PREVIEW ATP Finals: Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner headline competitive field in Turin

The eight best ATP Players in the world will be competing for glory in Turin over the next week, with the ATP Finals commencing Sunday, 9th November - Sunday, 16th November.

Despite the strong lineup heading to Italy, the field is dominated by the two stars of men's tennis Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, who go into the event as the main favourite. The event will also not see the seven-time champion Novak Djokovic compete. Despite qualifying comfortably, the Serbian announced his withdrawal from the tournament for the second year on the bounce after coming out on top in the Hellenic Championship, opening the door for the defeated finalist Lorenzo Musetti.

Two-time winner Alexander Zverev and last year's finalist Taylor Fritz will hoping to go one better, Ben Shelton targets a successful debut campaign and Felix Auger-Aliassime's late season purple patch earns him qualification for the first time since 2022.

Named after the three-time champion, the group has just one final appearance between them. That is a shocking stat noting that Alcaraz is in the group. His ATP Finals form has not risen to the incredibly high standards set in this event. He reached the semi-final on debut in 2023 and failed to make it out of the Round Robin stage in last year's event. This could be due to him slowing down towards they end of 2024 but also exposing his indoor hardcourt form. More recently, an early exit from the Paris Masters highlighted this possible issue which may hold him back in this event. However, he made it to the final of the Six Kings Slam, defeating Fritz in the semi-finals in straight sets. His talent is indescribable. The Spaniard has won eight titles this year, with no one coming close.

He finds himself in a tricky group, with last year's finalist Fritz always a danger on this surface. Despite seemingly playing in every event this year, it was not until later in the campaign where he qualified. A semi-final at Wimbledon and two titles on grass have made it another successful year for the American, who is looking to end the year with a big title. He reached the final in the 2024 event, losing out to a rampant Sinner.

It is a return for de Minaur, who failed to make it out of the group last year. He endured a quietly consistent year involving a title in the DC Open, a brace of Grand Slam quarter-finals and four Masters 1000 last-eight stages with one semi-final run thrown into the mix. He will be first on court in the ATP Finals, with possibly his toughest test coming in his first match, in the form of the world number one. They have faced off three times this year, with de Minaur's only win coming in an exhibition clash. He will need to find his best game to unsettle the six-time Grand Slam champion.

After his defeat in the Hellenic Championship it looked like the end of the road for Musetti. He had the upper hand over Auger-Aliassime for that final place, but an opening defeat in Paris heavily sabotaged his chances. However, he exhaled a huge sigh of relief after the 24-time Grand Slam champion announced his withdrawal from the tournament, opening the door for Musetti to compete in his home country. Strong results throughout the year including a Wimbledon semi-final and a maiden Masters 1000 final have seen him offered this opportunity, and now he is ready to take it. There are questions about his fitness going into his debut ATP Finals after competing in Athens, which may give his opponent a handicap when facing him.

The Swede's two titles in this event could possibly be matched by Sinner in the coming days. He goes into the event as the overwhelming favourite after putting together a stunning showing in the Paris Masters enroute to the title, extending his ridiculous unbeaten streak in the setting to 26 matches. This run includes his title run last season. He did not drop a set on the way to triumph, earning 1,500 ranking points and over $5 million. He will be desperately wanting those ranking points back as the number one race hots up towards the end of the season. It is in Alcaraz's hands depending on how deep he can go into the event, but Sinner will need to win every match to earn that same bonus and see him once more sit top of the tree at the climax of a campaign.

While he is the reigning champion, he does not boast as many titles in this competition as Zverev. The German won back in 2018 and 2021 with two impressive showings. He missed the chance of challenging for a third last year after losing in the semi-finals to Fritz into three sets. His 2025 has also not been up to the standards in what he expects in himself. An Australian Open final may have sold some dreams early on, with a barren spell in the middle of the season. He upped his game towards the end, reaching three Masters 1000 semi-finals in the last four events while also making the Vienna Open final. Despite this, he was halted in many of those events by Alcaraz and Sinner, most recently only managing to nick one game off the four-time Grand Slam champion in the Paris semi-final.

While the Italian in his group is not a positive for Zverev, Shelton admitted in his press conference that the Italian crowd's support would make it an exhilarating match against the world number two. After a fantastic campaign which saw him win his maiden Masters 1000 title in the Canadian Open, Shelton snuck in after reaching the Paris Masters quarter-final stage, where he was defeated by Sinner. The 23-year-old will be stepping on new ground this week.

It may like new ground for Auger-Aliassime after he dropped away from the heights he reached in 2022, but it is looking like he has found his mojo on court once more. This began with a fantastic US Open semi-final, propelling him into the race. He kept his hopes firmly alive in the Paris Masters, culminating in the final. The title would have earned him a straight route through, but defeat to Sinner forced him to wait patiently to see what Musetti did in Athens. His decision to not compete in the Moselle Open was a brave but seemingly wise one in hindsight. He is now fresh and ready to go in Turin, looking to prolong his excellent patch of form.