The preview of the Nitto Finales ATP 2020 It comes with as many unknowns as those that the COVID-19 season was leaving us before each big event. It could not be otherwise: in the most unusual season in history, in a year in which Wimbledon could not even be played, the tournament that closes the action will begin … and we are in the most absolute uncertainty. Is there a big favorite to win it? Can we be 100% confident that some member of the Big-3 will take home the title? The answer is clear: no.
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These ATP Finals come with a surprise news under their arms: among the eight tennis players there is one equality spectacular. The latest events in this final stretch of the season have made giving a forecast about the champion practically impossible. Anyone, for various reasons, could take the cat into the water. The distances are narrow and in a tournament that in recent years has awarded great surprises, we could ask ourselves if it really is this Masters Cup the most unpredictable of the last times.
And it is that, at least in the last decade, there was always a member of the Big-3 clearly outlined as the undisputed favorite. Usually the spotlights fell on Roger Federer Y Novak Djokovic, for several fundamental reasons: his good work on this surface, his love affair with the end of the year tournaments and his ability to arrive in good physical condition at the final appointment. Even in the editions in which they were surprised, few would have been able to bet previously on names like Grigor Dimitrov or Alexander Zverev: we always expected Serbian or Swiss in the final of the London tournament.
This 2020, however, putting all the chips in the number 1 in the world seems, at least … risky. Yes, he is the player who has completed the best season, the most consistent and the one who has won the most important titles, but since Roland Garros ended, Novak seems to have put on automatic pilot. This is how he played the Vienna tournament, fulfilling his main goal at the end of the year (to secure number one in the world). Dragging that dynamic makes its performance, to some extent, an unknown.
He himself said that he needed to rest, that his 2020 had been mentally exhausting. The repercussion of his pitch in New York, the physical and psychological demands of a dirt tour that ended in a bump … Djokovic assured great joy in the Austrian capital, but his level is unknown. Is he really more of a favorite than players who, despite having a lower hierarchy on the circuit, have had some magnificent last weeks?
Names like Daniil Medvedev O Alexander Zverev They confirmed in Paris that their tennis reaches the final stage of 2020 at the highest level. They both know what it’s like to beat the Serbian in big tournaments … and, in general, what it’s like to beat anyone. Neither of them occupies top-3 positions, but if we are guided by their latest performances, nobody has shown a higher level than the one they both did at Paris-Bercy. The logical thing is to bet on the number one in the world before either of the two, but it is clear that the distance has been shortened in a sidereal way. We still cannot find a clear candidate.
Y Rafa Nadal? It is impossible to forget the manacorí, of course. In fact, 2020 has probably gifted him the best opportunity of his career in London. Without Federer, with a Djokovic far from his best version. Rafa may have everything going for him, but his performance at Bercy was a small reality check for everyone. He did not play badly, beware: he was simply not the dominant and overwhelming tennis player that he is on clay. Does that make you less of a candidate? Of course not: he’s still a fantastic indoor hard court player. Does that make you able to lose to almost any opponent? If this shows his best level (the case of Zverev in Paris), yes.
The third in contention this 2020 was Dominic Thiem, another tennis player who comes to this appointment in a way with the ‘Djokovic syndrome’. Conquering his first Major was an immense burden, mentally and physically, and his Roland Garros was also tremendously demanding. In Vienna, physical complaints appeared that we do not know to what extent they will be solved. It is impossible to rule him out after his baptism of fire at 5 sets, and we already know that he can beat anyone … but those annoyances do not place him in a higher echelon than names like Daniil or Sascha.
Stefanos Tsitsipas. The man who defends title. Are you arriving with little mileage to this appointment? Yes. Is he a defending champion and therefore a man more than capable of showing his best version at the O2 Arena? Of course. Behind him, a Andrey Rublev who lacks status but who has plenty of titles and self-confidence. If his tennis comes to a boil, in this 2020 he has been able to dismantle anyone and turn his limitations into strengths. It may be a step behind as far as the title is concerned, but it is more than capable of hitting a backfire.
Schwartzman, the man in discord
Finally, the great guest to the party, an Argentine who with heart and resilience has obtained a wonderful reward. It is possible that for a mere matter of adaptation to such a fast surface, of being a first-time in this appointment and of weapons and power against his opponents, Diego Schwartzman it is not this one on the same level as the rest of the Masters. A bad day of any of them, however, will not be enough against someone with the determination of El Peque.
Eight teachers, eight names, eight candidates. Do you dare to give a clear forecast? States of very different form, physical complications and a huge repertoire of motives to cling to if we wanted to advocate for them. From my point of view, of course, this is one of the most open ATP Finals in memory. A priori, no result can be incredibly surprising … and in 2020, remember, anything can happen. Are you ready to check it out?
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