Looking for Tennis and Racket Sports International News?

Stefanos Tsitsipas has fond memories at the Nitto ATP Finals, where has has been a constant presence dating back to his triumphant 2019 debut in London. The Greek has not missed the season finale since he claimed the title that season, and his sixth-place position in this year’s Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin earned him his fifth appearance at the prestigious event.

His road to Turin this season included a run to the Australian Open final and a milestone 10th tour-level title in Los Cabos, as well as a runner-up finish in Barcelona. As he looks forward to this year’s pageantry in Italy, Tsitsipas is hungry for another deep run.

“It's a whole celebration. The ATP Finals is a commemoration and celebration of the best of the best in our sport,” Tsitsipas said. “We all gather together and we get to play against each other and focus on the fact that we are the best in the world trying to fight for this mega trophy, which is a grand prize in our sport. It means a lot.”

[SWEEPSTAKES]

The coming together of so many great champions makes for a memorable week both on and off the court. But the pride of being among the elite group is paired with the challenge of competing against them.

ATP has announced an unprecedented additional $12.2 million Bonus Pool distribution to players, generated through a new 50-50 profit-sharing formula on the ATP Tour. The game-changing initiative, which aligns the financial interests of players and tournaments, raises the total ATP Bonus Pool to a record $33.5 million for 2023.

The profit-sharing formula is a central pillar of ATP’s OneVision strategy, first conceptualised in 2020 with the election of Andrea Gaudenzi as chairman. The $12.2 million distribution, announced today, represents players’ share of the profits generated across the ATP Masters 1000 events in 2022. It will be distributed to players who participated at the ATP Masters 1000s, based on performance, in addition to on-site prize money already earned at those events.

Under the new formula, the nine ATP Masters 1000 tournaments undergo three separate financial audits each season. For the first time ever, this provides player auditors with full visibility on the economics of the Tour’s biggest events – building unprecedented trust and transparency. Collective profits generated by the tournaments above on-site prize money are then shared equally, on a 50-50 basis, with the players. This is aimed at aligning interests and giving both parties a shared stake in the sport's success.

Andrea Gaudenzi, ATP Chairman, said: "It’s hard to overstate what a seismic shift this represents for the business of tennis. It means greater trust and transparency between players and tournaments, and aligned incentives, for the first time ever. The fact we’re able to distribute $12.2 million to players already in year one is a huge success. This is just the start, and we aim to continue expanding this figure as we grow the economics of the sport in parallel with the expansion of our top tier events. I would like to thank the ATP Board, councils, and members for their trust and support in reaching this landmark moment for tennis.”

Following a record increase of $37.5 million in player compensation from 2022 to 2023, the additional $12.2 million announced today means ATP’s OneVision strategy has delivered an uplift of approximately $50 million in player compensation this year.

What is the 50-50 profit-sharing formula?
The formula was introduced as one of the central pillars of the OneVision strategic plan. In simple terms, the formula means that any net profits (before income tax) above Base Prize Money across the ATP Masters 1000 category are split 50-50 with players. This means that players are sharing in the financial upside of tournaments for the first time in the history of the ATP Tour.

How does it work?
It’s a three-step process:

1. Tournaments take place, with guaranteed Base Prize Money paid out to players as usual.

2. Following each tournament, its financials (incl. all revenues, costs) are fully audited. This is done for each of the nine ATP Masters 1000 tournaments.

3. Profits are aggregated across the whole category (nine ATP Masters 1000 tournaments). If the profits exceed the value of the total Base Prize Money paid out across the category that year, the excess is shared 50-50 with the players via a Bonus Pool payment.

Success on the ATP Tour isn’t always about racking up the most wins. It’s also about who you beat, and when.

Jannik Sinner knows all too well what toppling a close rival on a big stage can do to a player’s confidence. The World No. 4 has won nine of his past 11 matches against Top 20 opponents, including his past four against players who join him in the field at this year’s Nitto ATP Finals.

After becoming an ATP Masters 1000 champion for the first time in August in Toronto, Sinner defeated Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev back-to-back to lift the trophy in early October in Beijing, before doing the same against Andrey Rublev and Medvedev later that month to notch another ATP 500 crown in Vienna.

“When you [feeling] confident, it's always a little bit easier to play, but you have to gain the confidence,” Sinner told ATPTour.com last month. “It's not that you can buy it. It's a very important part. Obviously [it builds up] the more matches you win, but also against what kind of players you win is important. So [the Beijing wins] were very important.”

Sinner had arrived in Beijing with starkly contrasting records against Alcaraz and Medvedev. His straight-sets semi-final win against Alcaraz in the Chinese capital moved the Italian into a 4-3 lead in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series, but he entered the championship match against Medvedev without a win in the pair's six previous tour-level meetings.

The best things in life come in twos.

Just ask Hugo Dellien, who has earned a pair of ATP Challenger Tour titles this season and whose wife Camila is expecting twins.

The 30-year-old, who triumphed at the Santiago and Curitiba Challengers this season, will always remember another memorable moment from when he was in Luedenscheid, Germany. Dellien was eating dinner with his team when his phone rang.

“My wife called me two or three times and I didn’t answer because I was at dinner but then she sent me the picture of the sonography and she said, ‘What did you see in this picture?’” Dellien told ATPTour.com. “I opened the picture and I said, ‘No, no, no, it’s impossible.’ I took my phone and called her and she said, ‘Yeah we have two, not one!’ and I was like, ‘Wow, unbelievable!’

[ATP APP]

Jack Draper claimed his first title at any level since March 2022 on Sunday when he triumphed at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Bergamo, Italy.

The 21-year-old rallied past former World No. 7 David Goffin 1-6, 7-6(3), 6-3 in the Trofeo Perrel - Faip final after fending off 14 of 19 break points faced to earn his fifth career ATP Challenger Tour crown.

“David came out playing incredibly well. I felt a bit sluggish after a long match yesterday. I had to really fight hard and change my energy to find my way back,” Draper said. “I’m really proud of the way I competed. My competitive spirit brought me back.

Draper, who hit a career-high No. 38 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings in January, was poised to continue his rapid rise in 2023. But injuries soon struck the Briton and have been an unfortunate theme this season for last year's Next Gen ATP Finals semi-finalist. Now with another trophy in his hands, Draper hopes to maintain his form heading into next season.

[ATP APP]

“It’s almost like a first [title] again,” said an emotional Alexander Zverev in July after becoming champion at his hometown event, the Hamburg European Open, for the first time. “It’s such a long time, 18 months, and I’m just super happy right now.”

If an ATP Tour career can be broken up into chapters, the German has followed up one of the most tumultuous of his career with a stirring comeback storyline in 2023. One that has seen him lift his 20th and 21st tour-level trophies in Hamburg and Chengdu, respectively, and qualify for the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals for the sixth time.

Zverev had no such expectations at the start of the season, when he returned to competitive action after missing the second half of 2022 with a serious ankle injury sustained during his Roland Garros semi-final against Rafael Nadal. Although the three torn ligaments in his right ankle may have physically healed, Zverev’s 3-6 start to 2023 reflected the fact that after-effects from such a serious injury remained.

"I think at the beginning of the year I was still managing pain, I was still dealing with pain,” Zverev told the ATP Tennis Podcast. “I was not moving the way I wanted to move, I was not sliding around the court, if you look back at the matches that I played. It was more that for me.”

[SWEEPSTAKES]

Former finalist Dominic Thiem made a winning start at the Moselle Open on Monday when he brushed past French lucky loser Matteo Martineau 6-4, 6-2 to reach the second round.

The former World No. 3, who advanced to the title match on debut in Metz in 2016, saved the one break point he faced and won 80 per cent (28/35) of his first-serve points to advance after 84 minutes.

Thiem has now won eight of his past nine tour-level first-round matches, with his best result a final run in Kitzbühel in August. Chasing his first title since his US Open 2020 triumph, the Austrian will next play Frenchman Ugo Humbert.

[SWEEPSTAKES]

In other action, defending champion Lorenzo Sonego made a winning start to his title defence, clawing past American Marcos Giron 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(3).

The Nitto ATP Finals will award a record $15 million in prize money at the 2023 season finale, which will be played at the Pala Alpitour in Turin from 12-19 November. 

If the champion at this year’s tournament lifts the trophy with a perfect record, he will earn $4,801,500, an increase over the previous record, which was set in 2022 when Novak Djokovic won $4,740,300. That remains record prize money for a champion in all of tennis.

Like in the 2022 edition of the tournament, three matches at this year’s Nitto ATP Finals will be worth more than $1 million. Each semi-final victory will be worth more than $1.1 million and the championship match will yield the winner $2,201,000.

Singles Prize Money (2023)
Alternate	$152,500
Participation Fee	$325,500*
Round-robin match win	$390,000
Semi-final match win	$1,105,000
Final win	$2,201,000
Undefeated champion	$4,801,500

*Singles Participation Fee Schedule (2023)
1 match: $162,750
2 matches: $244,125
3 matches: $325,500

If a doubles team lifts the trophy without losing a match en route to the title, it will split $943,650.

The world’s best players will compete at the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin next week, when Novak Djokovic will chase a record seventh title at the prestigious season finale.

When is the Nitto ATP Finals?

The 2023 Nitto ATP Finals will be held from 12-19 November. The indoor hard-court event, established in 1970, will take place at the Pala Alpitour in Turin. The event director is Adam Hogg.

What is the format & who is playing at the 2023 Nitto ATP Finals?

The event in Turin will see eight players divided into two groups of four, with the top two from each group advancing to the semi-finals. Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev, Jannik Sinner, Andrey Rublev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev and Holger Rune will compete.

When is the draw for the 2023 Nitto ATP Finals?

The Turin draw will be made on Thursday 9 November at 3 p.m.

What is the schedule for the 2023 Nitto ATP Finals?

* Main Draw Round-Robin Matches: Sunday 12 November – Friday 17 November. Afternoon session starts at 12:00 p.m. (doubles), 2:30 p.m. (singles). Evening session not before 6:30 p.m (doubles), 9 p.m. (singles) from Sunday-Thursday. Not before 6 p.m (doubles), 8:30 p.m. (singles) on Friday.

* Semi-finals: Saturday 18 November. Afternoon session starts at 12:00 p.m. (doubles), 2:30 p.m. (singles). Evening session not before 6:30 p.m. (doubles), not before 9 p.m. (singles).

* Final: Sunday 19 November. Doubles final at 3 p.m. and singles final at 6 p.m.

View On Official Website

What is the prize money for the Nitto ATP Finals?

The prize money for the Nitto ATP Finals is $15,000,000

Singles
Undefeated Champion: $4,801,500
Final Win: $2,201,000
Semi-Final Win: $1,105,000
Each Round-Robin Match Win: $390,000
Participation Fee: $325,500
Alternate: $152,500

Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick, John Isner and Taylor Fritz. Just some of the American stars who have soared to success on the ATP Tour in the Open Era.

Looking to follow in their footsteps is 19-year-old American Alex Michelsen, who has fond memories of watching his countrymen compete.

“I always watched John McEnroe back on tapes because he was kind of the legend and he was super entertaining to watch,” Michelsen told ATPTour.com. “And then I grew up watching Taylor Fritz, Steve Johnson, these guys at the top, they're always pretty good.

“McEnroe was just entertaining. He's a little bit of a hothead and he was very good. I love the serve-volley style back in the day and my dad played like that too, so it entertained me.”

McEnroe enjoyed a storied career, winning seven major titles and climbing to No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. Michelsen has a long way to go to reach those historic heights, but he has made good progress in his first year on Tour.

As he prepares for his fifth consecutive Nitto ATP Finals appearance, Daniil Medvedev has a score to settle. The world No. 3 went 0-3 last season in Turin, but that record tells just a small part of the story.

One year after winning two final-set tie-breaks in a runner-up finish at the season finale, Medvedev lost all three of his 2022 Turin matches in decisive tie-breaks — defeats against Novak Djokovic, Andrey Rublev and Stefanos Tsitsipas. But as a former champion, the 27-year-old is not too concerned about a repeat performance.

[SWEEPSTAKES]

“I feel definitely maybe a little bit less pressure, because before I won [the 2020 title], I lost three matches in a row,” he pointed out. “But the same time, tennis is such a… let's call it a cyclic thing. Last year, I lost three matches, and three of them were really close in the decisive tie-break, I think two of them I was serving for the match. 

“So for sure this year coming there, I want to try to be better. And that's exactly what happened a couple of years ago, when I managed to win it. So let's hope it's going to be the same story.”

The backhand built an impenetrable brick wall.

Novak Djokovic defeated Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-3 in the final of the Rolex Paris Masters on Sunday by relying heavily on his backhand to control the flow of points from the back of the court.

This was a defensive, old-school approach from Djokovic, who only went to the net five times and hit just 15 run-around forehands standing in the Ad court for the match. Djokovic invested heavily in his backhand, and after a rocky start, it paid dividends with his 40th ATP Masters 1000 crown.

Djokovic committed six errors in his first 13 backhand groundstrokes (excluding returns & volleys), as Dimitrov successfully attacked it with his slice backhands and aggressive run-around forehands. Djokovic said post-match that he thought both players were tight at the beginning of the match, but it was the Serbian who settled down the quickest.

Djokovic made his last 29 backhands of the opening set and cranked up the pressure on Dimitrov to basically have to hit winners to collect points. Overall, Djokovic hit more backhands than forehands for the match as he was content to build points through the Ad court and force Dimitrov to red line his game to win baseline exchanges.

Novak Djokovic’s champion’s mentality was shown on Sunday after he won the Rolex Paris Masters. As happy as the Serbian was to claim his record-extending seventh title at the season’s ATP Masters 1000 event, he was clearly hungry for more.

“It's great, but it's already behind me. I'm very of course proud of the achievement but I'm already turning the next page. This is, fortunately or unfortunately, the way it works for me, and the way I think is the correct, so to say, mentality moving forward,” Djokovic said. “Because while I'm still active, I still want to win more and I still want to play at the highest level. Obviously Grand Slams and Masters events are the most valuable tournaments in our sport.

“So considering the circumstances I had in the last seven days, this win has more weight and more value and it's extra sweet, particularly at this stage of my career. I don't even know in which stage of my career I am anymore, but I think that every win in a big tournament, maybe the value is double nowadays.”

The 36-year-old won three consecutive three-setters to make the championship match, which he won against former World No. 3 Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets. The 40-time Masters 1000 champion was honest about how difficult it was to capture the trophy.

“A very challenging week. I think also off the court, dealing with the stomach virus that really took a lot of energy out of me, but somehow I managed to, I guess, find this extra energy when it was most needed, particularly in the days of Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, where I was probably closer to losing these matches than winning,” Djokovic said. “So considering what happened in the last six, seven days, this win is definitely one of the most special wins in the Masters 1000 category.”

Grigor Dimitrov’s disappointment at just missing out on the Rolex Paris Masters title on Sunday was plain to see. Yet the Bulgarian’s courtside tears were not necessarily just a reaction to his championship-match defeat to World No. 1 Novak Djokovic.

“It's difficult to explain emotions, I think,” said Dimitrov after Djokovic prevailed 6-4, 6-3 at the ATP Masters 1000 event in the French capital. “You want it. It's tough when it doesn't happen. Only I know, in a way, without feeling sorry for myself, what I've gone through the past months on and off the court.

“Those are happy tears. I don't want to have them as something negative. I'm human, after all. At the end of the day, I think just the buildup, not only of the last two weeks, the last months of hard work and the big trip in China, everything has been kind of snowballing day after day, match after match.”

This moment ?@DjokerNole ❤️ @GrigorDimitrov @RolexPMasters | #RolexParisMasters pic.twitter.com/LwEtUDO8w2

— ATP Tour (@atptour) November 5, 2023

Dimitrov was appearing in his first Masters 1000 final for six years, and his biggest championship match since his 2017 triumph at the Nitto ATP Finals. The 32-year-old has now gone six years without lifting a trophy, but he can still reflect on 2023 as a year of undoubted resurgence.

Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert won his first tour-level singles match in more than 20 months on Sunday when he defeated his #NextGenATP countryman Arthur Cazaux 7-6(7), 6-4 in the first round of the Moselle Open.

Herbert, who is competing in Metz for the first time since 2019, had not won a tour-level singles match since February 2022 in Marseille. He will next play second seed Alex de Minaur.

“It was a tough match today against a very good opponent. He had an amazing year, so I knew I had to play a great match to be able to win,” Herbert said in his on-court interview. “For me, this win is quite special because I've not been playing this tournament for almost [four] years.

“I’ve had some difficult times so really, really happy. And being able to share that moment with this box is just amazing.”

World No. 372 Herbert, who has climbed as high as No. 36 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, saved the two break points he faced and won 79 per cent of his first-serve points to advance after one hour and 53 minutes.

Novak Djokovic continues to rewrite the record books, extending his sizable 'Big Titles' advantage by winning the Rolex Paris Masters on Sunday.

By defeating Grigor Dimitrov in the Paris-Bercy final, the Serbian claimed his 40th ATP Masters 1000 trophy, becoming the first player to reach that milestone.

Djokovic has now won 70 'Big Titles', which is a combination of Grand Slam championships, trophies at the Nitto ATP Finals and ATP Masters 1000 tournaments, and Olympic singles gold medals. 

Djokovic has won one ‘Big Title’ for every 3.1 events played (70/217). Only three other players have claimed 'Big Titles' at a rate better than one for every five events played: Nadal (1/3.5), Federer (1/4.4) and Pete Sampras (1/4.9).

The 36-year-old has won the Rolex Paris Masters seven times, also a record. Having also emerged victorious in Cincinnati this year, he has earned multiple Masters 1000 titles in 12 seasons during his career.

Novak Djokovic has moved within one set of a record-extending 40th ATP Masters 1000 crown after moving ahead in Sunday’s Rolex Paris Masters championship match against Grigor Dimitrov.

Djokovic leads 6-4 after pulling away from the Bulgarian following a cagey start inside Accor Arena. The Serbian, who is chasing a record-extending seventh title at the indoor hard-court event, won 88 per cent (15/17) of points behind his first serve in a largely solid first-set display.

That dominance behind his delivery allowed Djokovic to hit freely on return, and he clinched a decisive break in the seventh game as Dimitrov, who made a costly 19 unforced errors in the set, struggled to match the 36-year-old’s consistency from the baseline.

The World No. 1 Djokovic entered Sunday’s final on a 17-match winning streak and having won his past nine Lexus ATP Head2Head clashes with Dimitrov. Should he go on to complete victory in Paris, he will increase his Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin lead over Carlos Alcaraz to 1490 points and make it highly likely he will claim the ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by Pepperstone honour for a record-extending eighth time.

More to follow…

Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin extended their late-season winning streak to eight on Sunday to clinch the title at the Rolex Paris Masters.

The seventh-seeded duo defeated Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden 6-2, 5-7, 10-7 to lift the trophy at the ATP Masters 1000 event in the French capital. Gonzalez and Roger-Vasselin converted both break points they earned to claim victory, holding firm after dropping their first set of the week in the championship match in Paris.

“The set we lost, it’s totally my fault. I did a pretty bad game in the second set, but Santi helped a lot at the changeover,” said home favourite Roger-Vasselin. “[He said] ‘It’s OK, we’re just going to fight every point and enjoy the crowd’. For me it’s super special to win here in Paris, so I’m really thankful to Santi. He played amazing all week, and I’m really happy to win this trophy here.”

The franchise players ⭐️⭐️

The moment @gonzalezsanty & @ERogerVasselin locked up the doubles title in Paris, defeating Bopanna/Ebden 6-2, 5-7, 10-7!@RolexPMasters | #RolexParisMasters pic.twitter.com/e5lP9GGm0w

— ATP Tour (@atptour) November 5, 2023

Gonzalez and Roger-Vasselin, who also lifted the trophy in Basel a week ago, defeated the second, third and fourth-seeded pairs en route to their second Masters 1000 crown of the year. The duo has qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, where the pair will enter the prestigious season finale on a high.

The final ATP 250 action of 2023 takes place in Metz and Sofia, where a host of top stars line up at a pair of indoor hard-court events.

Alex de Minaur leads the field at the Moselle Open in Metz, where Karen Khachanov and Stan Wawrinka also feature in the draw. At the Sofia Open, Lorenzo Musetti, Adrian Mannarino and Jan-Lennard Struff are among the Top 30 players eyeing a successful end to the year.

ATPTour.com looks ahead at five things to watch at each event.

[SWEEPSTAKES]

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN METZ
1) De Minaur Headlines Draw: Although his Nitto ATP Finals qualification hopes were ended by quarter-final defeat at the Rolex Paris Masters, De Minaur will aim to cap a strong year with a deep run in Metz. The Australian, who lifted the biggest title of his career in Acapulco in March, will take on one of two home wild cards first up — Pierre-Hugues Herbert or #NextGenATP Arthur Cazaux.