Alexander Zverev Faces Felix Auger-Aliassime in Season-Ending Championships Showdown
Introduction
The inherent challenges of group stage tennis mean during this phase of the ATP Finals we’re often left puzzled, searching around for a computing device and trying to work out the mind-boggling qualification scenarios. But tonight’s match between Zverev and Auger-Aliassime, thankfully, is simple. It's a direct elimination: the successful player sets up a final four contest against Carlos Alcaraz at this year-end tournament; the unsuccessful competitor heads out.
The German is the frontrunner for this: the world No 3 is the more accomplished player, has previously won at this tournament previously on two instances and is ahead in their direct encounters six matches to three, winning both their past encounters on an covered hard surface.
However … this particular court on which the Canadian has won the majority of his titles, he is in great form after his compelling comeback against Shelton on Wednesday and he eliminated the German in the US Championships third round in late summer. Additionally, the court pace is quicker in Turin than at the US Open venue, which works even more in AA’s favor.
If Zverev holds back, like he was against the Italian, and the Canadian presses the German with his powerful serves and fearless play, it could well be the North American athlete – the former prodigy who was earlier slated ahead of the Spanish and Italian stars to replace the Big Three – who secures the dubious honour of playing against the top-ranked player on Saturday.
Action commences: at about 8.30pm local time, 19:30 Greenwich Mean Time.
