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The Green Group action climaxes on Thursday at the Nitto ATP Finals, with both qualification spots for the semi-finals still up for grabs.

Novak Djokovic will bid to bounce back from a defeat to Jannik Sinner, knowing a win against alternate Hubert Hurkacz would go a long way towards extending his Turin title defence beyond round-robin play. In the evening matchup, two of the ATP Tour's brightest young stars in Jannik Sinner and Holger Rune will square off under the lights.

[1] Novak Djokovic (SER) vs. [9/Alt] Hubert Hurkacz (POL)

Djokovic was turned back by home favourite Sinner in a thrilling three-setter on Tuesday night, but the Serbian left the match proud of his efforts.

"It's normal to lose some of the matches like this, but I have to be content with the fight, the fighting spirit," he said after seeing his 19-match winning streak snapped. "I managed to make a comeback from a set down, a break down in the third set, playing in really challenging and difficult conditions on the court today. I'm proud of the fight that I put in. It just wasn't enough for the win."

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Daniil Medvedev became the first man to qualify for the semi-finals this year in Turin with his Wednesday win against Alexander Zverev. The third seed has won all four sets he's played at the Nitto ATP Finals in building a 2-0 group-stage record, and he's eager to build on that success when he meets Carlos Alcaraz on Friday.

"I'm going to try my best to play Carlos," Medvedev said, acknowledging the fact that his progress to the knockout rounds is already sealed. "The moment you relax and say to yourself, 'Maybe this match I can go easier,' you can lose all the rhythm. That's how tennis is."

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Medvedev saw first-hand the value of maintaining winning momentum in his Turin meeting with Novak Djokovic last year. The Serbian was 2-0 entering that matchup and already through to the semis, just like Medvedev is now. But Djokovic did not give an inch in a three-set battle, ultimately winning a final-set tie-break before claiming his record-tying sixth Nitto ATP Finals crown two matches later.

"Novak last year against me, [it was] physically a very tough match.," Medvedev said. "He could have said at one moment, 'Whatever, I lose the match, I'm still first place.' But he didn't. I think it's a great example for me to try to do just my best on Friday and try to win."

Editor's Note: This article was translated from ATPTour.com/es

Although the 2023 ATP Tour season is yet to reach its conclusion, with the Nitto ATP Finals nearing their final rounds in Turin, Rafael Nadal already has his mind on 2024. After a return to training a few weeks ago, having not competed since the Australian Open and undergone an operation on his iliopsoas, the Spanish star has now confirmed that he will play again. He has been working tirelessly toward that goal in recent months.

“I’m well, training, and happy,” said the 22-time Grand Slam champion on Wednesday afternoon in Barcelona. “I’m at a good stage of my life. Until now I didn’t know if I would play tennis again someday, and now I genuinely believe I will. I’m still not ready to say when, but I’m able to train increasingly longer, and the progress is good,” he explained.

“We know that the pain will never disappear, but I’ve taken a step forward,” said the Spaniard. “That’s a lot for me. Talking about tennis is another matter altogether, as is the level I’ll be able to play at. But the steps toward trying to play again have been big and positive, which is what we have been fighting for for several months. I’m confident I’ll be able to say something more specific in the coming weeks.”

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After picking up an injury at the Australian Open and then withdrawing from several tournaments, including Roland Garros, Nadal underwent an operation on 2 June in Barcelona and started his long recovery period, from which he is now starting to emerge.

In a battle of former Nitto ATP Finals champions, Daniil Medvedev continued his recent run of success against Alexander Zverev to become the first man to book a place in this year's Turin semi-finals.

The third seed edged his German opponent 7-6(7), 6-4 on Wednesday night, earning his fifth win in six Lexus ATP HeadHead matchups between the pair this season and improving to 11-7 overall against Zverev. Medvedev also moved to 3-2 against Zverev at the Nitto ATP Finals, with the pair nearing Pete Sampras and Boris Becker's record of seven matchups at the season finale.

“It was a very tough match mentally,” said Medvedev in his on-court interview. “I started very well, I was playing well. He was kind of not there yet, but at one moment he stepped up his game and at this moment, for whatever reason, I started playing a little bit worse for a short period of time.

“I’m happy that I managed to regroup and play better at the end of the first set. The end of both sets was very tight... In the tie-break he had set point on his serve. I’m happy because this year I might have lost some matches like this. I’m happy to be able to win.”

The 2020 Nitto ATP Finals champ beat the 2018 and 2021 titlist in a match of fine margins, with Medvedev saving two set points in a tense opening-set tie-break and fighting off a break point late in set two.

Carlos Alcaraz has not forgotten what happened a few months ago in the US Open semi-finals. In that match, facing Daniil Medvedev at the last Grand Slam of the season, the Spaniard suffered from a “mental block” at the end of the first-set tiebreak that would continue through almost all of the second set. As a result, he lost in four sets and left with a bittersweet taste in his mouth.

After Wednesday's 7-5, 6-2 win over Andrey Rublev, Alcaraz will Friday square off against Medvedev for the first time since that evening, and he will do so in what promises to be a high-octane encounter; the No. 2 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings needs to win to have a chance of reaching the last four at the Nitto ATP Finals.

“We’re going to try and use the US Open match as an example,” explained Alcaraz, whose Lexus ATP Head2Head with Medvedev is tied at 2-2. “I was mentally in the wrong place for a long time. That cannot happen against him. I will have to approach it differently. I know how he will play, so we’ll look at my strategy before the match.

“Medvedev is one of the best players in the world,” declared the 20-year-old Spaniard. “You have to play very well tactically, be patient and aggressive at the same time. It’s very difficult to beat him. You have to wait for the opportunity, but run and be calm, and get five or six shots in per point until the chance comes, while being aware that often it won’t.”

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Did you ever wonder which Nitto ATP Finals champion eats the most?

Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz and the rest of the Turin competitors spilled the tea in a special eight-player interview ahead of this year's season finale.

The champions sat down in the Royal Palace of Turin to bring fans exclusive insight into the players' tennis and habits off the court.

Would Novak Djokovic or Daniil Medvedev be able to go the longest without missing a backhand? The votes were split, until one of the stars changed his vote to convince the rest of the group.

A well thought-out gameplan is key to regularly win matches on the ATP Tour.

Pre-match scouting reports and post-match debriefs with coaches have long been part of the routine for top stars as they look to outthink their on-court rivals. Now, thanks to the ATP and Tennis Data Innovations (TDI), it is the mid-match strategic battle that could become even more decisive to give a player the best possible chance of victory.

Tennis IQ, ATP and TDI’s performance analytics platform, gives all ATP singles players access to advanced match analytics within one simple and intuitive platform. This week at the Nitto ATP Finals, tennis analyst Mike James, a member of Holger Rune’s team, is using the system on a tablet in the Dane's player box to offer a live data-driven perspective to coach Boris Becker.

“Boris has his own view and he's got a very good coaching eye, but what I see using the data in the match is confirmed learning,” James told ATPTour.com in Turin. “[Boris] might feel something is happening, he just wants confirmation of it — around the court position, around the serve speeds and serve accuracy. [These are things] that we can see live.

“I think traditionally how we've used analysis is obviously pretty much scouting, post-match in the game development and starting to work on things. Now doing it live, I think it has massive value.”

Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury extended their Nitto ATP Finals winning streak to seven matches on Wednesday in Turin. In doing so, they sealed a semi-final spot at the prestigious season finale for the fourth consecutive year.

The defending champions Ram and Salisbury held firm for a 6-3, 3-6, 10-7 win against Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski inside the Pala Alpitour. Now 2-0 in Red Group, they are already assured a place in the last four regardless of what happens in their third match against Rinky Hijikata and Jason Kubler.

Ram and Salisbury have struggled for their usual consistency this year but became ATP Tour champions in Lyon in May and Vienna in October, either side of defending their title at the US Open. They are now 34-18 for the season after holding firm in a tense Match Tie-break to wrap an 83-minute triumph against Koolhof and Skupski.

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A single break decided each of the first two sets in an absorbing encounter, the first between the two teams since Ram and Salisbury prevailed in the 2022 Nitto ATP Finals semi-finals. The American-British pair notched the first break of the match in the sixth game en route to winning an opening set in which they saved five break points, but Koolhof and Skupski broke to love in the eighth game of the second to draw level.

It's Awards season, which means we need your help to determine this year's Fans' Favourite winners!

Which tennis players entertained you during the 2023 ATP Tour season? Show your support by selecting your favourite singles player and doubles team from the dropdowns below and submit your vote.

[FANS FAVOURITE]

Voting for the 2023 Fans' Favourite Awards closes at 11:59pm GMT on Friday, 1 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. 

Carlos Alcaraz kept alive his semi-final hopes at the Nitto ATP Finals on Wednesday when he moved past Andrey Rublev 7-5, 6-2 to earn his first win at the prestigious year-end event.

The 20-year-old bounced back from an opening Red Group defeat against Alexander Zverev with an aggressive display against Rublev. The Spaniard outlasted the fifth seed in a series of destructive baseline exchanges, redlining the ball to improve to 10-5 against Top 10 opponents in 2023.

With his 74-minute win, Alcaraz snapped a three-match losing streak. The World No. 2 fell against Grigor Dimitrov in Shanghai, Roman Safiullin in Paris and Zverev in Turin. He is now 64-11 on the season.

"It was a totally different match and level from me. This is the level I have to play if I want to give myself a chance in this amazing tournament," Alcaraz said. "Yesterday was a good day for me in practise to find the level I needed to show today and I think I did pretty well. I am very happy with my level."

Alcaraz, who is the youngest player in the eight-man singles field, is making his debut at the Nitto ATP Finals after missing last year’s edition due to injury. He is chasing his seventh trophy of the season and first since Wimbledon and will meet Daniil Medvedev in his final round-robin match on Friday.

Rohan Bopanna became the oldest player in tournament history to win a match at the Nitto ATP Finals on Wednesday when he teamed with Matthew Ebden to down Rinky Hijikata and Jason Kubler 6-4, 6-4.

The 43-year-old Bopanna and Ebden lost just one point on their first serve and saved the one break point they faced to triumph after 72 minutes in Turin.

With their victory, the third seeds improved to 1-1 in Red Group play, keeping alive their chances of qualifying for the semi-finals after losing their opening match to defending champions Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury.

Bopanna and Ebden will face Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski in their final round-robin match on Friday.

The Indian-Australian pair first teamed at the start of this season and enjoyed an impressive year together, winning tour-level trophies in Doha and Indian Wells. Bopanna is making his fourth appearance at the year-end event, while Ebden is debuting.

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.

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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.