The Nitto ATP World Tour Finals continue in Turin on Tuesday when the second set of round robin matches take place in the season ending finale on a day where we are likely to see the first qualifiers for the semi-finals.
This is the day where the number one seed in the singles and the number two seeds in the doubles are in action. The former is looking to secure a semi-final spot while the latter are looking to remain in the tournament.
Afternoon Session
Max Purcell & Jordan Thompson vs Harri Hellovaara & Henry Patten
The two winning pairs meet in the opening match of the day when the US Open champions Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson go up against the second to last team into the field in the form of Harri Hellovaara and Henry Patten.
Both of these pairs caused upsets as outsiders in the opening set of matches. Purcell and Thompson saw off the number three seeds Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mektic while Hellovaara and Henry Patten took care of the number two seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos. Both pairs won in straight sets so whoever wins here will be into the semi-final and will have four days to recover and get ready to peak for that clash. These two have met twice and both have gone to a third set with a win each so there is every reason to think there will be little between them in this one as well. That makes me think that Heliovaara and Patten are value at 6/5 but my instinct is that Purcell and Thompson will win. I’ve not got a strong enough feeling either way though.
Daniil Medvedev vs Alex de Minaur
The singles match in the afternoon session sees the two losers from the opening day as Daniil Medvedev looks to keep his hopes of winning the tournament alive when he goes up against Alex De Minaur in a game neither can really afford to lose.
De Minaur might be in a better position from here on in because he has already faced Jannik Sinner who on home soil is expected to dominate the section so to get that out of the way the Australian can now get down to targeting the two wins he might well need to make it out of the group. Medvedev lost to Taylor Fritz in the first set of games and so if he is going to come out of this section he will not only have to win this match but he’ll need to beat Sinner in the last game which feels unlikely based on his current form. He has lost his last four matches after that defeat to Fritz and he came out after that loss and basically confessed that he has fallen out of love for the sport a little and I can’t be backing him after those comments. These two have only met once this year which was in the French Open when De Minaur won and given that he is in the better form, and probably fresher physically and mentally after his injury just after Wimbledon, I think he’s the one to be on here.
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Evening Session
Marcel Granollers & Horacio Zeballos vs Wesley Koolhof & Nikola Mektic
The doubles match in the evening session sees the two losing pairings battling it out with the tournament life pretty much on the line when the number two seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos meet the third seeds Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mektic.
These two pairs arrive into this match in different form. It was a bit of a surprise that Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson got the better of Koolhof and Mektic in the opening match when you consider that the Dutch-Croatian pairing were the winners in Paris last week but maybe there was a bit of a comedown on their part. Granollers and Zeballos are usually a benchmark in this tournament but they have lost four of their last five matches and looked like a side out of form in the opening game. That makes me think that the number three seeds, who have won five titles on the year and won both meetings between these two this year, are good things here. They are in form despite their loss in the opening set of games and both men have won this tournament before. I fancy them here.
Jannik Sinner vs Taylor Fritz
The final game of a decent day of tennis sees the world number one and favourite to win the tournament, Jannik Sinner, looking to make it to the edge of qualifying for the semi-final when he takes on Taylor Fritz in a repeat of the US Open final which Sinner won back in September.
Fritz had what looked like a really good over Daniil Medvedev at the time but the comments of Medvedev and his struggles with the game afterwards has made me question just how good that win was. Sinner cruised past Alex de Minaur in the first set of games and he really does look a class above in this group but Fritz has a first serve that could make him competitive but he will need to serve like a demon if he is going to come through this. Sinner won the US Open meeting between the two men in straight sets. Fritz was competitive in that but couldn’t put his man away in the early sets and he’ll need to be more ruthless if he is going to come out on top here. In front of a home crowd it is hard to see Sinner losing but the odds are reflective of that.
Tips
Back A.de Minaur to beat D.Medvedev for a 3/10 stake at 2.10 with Boylesports
Back him here:
Back W.Koolhof & N.Mektic to beat M.Granollers & H.Zeballos for a 3/10 stake at 1.95 with Unibet
