ATP Tour

Sinner & Zverev collide after hot starts at Nitto ATP Finals

The Nitto ATP Finals presents a different drama, with its round-robin format adding a layer of intrigue to the battles between the ATP Tour's elite. That drama will continue Wednesday in Turin with the second singles matches for the competitors in the Bjorn Borg Group.

Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev will fight for first place in the group, with both entering their evening showdown at 1-0, while Ben Shelton and Felix Auger-Aliassime will seek to avoid falling to the bottom of the standings at 0-2.

In doubles action, the winner of the match pitting Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski against Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten will lead the John McEnroe Group at 2-0. Americans Christian Harrison and Evan King will face Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic in a matchup of 0-1 pairs.

[2] Jannik Sinner (ITA) vs. [3] Alexander Zverev (GER)
While Carlos Alcaraz's comeback win against Taylor Fritz moved the Spaniard to the brink of clinching ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF honours, Sinner can put the pressure back on his rival with a third win against Zverev in 17 days. To pip Alcaraz for that distinction, Sinner must win the Nitto ATP Finals title as an undefeated champion and hope that Alcaraz does not record another victory this week.

The Italian owns a 5-4 Lexus ATP Head2Head advantage against Zverev, with wins this season in the Australian Open final and more recently in the Vienna final and the Paris semis. Their first two meetings of 2025 were closely contested affairs, particularly the Vienna final, a 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 triumph for Sinner. While Zverev struggled with an ankle injury in a one-sided Paris defeat, the German was sharp in a 6-3, 7-6(6) opening Turin win against Shelton, saving two set points from 4/6 in the second-set tie-break.

"Playing against Sascha is always a special occasion," Sinner said after their Paris matchup, noting the unfortunate nature of his victory against a compromised opponent.

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Zverev was fit and firing against Shelton, winning 84 per cent of his first-serve points and not allowing the American a break-point chance, according to Infosys ATP Stats. But Sinner managed to outperform the German's serving statistics: In a 7-5, 6-1 result against Auger-Aliassime, the home favourite won 89 per cent of his first-serve points, also earning the victory without facing a break point.

"He's tough to beat anywhere, especially here," Auger-Aliassime said of Sinner after their opener. "He started off amazing [and] never looked back really. From the first point to the last, he was amazing. Toughest guy to beat here."

The last time Zverev beat Sinner was at the 2023 US Open, a five-set battle of attrition filled with long, bruising rallies. While both players are comfortable biding their time from the baseline, the quicker conditions in Turin could force the action earlier in the rallies.

That US Open win was Zverev's fourth consecutive victory in the rivalry. The Italian has turned the tables since then with four straight wins of his own and will now hope to make the most of the home advantage at the Inalpi Arena.

[5] Ben Shelton (USA) vs. [8] Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN)
While neither Shelton nor Auger-Aliassime claimed a set or forced a break point in their Turin openers, both players can take some positives into their second match. Shelton stayed true to his aggressive game against Zverev and nearly forced a deciding set, while Auger-Aliassime played World No. 1 Sinner close until he began to struggle with a left calf problem at 5-6 in the opening set.

The Canadian said his injury was "not dangerous" and that he was "not too concerned" about the issue, instead giving full credit to the Italian for pulling away in the match. After struggling on return against Sinner, Auger-Aliassime faces another daunting test against the electric lefty serve and the unrelenting power of Shelton.

"He’s an unbelievably aggressive player. Probably one of the most aggressive in the world," Zverev said of the American after their opening match. "When the point is on his serve it is always in his control."

But after facing World No. 1 Sinner, Auger-Aliassime will have no fear in what is very close to a must-win matchup against Shelton. At 0-2, the chances of advancing to the knockout rounds are slim.

"I've never been [afraid] because we're not going to war," Auger-Aliassime said when asked about his mental approach after facing Sinner. "I do put in my mind that it's a battle, a tennis battle. I'm very focused, very driven.

"[I’ve] never been afraid of a tennis match. [You’re] more focused when you play at this level, everything needs to be very disciplined and very precise from the first moments."

For both Auger-Aliassime and Shelton, it all starts with the serve. Metrics from Tennis IQ powered by PIF list the serve as the standout shot for both players, with Shelton boasting a Serve Quality score of 8.64 out of 10, and Auger-Aliassime at 8.47. Those numbers, from the 2025 ATP Tour season, put Shelton at 11th and Auger-Aliassime at 14th on the leaderboard.

Doubles Action
While Heliovaara and Patten's bid for Year-End ATP Doubles No. 1 presented by PIF honours fell short — Britons Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool clinched the distinction with their Tuesday win — the Finnish-British pair are still on track for the Turin title. After a 6-4, 6-4 opening triumph against Harrison and King, the second seeds meet Britons Salisbury and Skupski with first place in the John McEnroe Group on the line.

Skupski and Salisbury, seeking their first title of 2025, beat Arevalo and Pavic 6-3, 7-5 on Monday. Arevalo/Pavic and Harrison/King will meet in the evening session as both bid to bounce back from those opening defeats.