It was no surprise that Novak Djokovic took part in the ATP Athens event, which concluded on Saturday, especially with the connections he has to the new event.
He went on and won the title, which would have meant Lorenzo Musetti missed out on playing in the ATP Finals in Turin, but it was later announced that Djokovic will not take part.
This has pushed the Italian into the main draw, but the absence of Novak Djokovic is a blow to the tournament, even if he would have been third favourite behind the two top players in the Rankings. The Serb is clearly thinking ahead to January and being ready to compete as well as he can at his favourite Grand Slam, where Djokovic is perhaps most likely to win another major.
Eight players will still be playing in Turin with a big title on the line, although it would take a brave person to pick anything other than another Carlos Alcaraz vs Jannik Sinner Final in a hard court event.
Roger Federer suggested organisers are making conditions uniform enough to ensure both Alcaraz and Sinner have the best chance to continue to reach Finals and win big titles, and everything suggests both will be playing in the Final next weekend.
The WTA Finals began slowly for the Picks, but Elena Rybakina's win in the Final meant a winning week.
Backing that up in the last tournament of 2025 would confirm a winning season and that is the focus in the days ahead.
With the last place at the tournament only confirmed on Saturday, it means both each Group will have one match played on Sunday and Monday respectively before the tournament perhaps moves into a more usual format.
The ATP Finals begin on Sunday and the opening two selections can be read below.
Carlos Alcaraz - 3.5 games v Alex De Minaur: The Davis Cup is the official end of the 2025 ATP season, but this is the last big Singles event of the year before players can take some time away from the sport and just reset.
Winning the ATP Finals is a big achievement and Carlos Alcaraz will be looking to add this trophy to his growing Grand Slam collection.
He won two of the four Grand Slams played in 2025, but twelve months ago the Spaniard failed to get out of the Group Stage at this event. This time Carlos Alcaraz will likely end the year as the World Number 1 as long as he makes it through to the Semi Final, although the ambitions will be much greater than merely getting through to the Knock Out Rounds.
The opening match will be a test, but Carlos Alcaraz has won another title since the US Open success and he has had another strong year on the hard courts.
First up is another match against Alex De Minaur, which will be the third time the two players have faced off in 2025 and Carlos Alcaraz has won all four previous matches between the players. When they met on an indoor hard court back in February, Carlos Alcaraz did need to come through in three sets and that will give Alex De Minaur some confidence.
The Australian will have been disappointed with the defeat at the US Open in the Quarter Final, especially considering how close that match had been, but that has not prevented Alex De Minaur from putting together a solid Asian swing. It means Alex De Minaur is the World Number 7 and he has reached the business end of a number of tournaments in what has been a solid year on this surface.
Over the course of the year, Alex De Minaur has shown an improved serve and that has made things easier for him.
However, the test for De Minaur is trying to impose himself a little more when it comes to facing the very best players on the Tour.
He has a 1-6 record on the hard courts against top ten Ranked opponents this year and his service numbers have dipped significantly in those matches. In those seven matches, Alex De Minaur has won around 10% fewer service points and that means holding in 70% of games played, which is always going to be something that puts him under significant pressure against the very best opponents.
It is a pressure that has meant only breaking in 14% of return games and so the edge has to be with the current World Number 1 to make a strong start to the tournament.
Despite the head to head record, this has been a match up that has caused Carlos Alcaraz some problems and that will have to be respected.
The Spaniard will be well aware of that too, but he should have enough to just about cover this line, even in a competitive outing.
Alexander Zverev - 1.5 games v Ben Shelton: Being in the same Group as Jannik Sinner means this opens as a pivotal match in the section when Alexander Zverev faces Ben Shelton.
Both players have not played as well as they would have liked when facing top ten Ranked opponents on the hard courts this season and that is something that will need to change significantly in 2026 if Alexander Zverev and Ben Shelton have real ambitions of winning a Grand Slam title. The tennis draw format means the likelihood is that they would have to beat both Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz if they were to win a Grand Slam title and they both had runs ended by the Italian at the Australian Open.
They will have to face Jannik Sinner later in the Group, but the focus here will be on one another Alexander Zverev has found a way to get the better of Ben Shelton in meetings on the Tour.
All four have been won by the World Number 3 and Alexander Zverev has beaten Ben Shelton on all three surfaces in 2025.
This has to give him confidence, although facing the Shelton serve on an indoor hard court is going to be a huge challenge for every opponent that steps across the net from the American in Turin.
An injury forced Ben Shelton out of the US Open, which hurt massively, and the worry for his fans is that he has not shown a lot of form since then.
Early losses in Shanghai, Basel and Paris means Ben Shelton comes into this one with little match time and confidence and he may struggle to stick with Alexander Zverev at key moments.
Alexander Zverev reached the Final in Vienna and the Semi Final in Paris and he should be able to largely handle the potential scoreboard pressure with his own serve being very effective. The numbers have not been quite as strong as 2024 in the hard court matches played over the last eleven months, but Alexander Zverev will be confident he can contain the Ben Shelton return having held almost 98% of service games played against this opponent.
Tie-breakers are likely going to be needed, but Alexander Zverev should have enough to earn a victory to cover this handicap line set.
He is a two time previous winner at the ATP Finals, including the first played here in Turin and Alexander Zverev can maintain his edge over Ben Shelton.
MY PICKS: Carlos Alcaraz - 3.5 Games @ 1.85 William Hill (1 Unit)
Alexander Zverev - 1.5 Games @ 1.87 Bet Victor (1 Unit)
2025 Season: 161-133, + 12.01 Units (390 Units Staked, + 3.08% Yield)
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