The second day of action at the Nitto ATP World Tour Finals in Turin looks like being an absolutely epic day of tennis as the two groups which didn’t start the tournament on Sunday take to the court in the Italian city on Monday.
It means that we get to see probably the two best groups on show on Monday with the doubles group laced with top notch teams and four top class singles players taking to the court to keep us thoroughly entertained.
Day Session
Wesley Koolhof & Neal Skupski vs Thanasi Kokkinakis & Nick Kyrgios
The opening match of this great day of tennis sees the day session doubles taking place when the number one seeds Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski go up against the Australian Open champions Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios in what should be the pick of the doubles matches so far.
Koolhof and Skupski have been the team of the season. They are so far clear of the rest that whatever happens in this tournament they will be the number one team heading into 2022. They face a severe test here though because all the talk is that the Australian Open champions of Kokkinakis and Kyrgios are here to play. The question mark over them is how they can handle the tournament without a huge crowd roaring them on which they had in Melbourne but we saw across the play on Sunday that the ball is flying around this court, especially through the air, which brings the Kyrgios serve massively into play. The Australians are entitled to put a big challenge down here but the number one seeds were my picks this week and I’m not swerving away from them so I’ll watch and enjoy this opening game.
Daniil Medvedev vs Andrey Rublev
The singles match in the day session on Monday sees the two Russian qualifiers battling it out when Daniil Medvedev looks to build on his recent title win in Vienna when he takes on his compatriot Andrey Rublev in a key game.
Both men will know that there are two serious tests to come for each of them in this group in the form of Stefanos Tsitsipas and Novak Djokovic and neither will want to lose this as it would make coming out of this group extremely difficult. Rublev finally won the previous meeting between these two in Cincinnati last year but he still trails 5-1 on the head-to-head record between the two and he didn’t so much as win a set in those five defeats. That makes the first set here pretty pivotal you would think. I fancy Medvedev in these conditions but that early defeat in Paris last week is enough to put me off backing him. I’ll leave this match alone.
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Night Session
Nikola Mektic & Mate Pavic vs Ivan Dodig & Austin Krajicek
As ever the night session begins with the doubles where it is largely a Croatian fayre as the former world number one team of Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic take on their fellow Croatian player Ivan Dodig and his partner Austin Krajicek, the only non-Croatian on the court in this one.
All things being equal you would imagine that Mektic and Pavic would have enough class about them to get the job done here but Dodig seems to come alive on the big stage and he has bloodied the nose of plenty of big teams with various different partners in this tournament down the years and it wouldn’t be the biggest shock in the world were he and Krajicek to do that again here because Mektic and Pavic haven’t been as consistent this season. That said, they are a good team who have been together a while and should be worthy favourites so I’m happy to watch on and see how this one plays out as well.
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Novak Djokovic
The last match of an incredible looking schedule on Monday sees arguably the two favourites in the singles draw battling it out when the number two seed Stefanos Tsitsipas takes on Novak Djokovic just over a week after they played out a thrilling semi-final in Paris.
Djokovic won that encounter in a final set tiebreak and if this one goes that close then anyone who is a neutral will not be complaining. That wasn’t the first time that the Greek has challenged Djokovic but he does have a habit of struggling to get over the line against him so that puts me off backing him to win but the way the ball is flying through the air here makes me think that conditions will suit Tsitsipas in this match and can at least ensure he pushes the Wimbledon champion all the way once again, whether he comes out on top against him or not. Tsitsipas does have three hard court wins over Djokovic and ran him so close a week or so ago so I’ll take the odds against on the Greek with a 3.5 game start.
Tips
Back S.Tsitsipas (+3.5 games) to beat N.Djokovic for a 3/10 stake at 2.05 with Boylesports
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