PREVIEW | 2023 ATP Finals Day One: DJOKOVIC vs RUNE and SINNER vs TSITSIPAS kick off epic tournament

Day One of the 2023 ATP Finals is about to get underway as the tournament begins with the Green Group on Sunday, November 12 at the Pala Alpitour in Turin, Italy. Here is our preview (and prediction) of the action as Novak Djokovic takes to the court against Holger Rune after Jannik Sinner faces Stefanos Tsitsipas.

World No. 1 Djokovic will begin his bid to defend his title at the 2023 Nitto ATP Finals against World No. 10 Rune. The Serbian player has dominated the ATP Tour this season, winning three out of four Grand Slams and equaling Margaret Court's record of 24 major titles in the process.

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Moreover, he only seems to be getting better at the year draws to a close, having already secured year-end No. 1 and having achieved his 40th ATP Masters 1000 title at the Paris Masters last week.

Meanwhile, Rune has had a more difficult time this season, experiencing some incredible highs and lows. He won the Bavarian International and made it to the final of the Monte-Carlo Masters, but failed to put together back-to-back wins throughout the summer and autumn. However, he seems to be getting back to his level again after adding Boris Becker to his coaching team, reaching the semi-finals of the Swiss Indoors Basel and the quarter-finals of the Paris Masters in recent weeks.

Djokovic won their most recent clash in Paris but Rune was able to take it to three sets, with the eventual score ending in 7-5, 6-7 (3), 6-4. Their overall head-to-head is 2-2, with the 20-year-old scoring a win against the 36-year-old at the Italian Open earlier this year and at the 2022 Paris Masters. Therefore, there is a chance Rune could get past Djokovic, but he would need to be at his very best in order to do so.

Prior to this, World No. 4 Sinner will take on World No. 6 Tsitsipas in the first singles match of the tournament. Sinner has had a strong season overall but has really come into his own toward the end, winning the China Open and the Vienna Open in October and subsequently breaking into the Top 4 in the ATP Ranking for the first time.

Meanwhile, Tsitsipas has had a season more similar to that of Rune, with great highs including a run to the final of the Australian Open and lifting the trophy at the Los Cabos Open. However, his summer spiraled into a rough period of early exits that put his qualifying chances for Turin in doubt. Nevertheless, he pulled it together again in the last few weeks with three consecutive runs to the semi-final in Antwerp, Vienna, and Paris.

The Greek player currently leads their head-to-head 5-2, with Tsitsipas having defeated Sinner during his successful Grand Slam run in Australia back in January. However, the Italian won their most recent clash at the Rotterdam Open in straight sets, and he has shown more consistency and power as of late.

Moreover, Sinner managed to defeat Daniil Medvedev to win the title in both China and Vienna, despite having previously lost to the Russian six times. This suggests that he will come through this match victorious, although it won't be without a fight from Tsitsipas.