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Holger Rune hired former World No. 1 Boris Becker as his coach last month. Since then, Rune has rejuvenated his season following a mid-year slump. With a semi-final appearance in Basel backed up by a quarter-final run in Paris, Rune is now making his Nitto ATP Finals debut with Becker in his corner.

One notable trait in their young partnership is how often Becker rises to his feet while watching his player compete.

“Might be for the blood flow for the legs,” Rune joked in his post-match press conference. “I just think when he wants to do the coaching, he stands up. He can express more, his way of coaching me. So I think that's why. I haven't asked him why he does it.

“When I worked with Patrick [Mouratoglou], he also did it a lot. I think it's just a character thing that some do, some don't do. I like the way my box behaves. It's cool to have him, Lapo [Becherini] (strength & conditioning coach), Mike [James] (data analyst) and my mom to be here with me.”

Rune improved to 1-1 in Green Group on Tuesday when Stefanos Tsitsipas was forced to retire after just three games. The World No. 8 Rune, who suffered a three-set defeat to Novak Djokovic earlier this week, is soaking in his Turin debut.

Alex Michelsen had just earned his maiden ATP Challenger Tour title in Chicago this July before arriving at the ATP Tour event in Newport, where he remembers having a ‘pinch-me’ moment.

The #NextGenATP American was enjoying his first week inside the Top 200 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings and his breakthrough was only just beginning. Michelsen downed countryman and former World No. 8 John Isner, 19 years his senior, at the grass-court 250 tournament. It was an instant confidence booster that gave Michelsen the belief he could be where he is today: inside the Top 100.

“After beating John in the semis of Newport, that didn’t really feel real,” Michelsen told ATPTour.com. “I was telling myself throughout the match I could win it but when I actually won it, I was like, ‘Oh my God, that was crazy.’”

On Monday, Isner, who officially retired from pro tennis at the US Open, was among those to text Michelsen, congratulating the teenager on his latest milestone. Michelsen’s triumph at the Knoxville Challenger, his second title at that level, squeezed him inside the Top 100, at World No. 99.

“When I woke up and saw the rankings, it felt pretty good. It felt good to see myself next to two digits,” Michelsen said. “I’m always going for more, this isn’t the end goal.”

Holger Rune will be credited with his first win in the Green Group after Stefanos Tsitsipas was forced to retire due to a medical reason after just three games of their Nitto ATP Finals round-robin match Tuesday afternoon in Turin.

The 20-year-old Dane lost his first match on debut against Novak Djokovic but is now 1-1 in Green Group play after the Greek was forced to retire after just 15 minutes inside the Pala Alpitour with Rune leading 2-1.

"For me, it's important to be fit and feel good with my back. The pain was very big," Tsitsipas said following his retirement due to a back injury. "I've gone through pain during matches in the past, and I endured pain, but this was clearly too much to handle. I had to take the difficult decision to do what I did.

"I felt it at the second game of the match. I actually felt it in the warm-up with my serve. Warming up on my serve, I felt very irritated and lots of pain hitting me on my back. I kind of knew at that time that I might not be able to go all the way."

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Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin kept alive their Nitto ATP Finals hopes on Tuesday when they moved past Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni 6-4, 6-4 to improve to 1-1 in Green Group play.

The fourth seeds lost to Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos in their opening match but responded well against Gonzalez and Molteni, firing eight aces and winning 94 per cent (30/32) of their first-serve points to triumph after 77 minutes.

Gonzalez and Roger-Vasselin joined forces for the first time at the start of this season and enjoyed a standout year. The Mexican-French team won five tour-level trophies, including ATP Masters 1000 crowns in Miami and Paris.

[ATP APP]

Gonzalez, 40, is the first Mexican to qualify for the year-end event since Jorge Lozano in 1989, while Roger-Vasselin, 39, is appearing at the Nitto ATP Finals for the third time. Gonzalez and Roger-Vasselin will play Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek in their final round-robin match on Thursday.

Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev are two of the closest friends on the ATP Tour, so much so that Rublev is godfather to Medvedev's daughter. But across their nine Lexus ATP Head2Head meetings, they have also become familiar foes on the court.

Medvedev, who leads the series 7-2 following his straight-sets win on Monday at the Nitto ATP Finals, says he is able to put their relationship to one side in between the lines.

"To be honest, on court, I don't know how it is for him — for me on court, doesn't exist, friends, enemies. I just try to win the match. I don't think about anything else.

"But when the last point is finished, it's like I feel sorry for him, he lost the match. But it's the same for him. If he beats me, I mean, last year was brutal when he beat me [in Turin]. So I felt for one or two days he was kind of shy to talk to me, taking care.

"It's the same. You always try to look at him and see if tomorrow we can talk like normal. I'm going to say to him good luck, go for it the next matches, and he's probably going to say the same."

Andrey Rublev played a brilliant opening set against Daniil Medvedev but was second best in the key moments in an eventual 6-4, 6-2 defeat on Monday night at the Nitto ATP Finals. While the fifth seed was pleased with his level during the first set, he was left to rue the few untimely errors that cost him.

"The feeling was that as soon as we had a rally, I was playing well and I had great chances," said Rublev, who missed out on seven break points in his last two return games of the opening set. "I was not able to use my serve really well to open the court. When he had important moments, I think almost all the break points he saved with a good serve.

"I had some chances, a drive volley that I missed. I had an opportunity [at] 5-4, 0/30, I had quite an easy drive forehand, and I didn't hit it clean, and the rally continued. He played really well. Also the [service game] that I lost in the first set, I missed two easy balls. One was a backhand in the middle of the court, then break point. Those things in the end make a huge difference."

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The defeat dropped Rublev to 2-7 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Medvedev, but he is becoming more accustomed to facing the unique challenge his close friend presents on the court.

Defending champion Novak Djokovic and home favourite Jannik Sinner seek to maintain their perfect starts at the Nitto ATP Finals on Tuesday evening. The pair clashes in the evening session at Turin's Pala Alpitour, where both players could seal a semi-final spot with a victory.

[1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs. [4] Jannik Sinner (ITA)

Hugely popular in Italy and a speaker of the local language, Novak Djokovic is used to channelling plenty of fans’ support in Turin.

That is not likely to be the case on Tuesday night, when the World No. 1 steps out to take on home favourite Jannik Sinner inside the Pala Alpitour. Both players enter their fourth Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting fresh from an opening win in Green Group, and both could seal a semi-final spot with victory.

Sinner will advance if he downs Djokovic in straight sets, or with a three-set triumph combined with Tsitsipas beating Rune earlier in the day. The 22-year-old Italian is searching for his first tour-level win against the six-time Nitto ATP Finals champion Djokovic and will hope to embrace home support, including from his fan club ‘The Carota Boys’, as well as he did in easing past Tsitsipas in his opening match.

"The atmosphere was really, really nice," Sinner said after his opening win. "It's huge pleasure for me to play here in Turin, in Italy. Obviously, a little bit more pressure, but I managed it really well today, so I'm happy."

Feliciano Lopez was recognised for his standout career on Monday in Turin.

The Spaniard retired in June, then aged 41, after losing in the quarter-finals of the Mallorca Championships. The lefty won two matches at the ATP 250 to close out his career on a high.

ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi, ATP Player Representative Pablo Andujar and former World No. 5 Rainer Schuettler were among those who paid tribute to Lopez.

“I feel very proud of my career. I think I have achieved much more than I expected when I started playing professionally,” Lopez told ATPTour.com. “It's been great being here again, seeing everyone and I just want to say thank you to everyone who has been working with me for the past 20 years helping me in every single way. And also, it's been very nice that they give us a last goodbye with this presentation that I had a few hours ago with Andrea, with [ATP Senior Vice President of Player Relations] Fernando [Sanchez]. It's been great.”

Lopez entertained fans around the world for more than two decades with his aggressive, net-crashing game. The lefty became known for his booming serve and fearless game. He won 766 tour-level matches between singles and doubles, 13 combined titles and more than $18 million in prize money.

After losing third-set tie-breaks in each of his Nitto ATP Finals matches last season, Daniil Medvedev played two sets of the highest quality to bounce back with a 6-4, 6-2 victory against Andrey Rublev in his 2023 opener.

The close friends treated the Turin crowd to a breathtaking match full of lung-busting rallies, with Medvedev saving seven break points in the opening set — all in his last two service games of the set — before dominating from the start in set two.

"I felt good and I managed to put it on the court," Medvedev said post-match. "First set was really tough. I managed to just get a little bit the upper hand on the most clutch moments, and this helped me in the second, so I'm really happy."

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The result extended Medvedev's lead for most tour-level wins (65) and most hard-court wins (48) this season and provided the perfect start in his bid to equal Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz on six tour-level titles on the year. Three of those match wins have come against Rublev this season (also in Dubai and at the US Open), after Rublev beat Medvedev in Turin last season. Medvedev now holds a 7-2 advantage in the pair's Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

For the first time, Carlos Alcaraz has lost a match but is still in with a chance of winning an ATP Tour tournament. With the exception of the Davis Cup, a team event with a very different format, the Spaniard had never before suffered a defeat and had to return to his hotel and focus on his next clash in the same event. Such is the current situation for the No. 2 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings at the Nitto ATP Finals. 

After succumbing to Alexander Zverev, Alcaraz will be back on court on Wednesday in the knowledge that he can still progress to the semi-finals.

“Congratulations to Alex for the win!” wrote the Spaniard on his Instagram account.  “This tournament is different in many ways, and one of them is that it allows you to reach the semis despite losing the first match. We will give our all on Wednesday!”

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Unlike any standard tournament on the ATP Tour, where a defeat sends you packing, the Nitto ATP Finals and its group stage mean players can bounce back from a poor start. There are many examples of players who have lost their opener and gone on to reach the semi-finals. There is also the case of Nikolay Davydenko in 2009. In the competition’s first year in the O2 Arena in London, after a stint in Shanghai from 2005 to 2008, Davydenko lost to Novak Djokovic on Day 1, but later beat Rafael Nadal and Robin Soderling (group stage), Roger Federer (semis), and Juan Martín del Potro (final) to get his hands on the title.

Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury sealed a happy return to the Nitto ATP Finals on Monday in Turin.

The 2022 champions at the prestigious season finale overcame Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden 6-3, 6-4 in their opening Red Group match. A single break in each set was enough for Ram and Salisbury to clinch a 61-minute triumph and extend their winning streak at the Pala Alpitour to six matches.

The fast court in Turin appeared tailor-made for Ram and Salisbury during their 2022 title run, and the American-British duo capitalised on the conditions expertly again on Monday with a high-class serving performance. They won 83 per cent (30/36) of points behind first deliveries and saved the only break point they faced at 1-2, 40/40 in the second set.

It was the second time this year that the teams had clashed on the big stage, after Ram and Salisbury also defeated Bopanna and Ebden in the US Open final in September. The American-British pair is aiming in Turin to become a tour-level champion for the fourth time this season, having also lifted trophies in Lyon and Vienna.

The third-seeded Bopanna and Ebden arrived in Italy having reached the championship match at their past three tournaments — the US Open, the Rolex Shanghai Masters, and the Rolex Paris Masters. India’s Bopanna is a two-time finalist at the Nitto ATP Finals, having reached that stage in London in 2012 and 2015.

This year’s doubles field at the Nitto ATP Finals features a mix of established teams and breakthrough stars. Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek are leading the way as the top seeds.

“It feels great to come back here, for us a second time as a team together. I'm really enjoying it. Happy that we had a great season. And to finish it here, it's always the best thing,” Dodig said. “That's why we fight through the year, to play this one. And hopefully this time we can have a good run.

“Last year, we had great matches. We lost all the matches in the [Match] Tie-break. Hopefully this time, we can do it better. But all in all, great season. Happy to be back.”

The best of the best ?

Which team will come out on top and claim the #NittoATPFinals ?? pic.twitter.com/cfjumyXx8v

Dodig and Krajicek won this year’s Roland Garros title and triumphed on four other occasions: at Rotterdam, Monte-Carlo, Queen’s Club and Beijing. But the Croatian-American duo will face stern tests in every match of Green Group action, with all teams in Turin champions in their own right.

The ATP Tour's best singles and doubles players have descended on Turin for the 2023 Nitto ATP Finals. World No. 1 Novak Djokovic leads the singles field alongside Carlos Alcaraz, who is making his debut at the season finale.

Former champions Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas will bid for another year-end crown, with Jannik Sinner, Andrey Rublev and Holger Rune all seeking their first Nitto ATP Finals trophy.

ATPTour.com breaks down five things to watch at the season finale.

[SWEEPSTAKES]

1) Djokovic's Records Quest, No. 1 Chase: The Serbian is seeking a record-breaking seventh Nitto ATP Finals crown, which would break a tie with Roger Federer. He could also secure a record-extending seventh ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by Pepperstone honour with one match win in Turin or a single defeat by the chasing Alcaraz.

Gonzalo Escobar and Aleksandr Nedovyesov saved two mach points in the Sofia doubles final to claim their second tour-level title as a team. The Ecuadorian/Kazakhstani team defeated third seeds Julian Cash and Nikola Mektic 6-3, 3-6, 13-11 to earn a dramatic victory in what was their fourth final in 14 tour-level tournaments together.

"A [Match] Tie-break is always a lottery, but I think in the end we were just a little bit more aggressive," said Nedovyesov. "Luck was there as well I guess... It was a great tournament."

Escobar/Nedovyesov will finish the season in 23rd place in the Pepperstone ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings after a successful close to a week in which Escobar earned his 100th tour-level doubles win. The Sofia title is the Ecuadorian's fifth at tour-level and Nedovyesov's second.

"Very happy for the title. But it's also been a tough year, so this makes me proud of the work we've done," added Escobar.

Photo credit: Moselle Open

The doubles stars of the 2023 Nitto ATP Finals gathered on Saturday for Media Day, during which they took the Official Doubles Photo at the Pala Alpitour.

Ivan Dodig/Austin Krajicek, Wesley Koolhof/Neal Skupski, Rohan Bopanna/Matthew Ebden, Santiago Gonzalez/Edouard Roger-Vasselin, Marcel Granollers/Horacio Zeballos, Rajeev Ram/Joe Salisbury, Maximo Gonzalez/Andres Molteni and Rinky Hijikata/Jason Kubler will compete for the ultimate title. 

Ram and Salisbury are the defending champions. Top seeds Dodig and Krajicek lead the Green Group and second seeds Koolhof and Skupski head the Red Group.

Action begins on Sunday in Turin, where Dodig/Krajicek will play the first match of the tournament against seventh seeds Gonzalez and Molteni. In the evening session, Gonzalez and Roger-Vasselin will face Granollers and Zeballos.

[NEWSLETTER FORM]

Daniil Medvedev is looking to cap arguably the most successful season of his career this coming week in Turin, where he intends to shake off three heart-breaking losses at the Nitto ATP Finals last year.

Medvedev, who has won a career best 64 matches this season to sit at No.3 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings coming into the season finale, was in high spirits at Friday’s media day activity at the Palace of Turin, projecting to his opening round-robin match Monday against close friend Andrey Rublev.

“I love playing in Italy,” Medvedev told ATP Media. “I think, honestly, Italian fans love me. I had great support all the time I have been playing in Rome and Turin. So I am happy to be back and hopefully I can show some good tennis.”

Medvedev won a career-best five titles this season, including an unexpected ATP Masters 1000 on clay in Rome. When asked about his season overall, Medvedev remarked, “If we take out the Grand Slams, it's the best of my life. I don’t have a Grand Slam because Carlos and Novak are playing very good tennis. Still a very good year, especially the first part of the year.

“The second part was great for different reasons, but probably just a little bit worse. I would have wanted one title because I was not able to get one. The season is not finished so I’m going to try to show my best here.”

An emtoional Ugo Humbert claimed his first title since 2021 on Saturday by winning his hometown tournament at the Moselle Open. The Metz native defeated Alexander Shevchenko 6-3, 6-3 to cap a memorable week on home soil and improve to 4-0 in tour-level singles finals.

"It was my dream when I was young to win this tournament," Humbert said post-match. "It's just amazing. I have a lot of feelings now, I can't describe it. It's so incredible to win here in my hometown in front of my family. To finish strong like this, it's just an amazing feeling."

Pure emotions ?@HumbertUgo | @MoselleOpen | #MoselleOpen pic.twitter.com/7q7DvqpPIS

The result will see Humbert finish the season at a career-high No. 20 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings and as the year-end French No. 1 for the first time. He edged past Sofia champion Adrian Mannarino for both honours by claiming the Metz crown just an hour after the veteran's triumph in Bulgaria.

"So great for French tennis, so good!" Humbert said when he learned of Mannarino's success. The Metz champion will become the first Frenchman inside the Top 20 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings since Gael Monfils in August 2022.

The 2023 Nitto ATP Finals kick off on Sunday with a pair of heavy-hitting clashes at Turin’s Pala Apitour. Home favourite Jannik Sinner bids for a positive start to his campaign in Green Group when he takes on Stefanos Tsitsipas in the opening singles clash of the day, before defending champion and World No. 1 Novak Djokovic meets Holger Rune in the evening session.

[4] Jannik Sinner (ITA) vs. [6] Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE)

Can the home fans help Jannik Sinner kick-start his Nitto ATP Finals campaign on Sunday in Turin?

The 22-year-old Italian takes on Stefanos Tsitsipas in his opening match in Green Group at the Pala Alpitour, where the Italian is competing at the season finale for the second time, but the first as a direct qualifier. Sinner will hope that the locals can cheer him on to victory against an opponent whom he trails 2-5 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

“[I’m] happy that this event is here in Turin,” Sinner told ATP Media on Friday. “Hopefully it's something positive for me trying to have a great connection with the crowd and hopefully I can handle it and handle the situation with the right mentality, because I feel I have a little bit more pressure, which is a very positive sign for me.”

Despite his strong history in their matchup, the 2019 Nitto ATP Finals champion Tsitsipas will be wary of the threat posed by Sinner, who holds a 57-14 record for a year in which he has lifted four tour-level titles, including his maiden ATP Masters 1000 crown in Toronto.

Adrian Mannarino closed out perhaps the best ATP Tour season of his long career with his third title of the year on Saturday at the Sofia Open. The 35-year-old edged Great Britain's Jack Draper 7-6(6), 2-6, 6-3 to win his fifth tour-level title and rise to No. 20 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.

"That's definitely the best way to finish the year," the Frenchman said post-match. "It's been a great year and I'm a little bit exhausted but it's really motivating when you're doing well. I was playing great on court and I'm happy with the result."

"The smile says it all" ?@AdrianMannarino's magical year finishes with a 3rd title 7-6(6), 2-6, 6-3 ? Draper@sofiaopentennis | #SofiaOpen pic.twitter.com/LwFwZ2h2j4

If his position at No. 20 in the Live Rankings holds, Mannarino will become the French No. 1 in the next edition of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings — though fellow Frenchman Ugo Humbert, who is playing the Metz final on Saturday, could yet pass Mannarino with the title.

By following his Newport and Astana titles with the Sofia crown, Mannarino became the first Frenchman to win three titles in a season since Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (4) and Lucas Pouille (3) in 2017. He also increased his personal-best season win total to 43 this week, a tally that was also aided by a final run in Mallorca.

As night falls in Turin, the imposing Palazzo Reale awaits the eight players who, starting on Sunday, will be battling it out for the title at the Nitto ATP Finals. Carlos Alcaraz, the No. 2 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings and debutant at the season-closing event, is making his way down a blue carpet surrounded by adoring fans. Although the second half of 2023 has not been as good to him as the first, the two-time Grand Slam champion arrives in the Italian city with his mind set on rediscovering his A-game and challenging for the title.

“I’m expecting the Carlos from early this year, despite the results I’ve had in recent tournaments,” declared Alcaraz, whose triumph at Wimbledon was the last of the six titles he has claimed in 2023. “The defeat in Paris, which was quite painful, made me realise that I have to work harder,” he said of the match he lost in the recent ATP Masters 1000 against Roman Safiullin.

“And that’s what I’ve done. You always have to look for the positive in things. I’ve had several days to train to come here in optimum form. I’ve worked hard, on both fitness and tennis. I feel really good.”

[SWEEPSTAKES]

After not going to Basel because of an inflammation in the sole of his left foot and gluteal problems, Alcaraz bowed out in the first round in Paris-Bercy and had to deal with an unfamiliar sensation: the hangover of a defeat.