The Nitto ATP Finals championship match begins at 7pm CET/1pm ET on Sunday, 20 November.
The star-studded discipline of eight champions has been trimmed to 2 on the Nitto ATP Finals, with Novak Djokovic and Casper Ruud nonetheless standing to contest Sunday’s title match. In addition to the Turin trophy, each males are enjoying for a significant milestone of their respective careers.
Djokovic is looking for his sixth Nitto ATP Finals crown, a mark which might match Roger Federer for the event document. The 35-year-old can even grow to be the oldest champion on the season finale, after the then-30-year-old Federer’s London triumph in 2011. By claiming the title as an undefeated champion, Djokovic would stroll away with a document payday of greater than $4.7 million, in addition to 1,500 Pepperstone ATP Rankings factors.
Ruud — a nine-time ATP Tour champion — is searching his first ‘Big Title’ after falling simply quick within the finals at Miami, Roland Garros and the US Open this 12 months. Already up one place to World No. 3 within the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings this week, the 23-year-old may return to No. 2 and transfer inside 500 factors of Carlos Alcaraz on the pinnacle of the lads’s sport with one other victory.
A victory would set both man up with a robust likelihood at passing the Spaniard early within the 2023 season, with neither Djokovic nor Ruud defending factors on the Australian Open.
Who wins Sunday’s ultimate?
Djokovic in two units
Djokovic in three units
Ruud in two units
Ruud in three units
Despite his lofty rating, Ruud nonetheless feels just like the underdog in opposition to Djokovic, who has moved up three locations himself to No. 5 this week within the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings. The Norwegian has but to win a set in three earlier conferences with the previous World No. 1, together with a 7-6(4), 6-2 defeat final 12 months within the Turin group stage. But Ruud has excessive hopes of breaking that development on Sunday in opposition to the reigning Wimbledon champion.
“He’s a player that doesn’t have many weaknesses at all,” he stated of his ultimate opponent. “But he is human. He lost two weeks ago to Rune in the [Rolex Paris Masters] final. It’s not like he plays these finals every day of his career, in his life. I’m sure he will also feel a little bit of pressure. There’s a lot on the line.”
Having watched Djokovic win his 5 earlier year-end titles on TV, Ruud is now in place to cease him from gaining No. 6. He will probably be hoping that health turns into an element, with Djokovic coming into his third match in as many days after gruelling contests in opposition to Daniil Medvedev and Taylor Fritz.
“He’s played a little bit more tennis than I have,” Ruud stated after a dominant 6-2, 6-4 semi-final win in opposition to Andrey Rublev. “I don’t know if he will feel tired — probably not. But this is the perfect way for me to go into the final. I hope I can save some of this great tennis for tomorrow and see what happens.”
As he did in opposition to Rublev, Ruud will search to make use of his high-RPM forehand to dictate the rallies in opposition to Djokovic. The Norwegian’s techniques for his semi-final win centred on attacking the Rublev backhand. On Sunday, Djokovic could make use of the identical sport plan in opposition to Ruud.
According to the finalists’ INSIGHTS Shot Quality scores — which consider a wide range of metrics to grade strokes on a 10-point scale — the backhand is the place Djokovic holds the largest edge on this matchup. With each males characterised as ‘Solid Baseliners’ by the evaluation, the title match will probably be received by the participant who executes that type higher on the day.
Specific to this week in Turin, the statistics are much more encouraging for Djokovic, along with his forehand rated a field-leading 8.91 on the Pala Alpitour. The Serbian additionally leads the eight Turin qualifiers in Steal Score and Return Quality this week, with Ruud graded second on the forehand and third in Steal fee.
In addition to stealing 37.1 per cent of factors from defence this week, Djokovic has performed almost 25 per cent of his photographs In Attack on the 2022 Nitto ATP Finals, and he has transformed 73.6 per cent of factors wherein he has gained an offensive benefit.
| Djokovic | Ruud | Tour Avg. | |
| In Attack | 24.9% | 22.5% | 23% |
| Conversion Score | 73.6% | 71.2% | 66% |
| Steal Score | 37.1% | 33.1% | 34% |
| Serve Quality | 8.47 | 8.36 | 7.5 |
| Return Quality | 7.59 | 6.81 | 6.5 |
| Forehand Quality | 8.91 | 8.54 | 7 |
| Backhand Quality | 7.71 | 7.62 | 7.2 |
All of that has translated to a seventh tour-level ultimate of the season for Djokovic.
“I was looking forward to being in this position,” the seventh seed stated after his 7-6(5), 7-6(6) win in opposition to Fritz on Saturday. “I’m very happy to be able to compete for another big trophy, one of the biggest ones that we have in our sport.”
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While he admitted to feeling “heavy legs” and a “lack of reactivity” in opposition to the American, Djokovic took care of business with out his highest tennis. He is aware of nothing wanting excellence will probably be sufficient in opposition to Ruud within the ultimate.
“I would love to, of course, win the trophy, but I’m not going to be the only player who is going to want that on the court,” Djokovic stated in his post-match press convention. “Hopefully I’ll be able to play at the level that I’ve played most of the matches this week and get a trophy.”
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It would come as no shock to see Djokovic ending his season with the title after his sturdy lead-in to Turin. The Serbian posted a 13-1 document in his previous three ATP Tour occasions, successful trophies in Tel Aviv and Astana earlier than reaching the Rolex Paris Masters Final. His 4 titles this season additionally embrace triumphs at Wimbledon and in Rome.
Ruud’s progress in Turin was much less predictable — much like his breakout season, which the Norwegian has admitted shocked even him. After his run to the US Open ultimate, Ruud slumped to a 2-4 document in 4 ATP Tour tournaments earlier than rediscovering his kind in Turin.
“I think when the draw was made here, I guess I was the least favourite to reach the final; I think I can say for sure, compared to all the other great players who I consider are maybe better hard-court indoor players than myself,” Ruud stated after reaching the title match. “There are small margins in this sport. I’ve been able to come through, fight through, be in the final, so I’m very happy about it.”