🏆 Ongoing Tournaments

Hey, Tennis Pro! It's the middle of the week!

Nadal kicked out from ATP Finals. Rafa's poor tennis level was once again confirmed in Turin.

For the first time since 2009, the Spanish GOAT lost fourth consecutive matches, leaving the second half of the year empty-handed.

There's been a lot of criticism towards Nadal in social media, questioning his ability to play on indoor hard courts, feeding on his poor historical record in the recently held Paris Masters and the ATP Finals (both indoor fast courts).

From his corner, Nadal promises to return to the 2023 season with a greater hunger for victory and a renewed game.

For his part, Felix Auger-Aliassime, is still alive in the Turin tournament after today's win and maintains his hopes of reaching the semi-finals.

The Canadian's victory represented much more than a foot-and-a-half in the next stage, since he's now the only player born after 2000 to beat The Big Three on at least one occasion (Federer, 2021 / Djokovic, 2022 / Nadal, 2022).

Felix flexing hard.

🇺🇸 USA is the Finals' All-Time Leader

Tennis before the year 2000 was heavily dominated by the Americans. The bull run during the last two decades of the previous century gave the United States a big slice of the records that still stand today.

The ATP Finals are no exception.

The tournament's trophy leaders are mostly (as Springsteen would sing) born in the USA. However, there's still that awkward fact from the Americans' last win going all the way back to 1999. From then on, Europe has shortened the distance under the command of two of The Big Three.

It's shocking to see the second spot taken by Switzerland, due to Federer single-handedly winning the Finals on six occasions during the first years of the millennium.

We also observe the important position of Serbia in the all-time leaders thanks to Nole and his five wins, four of them obtained consecutively.

Tsitsipas puts Greece in the headliners with a single trophy for his nation, as do Medvedev and Murray for their countries.

The last mention goes to the historic Ivan Lendl, who also gets all of the job done by placing Czech Republic in fourth place, thanks to his five titles obtained in the 80's.

Úcta, Ivan!

👊🏻 Ruud into the Finals' next stage

Casper is rocking the Italian courts. In a group in which the favorite was either Rafa Nadal due to hierarchy, or Auger-Aliassime for having a better recent form, the Norwegian exceeded expectations by sealing his place in the semi-finals with two victories so far this week.

Ruud secures his second ATP Finals semi-finals in consecutive years, as well as notching his 50th win of the year and second straight victory versus Top 10 players.

Casper dominated the first set, displaying a forceful serve throughout the match. Even though the second set was taken by the American Fritz, the most tense moment of the clash was the decisive tiebreak in the 3rd set.

Ruud came close to letting the win go by blowing a 5-1 advantage early in the tiebreaker. However, he managed to overcome Fritz who collapsed in the last couple of points.

Ruud is reunited with the level that took him to the ranking's second place earlier in the year and is emerging as one of the favorites to reach the final of the tournament.

🗒️ Daily Results

[Updated 06:00 a.m. GMT]

⏱️ Today’s Order of Play

[Updated 06:00 a.m. GMT]

👋 So long, and thanks for all the tennis!

→ Six minutes of incredible tennis brought to you by Medvedev and Auger-Aliassime.

→ Wonder rally won by Fritz at the net.

→ Neeeat dropshot from Felix Auger-Aliassime.

→ The Swiss GOAT eating fondue.

→ Ruud v Fritz's coin toss was tense as hell.