ATP Finals preview: Who’s playing, what to watch and more

This season, dominated by superstars Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, was a memorable and perhaps era-defining year on the ATP Tour.

But there’s one more tournament to play — and there’s a lot on the line.

While most professional tennis players have started their blink-and-you’ll-miss-it offseason, the elite men are still in action and focused on closing out 2025 with the ATP Finals crown. Held at the Pala Alpitour Arena in Turin, Italy, for the fifth straight year, the event features the top eight singles players and eight doubles teams and gets underway on Sunday with round-robin group play. After six days of competition, with each player or pair playing three matches, the top two from their respective groups advance to the semifinals.

The tournament ends on Nov. 16 with an undefeated singles champion earning a record-breaking $5,071,000, and the winning doubles team making up to $959,300. An undefeated victor, in both singles and doubles, also earns 1,500 in rankings points. (A title-winning player or team would earn less, in prize money and ranking points, if they lose a match during group play.)

Not sure what to expect or who to watch for in the season’s last ATP tournament? Here’s everything you need to know.

Who’s in

Singles

Jimmy Connors group

1. Carlos Alcaraz

4. Novak Djokovic

6. Taylor Fritz

7. Alex de Minaur

Bjorn Borg group

2. Jannik Sinner

3. Alexander Zverev

5. Ben Shelton

8. Felix Auger-Aliassime or Lorenzo Musetti (more on this below)

Doubles

Peter Fleming group

1. Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool

3. Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos

6. Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz

7. Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori

John McEnroe group

2. Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten

4. Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic

5. Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski

8. Christian Harrison and Evan King

The Big Two’s battle for No. 1

It’s hard to adequately express just how impressive Alcaraz and Sinner were this season. The two — who currently have more than a 5,000-point gap between them and the rest of the tour in the rankings — split the four major titles, with Alcaraz claiming the French Open and the US Open and Sinner taking the Australian Open and Wimbledon. They faced one another in the final of three of those Slams.

And their fierce grip on the trophies remained strong even away from the majors. Alcaraz won six other titles on the year, including three at Masters-1000 events, and Sinner claimed three titles this fall, including at the Paris Masters earlier this month.

But while the deficit between the Big Two and everyone else is vast, very little separates Alcaraz and Sinner — and the year-end No. 1 distinction is also in play. Sinner, 24, narrowly reclaimed the top spot after his victory in Paris but it will be a short stint. Alcaraz, 22, will return to the position leading into the ATP Finals, and will be able to remain there for the rest of the year if he goes undefeated in his three round-robin matches or if he reaches the final.

Alcaraz, who was the year-end No. 1 in 2022, has never won the ATP Finals, and Sinner won the title last year and finished the 2024 season on top. If not already made crystal clear here, both are unquestionably the favorites entering the event. The only question is: Can anyone stop them?

The Djokovic factor

There’s been plenty of speculation around Novak Djokovic’s status in the year-end event because he has played sparingly during the second half of the season. Outside of the Slams, he has appeared in just two tournaments since May and he skipped the final Masters 1000-event of the year in Paris earlier this month.

Djokovic, 38, officially qualified for the ATP Finals last month, following a season in which he reached the semifinals at all four majors and won the 250-level title in Geneva. He has been elusive about his plans to play though.

“We have confirmation that Djokovic will be in Turin,” Angelo Binaghi, the head of the Italian Tennis Federation, said on Italian radio channel Rai Gr Parlamento on Monday.

But the 24-time major champion denied Binaghi’s claims on Tuesday. “I don’t know where [Binaghi] got this information from. Certainly not from me or my team,” Djokovic told reporters following a win in the Round of 16 at the Hellenic Championships in Athens — at which his brother Djordje is the tournament director. “I will make my decision at the end of this tournament.”

As of Friday, Djokovic still hasn’t shared his plans, but, in fairness, he hasn’t made it to the end of the tournament either. On Saturday, he will play in his third final of the season as he takes on Lorenzo Musetti (more on what makes this an incredibly compelling matchup below) and will then surely announce if he is going to Turin or calling it a season.

No matter what he does, it marks Djokovic’s 18th time qualifying for the ATP Finals — tying Roger Federer’s all-time record — and, if he plays, he will have the chance to extend his own record by winning the title for the eighth time. Djokovic withdrew from the 2024 edition, but he won it the previous two years, in 2022 and 2023. While even he has admitted his struggles in facing Alcaraz and Sinner, perhaps Turin could be the site where he gets his revenge.

If he plays that is.

The Americans

Ben Shelton and Taylor Fritz will be in action in Italy — and it marks the first time two American men will be competing for the year-end singles title since Andy Roddick and James Blake did so in 2006. And while neither is considered a favorite (please see the previous section on the Big Two for clarity here), both have had strong seasons and are capable of reaching the semifinals or pulling off the ultimate upset.

In fact, Fritz returns to the ATP Finals after reaching the final in 2024, so he knows exactly what it takes. Following his breakthrough season last year, in which he also reached the final at the US Open, the 28-year-old reached his first Wimbledon semifinals this year, in addition to making the quarterfinals at the US Open and winning two ATP titles. He appeared in the final at the Japan Open in September and lost to Alcaraz. Making his third appearance at the ATP Finals, Fritz reached the semifinals in his debut in 2022 and will be looking to advance out of group play yet again.

While Fritz has the experience on his side, the 23-year-old Shelton qualified for the first time this year after a momentous season. Shelton, who is currently ranked a career high of No. 6, reached the semifinals at the Australian Open and the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, in addition to winning his first Masters 1000-level title at the Canadian Open. A shoulder injury derailed him at the US Open and he was ultimately sidelined for over a month — but still managed to secure his spot in Turin with a quarterfinal run at the Paris Masters at the end of October.

Shelton said he was trying not to focus on making the ATP Finals while playing in Paris — but couldn’t hide how much it meant to him after officially punching his ticket.

“I knew at the end of the day that if I wanted to be in control of my own destiny I had to go out and win today,” Shelton said after qualifying. “And I knew when I stepped out on the court that I was going to have to die on this court before I went down … It’s huge. It’s huge for me. It was always a huge goal, [and] most importantly, to get back to this level I played today. That’s where I want to be at.”

On the doubles side, the all-American duo of Christian Harrison and Evan King claimed the very last spot following a remarkable debut season together. Entering the year, neither Harrison, 31, nor King, 33, had ever won an ATP title. This year, they’ve won three, including at the 500-level events in Dallas and Mexico, and reached their first major semifinals at the French Open. They are the first American team to make the ATP Finals since eventual champions Mike Bryan and Jack Sock did so in 2018 — and will look to end 2025 like their compatriots did by earning their biggest title yet.

The procrastinators

While Alcaraz clinched his berth for Turin in July, and Sinner followed suit the following month, other players waited until the very last minute to finalize their travel plans. (Warning: For those who like to plan their trips and book their flights months in advance, this section might not be for you.)

Like Shelton, Alex de Minaur qualified for the tournament (for the second straight year) on Oct. 30 following a successful run at the Paris Masters. And that left just one spot remaining. At that time, Musetti was next in line with a 290-point lead over Felix Auger-Aliassime.

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But that’s where things got interesting. Musetti had lost in the Round of 32 in Paris and Auger-Aliassime then seized on the opportunity by reaching the final. While a win would have clinched the spot, he lost to Sinner but still held a 160-point lead over Musetti entering the last week of the regular season.

However, a knee injury forced the Canadian to withdraw from the tournament — putting fate solely in Musetti’s hands. Playing in Athens, Musetti can only clinch the berth by winning the title on Saturday. Yes, just one day before the ATP Finals are set to begin in another country.

And, however improbable as it may sound, that is where we stand now. As mentioned before, Musetti will face Djokovic on Saturday in the final. It’s been a challenging week for Musetti — who needed three sets against Stan Wawrinka in the Round of 16 and saved match point against Sebastian Korda in a tight three-set semifinal on Friday — but he’s somehow found a way to keep his hopes of qualifying for his first ATP Finals alive.

Can he end his miraculous run on Saturday with the trophy and a ticket to Turin? Or will Auger-Aliassime get the bid? Stay tuned.

Double the fun

While Harrison and King will look to shock the field, Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz will look to defend their trophy in Italy. The German duo made their initial appearance together as a team in 2024 and walked away with the ultimate parting gift. They won the titles in Halle and Shanghai this year, in addition to a semifinal showing at the Australian Open. Can they join the list of repeat champions?

Maybe! But it won’t be easy. Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos won both the French Open and the US Open this season, as well as three other titles, and have a 5-0 record in finals in 2025. They reached the final in 2023, and Granollers won the title in 2012, and might just be the favorite to win it all.

Australian Open champions Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten and Wimbledon winners Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool are also in the field. Heliovaara and Patten are coming off a victorious run at the Paris Masters and the top-seeded British pair of Cash and Glasspool reached an astounding 11(!) tour finals in 2025 and won seven of them. Both of those teams will certainly be more motivated than ever to close out their milestone seasons with one more trophy.