Key events
First set: Zverev 1-1 Auger-Aliassime* (*indicates next server)
Only one game, but I might steal Brad Gilbert’s nickname for Andre Agassi and call Auger-Aliassime “Double A” from now on to ward off any RSI. Or just AA. But no matter… Zverev takes the first point, but then plants a forehand into the net. He makes up for his lazy mistake with an ace in the wide, and at 30-15, his crosscourt backhand is too hot for AA to handle. AA then pushes long on the return and Zverev, just like his opponent, starts with a hold at 15.
First set: Zverev* 0-1 Auger-Aliassime (*indicates next server)
For Auger-Aliassime, as for many players, it is above all about his serve and his forehand. Zverev is in the minority, with his backhand his signature move. And the German seizes the first point with a winning backhand. Auger-Aliassime enters the board on the second point, then punishes a short return for 30-15, before going back to 40-15. An unreturned serve gives the Canadian world number 8 a no-fuss opening hold.
Auger-Aliassime to serve. Ready? Let’s play.
Now Auger-Aliassime, dressed in purple, makes Zverev, dressed all in black, wait for the draw. The match may not have started yet, but the mind games certainly have. Zverev wins it and chooses to receive. Laura Robson targets Zverev victory; Tim Henman opts for Auger-Aliassime. I think I’m sitting on the fence. Auger-Aliassime has the greatest momentum, but of course it’s Zverev with the greatest pedigree.
Zverev finally arrives. The crowd laughs a little at his lateness.
The tennis ball bouncing like a heartbeat is heard loudly through the speakers.. Auger-Aliassime waits in the wings; Zverev hasn’t arrived yet. I wonder how hard Auger-Aliassime’s heart is beating right now; victory tonight would be one of his biggest, given that it would give him a place in the semi-finals.
“For both, it’s do or die,” says Boris Beckerwho chats to Laura Robson on Sky. “Felix has a huge first serve, a very powerful forehand, he can make a few too many mistakes, but at the moment he is full of confidence. From the German point of view, I want Sascha to qualify. I don’t think he wants to go home yet.”
The stage is set at the Inalpi Arenathe lights have gone out and the players should be arriving on the field soon. Which just leaves us time to talk tactics.
I think it depends on who is willing to step up and play closer to the baseline – which Auger-Aliassime did against Shelton in their previous match, but Zverev failed to do against Sinner. Yes, Zverev has done much more at tennis than his opponent, having won this tournament twice and reached three slam finals, but in the biggest matches you sometimes get the feeling that he would rather have his opponent miss than hit a winner. Auger-Aliassime attacked Zverev at will in beating the German at this year’s US Open, and a similar strategy tonight could take the Canadian to his first ATP Finals semi-final.
Some ceremonies too. Alcaraz received his year-end world number 1 trophy:
And players who retired in 2025, including Briton Kyle Edmund, were recognized on the field. Ach, Edmund… he could have been a contender, he should have been a contender, if not for the injuries that destroyed his career:
Meanwhile in doubles, Great Britain Henry Patten and his Finnish partner Harri Heliovaara, favorites of this blog, also won in two sets this afternoon to reach the final four. And Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski warmed up the evening crowd for Zverev and Auger-Aliassime by beating Americans Christian Harrison and Evan King 7-5, 6-3. That means they go 3-0 into their all-British semi-final against top seeds Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool. So that makes five (!) Britons still in doubles.
Earlier today, also in the Bjorn Borg group, Jannik Sinner did what Jannik Sinner does, winning his third straight match in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6, against the already eliminated Ben Shelton. The next defending champion and local hero will be Alex De Minaur in the semi-final – a player against whom he has one of the most lopsided records in men’s tennis, having won the previous 12 meetings.
Preamble
The occupational hazards of round robin tennis mean that at this point in the ATP Finals, we often find ourselves scratching our heads, reaching for a calculator, and trying to figure out the qualifying permutations that boggle our minds. But tonight’s match between Alexander Zverev and Felix Auger-Aliassime, fortunately, is easy. It’s a straight shootout: the winner will set up a semi-final against Carlos Alcaraz in this season-ending event; the loser goes home (or, if it’s Auger-Aliassime, maybe he’ll finally go on his honeymoon, having not been able to get off the tennis treadmill long enough after getting married a few months ago).
Zverev is the favorite for this: the world number 3 is the most accomplished player, has already been champion of this tournament twice and leads their head-to-head 6-3, winning their previous two matches on an indoor hard court. But… this is the surface on which Auger-Aliassime has won the majority of his titles, he is in top form after his convincing comeback against Ben Shelton on Wednesday (when Zverev was surprisingly flat in his straight sets loss to Jannik Sinner), and he knocked out Zverev in the third round of the US Open in August. Additionally, the conditions are faster in Turin than in Flushing Meadows, which works even more in AA’s favor.
If Zverev holds back, as he did against Sinner, and Auger-Aliassime attacks the German with his stinging serves and fearsome hands, it could well be the 25-year-old Canadian – the former prodigy who was once in the running ahead of Alcaraz and Sinner to succeed the Big Three – who deserves the dubious honor of facing the world number 1 tomorrow.
The game begins: around 8:30 p.m. local time, 7:30 p.m. GMT.
To get started:
