Alexander Zverev Battles Auger-Aliassime in ATP World Tour Finals Showdown
Overview
The inherent challenges of round-robin tennis often result in by this stage of the ATP Finals viewers are commonly scratching our heads, scrambling about for a calculator and trying to work out the complex permutations of qualification. Yet today's game between Alexander Zverev and Auger-Aliassime, thankfully, is simple. It's a direct elimination: the victor secures a semifinal contest against Carlos Alcaraz at this season-ending event; the unsuccessful competitor is eliminated.
The German is the frontrunner for this: the elite athlete is the player with greater achievements, has claimed the title at this tournament on two prior occasions and leads their head-to-head 6-3, winning both their past encounters on an indoor hard court.
Yet … this type of playing field on which Felix has secured the majority of his titles, he is full of confidence after his remarkable turnaround against Shelton on Wednesday and he defeated the German in the US Championships early stage in late summer. Plus, the playing speed is higher in Turin than at the US Open venue, which provides an additional advantage in the Canadian's benefit.
Should Zverev be cautious, similar to his performance against the Italian, and the Canadian presses the European player with his effective service game and fearless play, it could well be the young Canadian – the one-time phenom who was previously positioned ahead of the Spanish and Italian stars to replace the Big Three – who earns the dubious honour of competing with the world No 1 tomorrow.
Play begins: at approximately 8:30 PM in Turin, 7.30pm GMT.