Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are set to intensify their budding rivalry at the ATP Finals on Sunday, marking the first time in nearly 25 years that the event will be held without any members of the Big Three.
Top-ranked Sinner and No. 3 Alcaraz each claimed two Grand Slam titles this year, and a potential showdown between them in Turin would be the perfect cap to their remarkable seasons.
After Alcaraz was overtaken by Alexander Zverev in the rankings this week, the Spaniard could be placed in the same round-robin group as Sinner.
The draw for the eight-man event is scheduled for later Thursday.
After the round-robin stage, the top two finishers in each group advance to the semifinals.
The other qualifiers are: Zverev, Daniil Medvedev, Taylor Fritz, Casper Ruud, Alex de Minaur and Andrey Rublev.
The big name missing is defending champion Novak Djokovic, who withdrew Tuesday due to an unspecified injury.
It’s the first time since 2001 that the finals will be held without at least one member of Djokovic, Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal. This season also marked the first since 2002 without at least one Grand Slam title for a member of that trio.
Djokovic has won the ATP Finals a record seven times, beating Sinner for the title last year.
Federer, who announced his retirement in 2022, won the event six times after debuting in 2002. Nadal, who is retiring after playing in the Davis Cup the week after the finals, was the runner-up twice but never won the event.
Sinner withdrew from last week’s Paris Masters due to a virus and arrived early in Turin for training.
"This is, for me, the main event of the end of the year," Sinner said.
As an Italian, Sinner will be the main focus of attention in Turin.
This is the first time Sinner will be playing at home since it was announced before his U.S. Open title that he had tested positive in two separate drug tests earlier in the year.
The World Anti-Doping Agency appealed a decision clearing Sinner of any wrongdoing in September, and the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport is expected to make a final ruling on the case early next year.
Sinner began this year by winning the Australian Open, becoming the first Italian man to win a Grand Slam singles title in nearly half a century – since Adriano Panatta claimed the French Open in 1976.
Alcaraz then won the French Open and Wimbledon titles to raise his career total to four Grand Slams.
Sinner responded by winning the U.S. Open.
Alcaraz won all three official meetings with Sinner this year and holds a 6-4 advantage in their career head-to-head rivalry. Last month, Sinner beat Alcaraz in the Six Kings Slam exhibition in Saudi Arabia.
The only two players in the field to have won the finals are Zverev and Medvedev.
Zverev won in London in 2018 and in Turin in 2021, while Medvedev triumphed in 2020, the final year the event was held in London.
Zverev enters in solid form, coming off a title at the Paris Masters.
Fritz is looking to add another big result after his maiden Grand Slam final at the U.S. Open. Ruud was a finalist in 2022. De Minaur is making his tournament debut, while Rublev is making his fifth straight appearance.
If a player wins all five of his matches en route to the trophy, he will earn $4.8 million – the largest winner’s prize on the men’s tour.
That’s significantly more than what Sinner and Alcaraz earned for their victories at the U.S. Open ($3.6 million) and Wimbledon (2.7 million pounds or $3.45 million) this year.