ANALYSIS: Could Alexander Zverev spring surprise against Sinner and Alcaraz at the ATP Finals?

The 2024 ATP Finals, to be held in Turin from November 10-17, presents a predictable scenario, with Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner as the tournament's main entertainers. Alexander Zverev, who has had a remarkable year, arrives with the No. 2 ranking and the illusions of disrupting the plans of the only Grand Slam winners of the year.

Alexander Zverev comes into these Finals as the second best player in the world, after having reached the final of the Paris Masters. His performance has been impressive, with two Masters 1000 titles and reaching the final of Roland Garros. In recent statements, Zverev has recognized that both Sinner and Alcaraz are at a higher level in some aspects, but he is determined to improve his game and compete at the highest level against the new Big-2.

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What are Zverev's chances in Turin?

The German is part of the John Newcombe Group, along with the Norwegian Casper Ruud, the Russian Andrey Rublev and the aforementioned Spaniard, Carlos Alcaraz. Having "avoided" Jannik Sinner, at least for the Round Robin, is already something positive, although if he wanted to avoid the Italian until the final, Zverev would have to win the group and for that he would have to get a victory in his duel against the current Roland Garros and Wimbledon champion, something he already did when the year started, at the Australian Open. On that occasion, Zverev eliminated the Spaniard in the quarterfinals in 4 tight sets. They are 5-5 in personal duels.

Against Sinner he also has good chances, although similar to the case of Alcaraz, it is the Italian who has won the last time they met and the victory of the German in the round of 16 of the US Open 2023 is far away, given the explosion of Jannik in this season 2024. The curious fact is that Zverev leads in head-to-head meetings 4-2, which indicates that he has known how to bother the current US Open champion.

Although Sinner and Alcaraz are the undisputed favorites for the ATP Finals 2024, Zverev's experience and talent could allow him to challenge these expectations. Of all the qualifiers, the German emerges as the only one who could challenge the two young superstars who dominated the competition this year for the Masters trophy.