Zverev Faces Auger-Aliassime in Season-Ending Championships Match
Overview
The typical complications of round-robin tennis often result in at this point of the ATP World Tour Finals we’re often left scratching our heads, hastily looking for a mathematical tool and trying to work out the mind-boggling permutations of qualification. However this evening's contest between Alexander Zverev and Felix Auger-Aliassime, thankfully, is straightforward. It's a direct elimination: the successful player earns a semifinal contest against Carlos Alcaraz at this championship finale; the defeated player goes home.
Zverev is the favourite for this: the world No 3 is the player with greater achievements, has previously won at this competition on two prior occasions and holds the advantage in their personal record with six victories against three defeats, securing victories in both the games they've played on an covered hard surface.
However … this particular court on which Auger-Aliassime has claimed the bulk of his trophies, he is in great form after his remarkable turnaround against Shelton on midweek and he took out Zverev in the US Championships initial phase in August. Furthermore, the court pace is quicker in Turin than at Flushing Meadows, which provides an additional advantage in the Canadian's favor.
If Zverev holds back, similar to his performance against the Italian, and Auger-Aliassime takes it to the German with his stinging serves and bold strategy, there is a strong chance the North American athlete – the former prodigy who was previously positioned in front of Alcaraz and Sinner to replace the tennis icons – who obtains the questionable privilege of competing with the world No 1 the next day.
The match starts: at about 8.30pm local time, 7.30pm GMT.
