Sinner at 2.30pm, Djokovic-Rune in the evening: super Sunday to inaugurate the Finals

We start with the masters’ tournament: after the doubles between Dodig/Krajicek and Gonzalez/Molteni, Jannik will challenge Tsitsipas (or Hurkacz, in case the Greek doesn’t make it). Here’s where to watch the games on TV

Francesco Sessa

A beastly Sunday for Italian tennis. At 3pm, in Seville, Tathiana Garbin’s girls will be chasing a historic victory in the Billie Jean King Cup, just as Jannik Sinner will be involved in the opening match of the ATP Finals in Turin, starting at 2.30pm. Against Stefanos Tsitsipas, on paper: the Greek’s condition remains a puzzle, today he abandoned training with Alcaraz prematurely after having done the same on Friday with Zverev. Hurkacz is ready, but the impression is that Apostolos’ son will do everything he can to take the field in the opening match.

sinner and tsitsipas

Until proven otherwise, therefore, the ATP Finals will open with the challenge between Sinner and Tsitsipas. Or rather: the first match ever will be a double, Dodig/Krajicek against Gonzalez/Molteni, at 12.30. But it is clear that the wait is all about Jannik’s match, who returns to Turin after the two matches played in 2021 (defeat against Medvedev, victory against Hurkacz) after taking over from Berrettini. The match against Tsitsipas would be the eighth match: the balance is clearly on the side of the Greek, who has won five times but with Jannik able to get the better of the last one, this year in the round of 16 in Rotterdam (6-3 6-4 ). Tsitsipas comes from the semi-final of Paris Bercy (defeat to Dimitrov in the tie break of the third set), while Sinner won in Vienna before withdrawing from the last 1000 of the season after the night victory against De Minaur.

WATCH OUT FOR HURKACZ

What if Hurkacz were to be there? The previous ones were two by two, starting from the famous Miami 2021 final won by the Pole. Sinner won this year in Monte Carlo, in addition to the aforementioned success at the Finals two years ago. However, in this case, beware of underestimating Hubi: he is among the best at the moment, in recent weeks he has won two titles (Shanghai and Basel) before losing Bercy to Dimitrov in the Paris quarterfinals. He can be an uncomfortable customer. And if the Finals start with a bang, the rest will be no different: after the doubles match at 6.30pm (Gonzalez/Roger-Vasselin against Granollers/Zeballos) it will be Novak Djokovic’s turn, on court at 9pm against Holger Rune.

djokovic and runes

A challenge that arises again a few days after the quarter-finals in Paris Bercy, with the Serbian winning in three sets: a rematch of last year’s final, won by the Dane. In the middle, Rune’s victory in Rome, while everything started with Djokovic’s success at the 2021 US Open. Translated: two by two in the previous matches and always on important stages. Now it’s up to the Finals, which Nole arrives with the aim of winning the title for the seventh time, it would be a record. In short, we’re off to a great start: let the show begin. The tournament will be broadcast entirely by Sky Sport, while on Rai there will be a live match of the day (Sunday it will be Sinner-Tsitsipas) and on Supertennis the other singles match will be deferred.



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