“I like the fact that I was able to win against Medvedev after a very long battle, then come back the next day after not too much time for recovery, be able to win another tight match against Fritz in two sets,” Djokovic said. “That’s something that has in a way defined my career over the years. I’ve had similar situations where I was able to bounce back and really make some big wins.

“I would love to, of course, win the trophy, but I’m not going to be the only player who is going to want that on the court. Hopefully I’ll be able to play at the level that I’ve played most of the matches this week and get a trophy.”

This is a position Djokovic is plenty familiar with. The Serbian first triumphed at the Nitto ATP Finals — then the Tennis Masters Cup — in 2008. If he lifts the trophy Sunday, it will make 14 years between his first and most recent title at the year-end championships. The current record belongs to Pete Sampras and Roger Federer, who claimed their first and last season finale crowns eight years apart.

Separately, Djokovic can tie Federer’s record of six Nitto ATP Finals titles. He has positioned himself for this opportunity through consistent evolution.

“I would like to believe that I’m evolving, as anybody else, hopefully in a positive way. I’m experiencing changes on my body and of course with my mentality, my mind, my character. We all are evolving and moving along. Every single year we are different people,” Djokovic said. “Of course, with the different circumstances in life, you adapt to them and you try to be [a] better version [than] you have been the year before, not just in terms of athleticism or results or tennis, but just in general.

“There is more experience. I like to maybe believe there is more wisdom, as well, in terms of how I see things related to my sport and my life. Of course, I’m seeing tennis different and the life around tennis today than I’ve seen it 15 years ago. I’ve always been very thorough with my approach and analysis on and off the court.”

Djokovic developed this mindset under the tutelage of Jelena Gencic, his first tennis coach. According to the 21-time major winner, she “was very professional and had that holistic approach to everything”.

“Of course, as I was getting older, each year was passing, more things, more lessons learned, more things added, some maybe put away,” Djokovic said. “It creates a formula of success that is obviously working for you, but maybe not for somebody else.”

Djokovic has successfully used that formula countless time during his career. He will hope to do so once more on Sunday, when the champion of champions will be crowned.

Did You Know?
Djokovic is one victory from becoming an undefeated Nitto ATP Finals champion for the fourth time. If he lifts the trophy, it will come with the biggest payday in tennis history: a record $4,740,300 in prize money.

It has been a year of firsts for Taylor Fritz. The American lifted his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title in Indian Wells in March and cracked the Top 10 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings in October, before making his debut at the Nitto ATP Finals this week.

Despite suffering semi-final heartbreak against Novak Djokovic in Turin on Saturday, the 25-year-old revealed that he was proud of his season as he reflected on his newfound status in the sport.

“I absolutely feel like I belong,” said World No. 9 Fritz in his post-match press conference. “I think that I’ve proved that I belong in the Top 10 and I belong here. I just need to keep working hard.

“Fortunately for me, I think there’s a lot of positives to take out of this year where I finished. I finished where I did and I missed pretty much the whole clay-court season, didn’t have any training going into the beginning of the hard-court season. I was dealing with injuries and I still was able to produce a really solid year. I’m just excited to get back to work and keep improving. Next year [I will] look to cement my spot even more.”

Fritz earned round-robin victories against Rafael Nadal and Felix Auger-Aliassime at the prestigious year-end event, before falling to Djokovic 7-6(5), 7-6(6).

The American finished ninth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin and therefore looked set to miss out on competing in Turin. However, Carlos Alcaraz’s internal oblique muscle tear forced the Spaniard to withdraw a week before the event, opening the door for Fritz.

The World No. 9 admitted that despite his semi-final disappointment, he was pleased with how he grabbed his chance in northern Italy.

“I’m sure in two weeks from now I’ll look back and I’ll say, ‘It was a really great week,’” Fritz said. “Not only did I get the chance to play the [Nitto ATP] Finals, I made it out of the group. I had two good wins.

“I could have ended my year with a second-round loss in Paris and that would have been it. I would have gone into the off-season with that being the last match. Now I’m going to feel a lot better about my tennis, about my game being done for the season off of this performance. So it’s great.”

Fritz, who was making his debut at the year-end event this week, also feels the experience of competing in Turin will benefit him moving forward.

“I think the event’s amazing,” Fritz said. “I like that you can lose a match and still have the opportunity to come back and improve. It’s a whole different thing. I’ve never lost a match and then immediately had to lock in straight back to it. To do everything after the match the same as I would if I had won because I have to get ready to play again.

“I think it’s a good lesson to learn, staying locked in all the time. On Tour the top players are consistent every week. That’s one thing you can take out of it. Even after you lose, you just kind of stay on it.”

Novak Djokovic passed a stern semi-final test from Taylor Fritz on Saturday at the Nitto ATP Finals, where the Serbian prevailed 7-6(5), 7-6(6) to move within one victory of equalling Roger Federer’s record of six titles at the prestigious season finale.

A spirited showing from Fritz saw the American recover a break deficit in the first set and surge to a 5-3 lead in the second. Despite struggling to consistently find his best level, however, Djokovic found a way to pull through in both tie-breaks as he wrapped a hard-fought one-hour, 54-minute victory at the Pala Alpitour.

“I had to fight to survive,” said Djokovic afterwards. “I didn’t feel very reactive today or very comfortable. I knew coming into today’s match from yesterday’s gruelling battle against [Daniil] Medvedev I knew it would take me some time to adjust and find the dynamic movement I need against Fritz, who is one of the best servers on the Tour.”

The seventh-seeded Djokovic delivered a solid rather than spectacular performance against Fritz, hitting just 21 winners to the eighth seed’s 31. He was delighted to claim victory in straight sets after his lung-busting three-hour, 11-minute round-robin triumph against Medvedev on Friday afternoon.

“I had to be very patient, I didn’t start the second set very well,” said Djokovic. “But I managed to break his serve at 5-4 when he was serving for the set, like when [Daniil] Medvedev was serving for the match yesterday. In those moments I find another gear and managed to hold my nerve and make him play another shot in the tie-break.

“I am very pleased to have overcome this one as I don’t think it was one of my best days with my tennis, but I managed to hang in there.”

The way in which Djokovic attacked Fritz’s second serve was key to his triumph. The Serbian won 61 per cent (14/23) of points against the American’s second delivery and converted both break points he had.

Djokovic can match the Swiss great Federer’s title tally on Sunday when he takes on Casper Ruud or Andrey Rublev in the championship match in Turin. Should he lift the trophy, Djokovic will also claim the largest payday in tennis history, with $4,740,300 on offer for claiming the Nitto ATP Finals trophy undefeated.

The 35-year-old Djokovic is chasing his fifth tour-level title of the season in Turin. The Rome, Wimbledon, Tel Aviv and Astana champion now holds a 45-17 career record at the Nitto ATP Finals, where he lifted the trophy in 2008 (in Shanghai) and in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 (in London).

Despite the disappointment of Friday’s defeat, Fritz was upbeat about how close he had pushed the 90-time tour-level champion Djokovic after reaching the semi-finals on his Nitto ATP Finals debut. The World No. 9 acknowledged his week in Turin had given him extra belief that he can consistently compete with his Top 10 rivals in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

“Typically I’m good at tie-breakers,” reflected Fritz. “I feel like my tie-breaker record throughout my career has definitely been really good. Today I played both tie-breakers pretty well… I’m right there. It’s small margins in tennis. It’s always like that. It’s very small margins. [I] just need to get that little bit better and I’m right there.”

Djokovic broke to love in the fifth game of the match against Fritz to build some early pressure, but the American responded well and immediately levelled for 3-3 as the Indian Wells, Eastbourne and Tokyo champion began to settle. Although both players still struggled to find their top level, it was Djokovic who produced a moment of magic on set point with a classy forehand winner that clinched the tie-break.

Fritz came out firing in the second set, breaking the Serbian in the opening game and looking increasingly confident in his maiden Nitto ATP Finals semi-final. It was a simple missed backhand from Fritz at 5-4, 30/30 that proved pivotal, although the American appeared distracted by someone calling from the crowd as he struck the ball. Djokovic capitalised to reclaim the break before securing victory in a dramatic tie-break to the delight of his vocal fans inside the Pala Alpitour.

“I enjoy having the atmosphere,” reflected Djokovic afterwards. “When people come and watch you play, they expect some kind of entertainment and good tennis and hopefully they enjoyed themselves, especially towards the end of the match. Every point against a player like Fritz who has a big serve counts.”

Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury maintained their perfect record at this year’s Nitto ATP Finals Saturday when they overcame top seeds Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski 7-6(7), 6-4 to reach the final in Turin.

The American-British team went 3-0 in the round-robin stage and produced another inspired performance at the Pala Alpitour to earn their 36th tour-level win of the season together.

In a high-quality match that twisted one way and then the other, the second seeds produced their best level at crucial times. Ram crushed backhand winners down the line on return, while Salisbury showed great touch to flick an array of winners from all angles throughout the one-hour, 39-minute semi-final.

“We are very happy to be through,” Salisbury said. “I feel we are pretty good at handling whatever any situation we are in. It was tough not closing it out more straightforward in the [first set] tie-break, but we fought hard and got it done eventually. We then stayed focused and played pretty smart and held onto our serve well. We are pretty happy with the performance.”

”It is something I have worked really hard on,” Ram said when asked about his returning. “It is huge to keep in games and matches and I think it is my most improved area, so I am happy it paid off today.”

Ram and Salisbury are aiming to go one step further at the prestigious year-end event this year, having lost to Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut in the championship match last season. The American-British team will play Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic or Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara in Sunday’s final.

They now lead Koolhof and Skupski 3-1 in their ATP Head2Head series, having defeated the Dutch-British tandem in the US Open final in September.

Ram and Salisbury are seeking their fourth tour-level title of the season at the prestigious season finale in Italy. The duo triumphed at ATP Masters 1000 events in Monte Carlo and Cincinnati.

With the pressure on, Ram and Salisbury flew out of the blocks in the semi-final. They soared into a 3-0 lead in the first set, before Koolhof and Skupski battled back, stepping up their intensity to level at 3-3. They then saved one set point on serve at 4-5, with the opener eventually moving to a tie-break. In a dramatic conclusion, Koolhof and Skupski saved a further five set points in the tie-break, including four from 2/6, before Ram and Salisbury finally claimed the opener on their seventh chance.

The second seeds then kept their focus in the second set, saving the one break point they faced to advance.

Koolhof and Skupski were honoured as the 2022 year-end ATP Doubles No. 1 team presented by Pepperstone on Thursday in Turin after enjoying a standout season that saw them win seven tour-level trophies, including ATP Masters 1000 crowns in Madrid, Montreal and Paris.

Koolhof lifted the trophy at the Nitto ATP Finals with Nikola Mektic in 2020, while Skupski was making his debut at the event.

The ATP has announced the launch of LOVE, a collection of stunning generative digital artworks created in collaboration with Art Blocks Engine and renowned artist Martin Grasser.

On sale from 6 December, the limited collection of NFTs will introduce new ways for fans to celebrate, admire and own impactful moments from the 2022 Nitto ATP Finals. As a first-of-its kind generative art project in tennis, LOVE will capture official in-match data from the ATP Tour’s season finale to generate unique and iconic works of digital art.

^{Test outputs generated from 2021 Nitto ATP Finals match data.}
The creative force behind LOVE is Martin Grasser, a leading artist and designer based in the Bay Area, supported by leading generative art house, ARTXCODE. Each piece of artwork tells the story of a winning play from the singles event in Turin, Italy, brought to life as a tennis ball striking a distinctively coloured court. The collection will include pieces of differing rarity including the Championship-Winning Point, Match-Winning Points, and Set-Winning Points, among other special editions.

In a world first, the project will generate artwork entirely from official tennis data, provided by Tennis Data Innovations. Shadows and court lines will indicate each ball’s location, velocity and direction of travel at the point of impact. Additional variables will be used to generate unexpected colours, texture and zoom, resulting in unique and beautiful collectibles for fans.

Martin Grasser: “Art is in everything—a newspaper, a letter, a swing in a tennis match. These ordinary objects and moments can be broken apart into simple components and built back up into more intricate languages.”

^{Test outputs generated from 2021 Nitto ATP Finals match data.}
The collection is being delivered in collaboration with Art Blocks Engine, the world’s leading platform for generative digital art. It marks Art Blocks Engine’s first partnership in the sports world and ATP’s first venture in the web3 space.

Hugh Heslep, Art Blocks Chief Operating Officer: “Art Blocks Engine is the newest offering from Art Blocks, aimed at pushing forward the power of generative and allowing partners to share the magic of the minting experience with their communities. This project with ATP is a compelling use case for the intersection of tennis and dynamic digital collectibles, commemorating what will be historic moments from the Nitto ATP Finals. We are so excited to be a part of this project furthering the intersection of art, sports, and crypto.”

Adding to the suspense, LOVE collectors will only have their artwork revealed at the point of minting.

Following the mint and reveal, collectors will be able to order a high-quality physical print of their artwork via Level Frames. Fans will also be able to trade their LOVE NFT on the secondary market, with one per cent of secondary sales to be donated directly to the Giving Block’s Mental Health Impact Fund.

Daniele Sanó, ATP Chief Business Officer: “Web3 is unlocking incredible new opportunities to innovate and bring sport to life for fans. LOVE represents an exciting first step in the space for the ATP Tour. The collection allows fans to own unique artwork generated by our season finale and showcases the richness of data we have in tennis. We’re delighted to break new ground at the intersection of sports and web3 in collaboration with true leaders in the industry.”

Marco Martinasso, Director General, FIT Servizi: “The Nitto ATP Finals prides itself on innovation. This cutting-edge project is yet another reflection of that focus. We’re thrilled that fans will be able to own, cherish and celebrate special moments from Turin through this incredible digital art.”

The LOVE collection goes on sale on Tuesday, 6 December. To learn more about the project, and to purchase your NFT, visit www.art.tennis.

The doubles field has been halved after six days of play at the Nitto ATP Finals, with the four remaining teams set for semi-final Saturday in Turin.

In an afternoon-session meeting of the Top 2 teams in the Pepperstone ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings, top seeds Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski face Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury in a rematch of the US Open final, won by Ram/Salisbury. The evening session at the Pala Alpitour will open with Croatians Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic taking on Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara.

[1] Wesley Koolhof (NED) / Neal Skupski (GBR) vs. [2] Rajeev Ram (USA) / Joe Salisbury (GBR)

Koolhof/Skupski, who were honoured as the 2022 ATP Doubles No. 1 presented by Pepperstone on Thursday, finished second in the Green Group with a 2-1 record. After a win against Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios in their opening match, a Friday win against Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek sealed their place in the semis. The Dutch-British pair is seeking its eighth ATP Tour title of the 2022 season.

Ram/Salisbury, who spent time as the World No. 1 doubles team this season before being overtaken by their semi-final opponents, were a perfect 3-0 in the Red Group. But the American-British pair still needed to win a set in their final round-robin match to clinch progress to the knockout rounds. In a tense match against Roland Garros champ Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer, they claimed the set they required in a second-set tie-break before winning their second Match Tie-break of the week.

The two best doubles teams of the 2022 ATP Tour season have met three times this year, with Ram/Salisbury winning in the Indian Wells quarter-finals and the US Open final — both in two tight sets. Koolhof/Skupski recorded a win via retirement in Dubai after winning a first-set tie-break.

This semi-final matchup is set for 11:30 a.m. CET / 5:30 a.m. ET.

[4] Nikola Mektic (CRO) / Mate Pavic (CRO) vs. [6] Lloyd Glasspool / Harri Heliovvara (FIN)

Mektic/Pavic dropped just one set in compiling a 3-0 record in the Green Group, finishing their round-robin campaign with a 7-6(4), 7-6(4) win against Kokkinakis/Kyrgios. The Croatians are seeking their sixth team title of 2022, with the biggest of their current lot coming in Rome. They also reached three finals on the year, including at Wimbledon, where they lost to Aussies Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell in a fifth-set tie-break.

The 33-year-old Mektic is bidding for his second Nitto ATP Finals title after winning the 2020 crown with Koolhof.

Glasspool/Heliovaara clinched their semi-final berth with a statement 6-0, 6-4 win against Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos on Thursday. The British-Finnish pair seeks its eighth final and second title of the 2022 season. They have two ATP Tour titles as a team, in Marseille (2021) and Hamburg (2022).

This matchup will open the evening session at the Pala Alputour at 6:30 p.m. CET / 12:30 p.m. ET.

Both Casper Ruud and Andrey Rublev compiled 2-1 group-stage records to progress to Saturday’s semi-finals in Turin. The lone loss for each man at the 2022 Nitto ATP Finals came against one of the game’s all-time greats: Ruud fell to Rafael Nadal while Rublev was turned back by Novak Djokovic.

Norway’s Ruud was already through to the semis when he came up against Rafa, his wins against Felix Auger-Aliassime and Taylor Fritz enough to clinch first place in the Green Group. Those two victories matched his win total across four events after the US Open.

“I didn’t imagine that I would be in that position after two matches, but luckily I was,” a recharged Ruud said of his early qualification for the knockout rounds. 

As such, he was able to conserve some energy on Thursday against Nadal at the tail-end of a gruelling season: “I just tried to keep my flow going, [made sure] that I had a good rhythm… not risking too much in terms of my body and the physical aspects of the match.”

Rublev had no such luxury in his Friday Red Group finale against Stefanos Tsitsipas — a winner-takes all showdown that essentially served as a quarter-final. The 25-year-old had his back to the wall after losing a one-sided opening set against the Greek, but Rublev clawed his way back into the match and ultimately ran away with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win.

“I kept fighting,” Rublev said when asked what he was most proud of from his effort. “I kept just saying to myself, ‘It doesn’t matter how he’s playing, how good he’s playing, just fight for every ball.’ In the end I was able to start to play better and better. In the end I was able to turn around the match. I’m happy.”

The World No. 7 was in the same position at last year’s Nitto ATP Finals, needing a win in his final round-robin match to advance. Facing none other than Ruud, he fell just short of the semis with a 2-6, 7-5, 7-6(5) defeat. Now through to the knockout rounds for the first time in three consecutive appearances at the Nitto ATP Finals, Rublev has his chance for revenge.

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Ruud, whose lone win in five previous ATP Head2Head meetings with Rublev came in that Turin tilt, hopes to continue to fill out his hard-court resume after following up a semi-final run in his Nitto ATP Finals debut with a breakout 2022 season on the surface. The 23-year-old reached the final in both Miami and the US Open this season, and also reached the Roland Garros final in addition to winning three tour-level titles on clay.

Rublev is seeking his fifth ATP Tour title of the 2022 season, which would match his career-best return from 2020. Nine of his 12 career titles have come on hard courts, including five indoors.

This evening semi-final has a start time of not before 9 p.m. CET / 3 p.m. ET.