Alcaraz powerless as Nadal and Tsitsipas eye primary spot

Carlos Alcaraz will spend a nervous week watching the ATP Finals as Rafael Nadal and Stefanos Tsitsipas bid to usurp the Spanish teenager as year-end males’s world primary.

The highest-ranked Alcaraz is powerless to cease his rivals as a result of he's out with an stomach damage he suffered on the Paris Masters over every week in the past.

Nadal will hope he has shaken off the rustiness he displayed in Paris when he misplaced in his first singles match in two months after spending time at dwelling in Mallorca together with his spouse and new child son. The 36-year-old fell to American journeyman Tommy Paul.

The surest method for Nadal, who gained the Australian and French Open titles in 2022 and is ranked second, to complete year-end primary for a sixth time is by successful the title in Turin.

But he's seemingly unconcerned about becoming a member of Pete Sampras in second on the all-time listing of yr finish quantity ones.

“Like I’ve usually mentioned, it’s not a precedence for me anymore, since you want a consistency of outcomes that's actually solely attainable for the youthful gamers,” he informed the Gazzetta dello Sport.

“And to be trustworthy I don’t like speaking about what might occur sooner or later.”

Nadal might additionally high the rankings if he wins all three of his Inexperienced Group video games and reaches the ultimate whereas Tsiptsipas stumbles.

The third-ranked Greek, who's within the Purple Group, must win all his matches on his solution to the title.

Nadal would topple US Open champion Alcaraz if the 2 Spaniards end degree on factors. Nadal has a greater total file within the Grand Slams and Masters tournaments

Nadal opens his marketing campaign on Sunday towards big-serving American Taylor Fritz. His different two group rivals are Norwegian Casper Ruud and in-form Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime.

‘A final dash’

Tsitsipas, who has by no means been larger than third, has a really completely different angle to Nadal.

“The rankings are there for a cause. They signify one thing necessary,” he mentioned in August when he regained third spot.

“I feel that the very subsequent step could be the No. 1 spot, which I hope I can get to someday.”

The 24-year-old has loved a profitable yr with two titles and 5 different finals, although a Grand Slam title nonetheless eludes him.

Had been he to reach ending primary he would emulate Chilean Marcelo Rios in 1998 as the one gamers with out a Grand Slam crown to high the rankings.

Tsitsipas’s activity seems tougher than Nadal’s as his group accommodates two former world quantity ones in Serbian Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev.

One other Russian the thrilling mop-haired Andrey Rublev -- a quarter-finalist at each the French and US Open this yr -- makes up that quartet.

Djokovic is hoping his rollercoaster of a yr -- beginning together with his expulsion from Australia as a result of he was not vaccinated towards Covid to the excessive of one other Wimbledon crown -- ends fortunately.

The 35-year-old Serb is concentrating on equalling the retired Roger Federer’s file of six ATP Finals titles.

It might be “an ideal ending,” Djokovic informed ATP Media on Friday.

“The cherry on the cake, for positive, nevertheless it’s a great distance. It’s an extended week.”

“It’s the final week of the yr on the Tour, it’s sort of a final dash, if you'll, for all of us.

“From the very first match you're going to have additional excessive depth.”

For Ruud the finals current an opportunity to seize a big title after dropping each the French and US Open finals. He faces added strain as his two grandmothers will probably be in Turin to look at him.

“They don’t come to an excessive amount of,” Ruud informed the ATP web site.

“Generally they're a bit bit pissed off with me that I don’t invite them too usually.

“They're nice, however as all grandmothers, they'll perhaps be a bit an excessive amount of at instances,” he added smiling.