The Murcian will face off against Alexander Zverev, Casper Ruud, and Andrey Rublev as his initial rivals. The tournament kicks off this Sunday.
Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz was fortunate in the draw of the ATP Finals groups held this Thursday in Turin, Italy, from November 10 to 17, avoiding the Italian Jannik Sinner, with the German Alexander Zverev as his main theoretical rival.
The Murcian, seeded third and participating in this Masters event for the second time, was placed in the John Newcombe Group alongside Zverev, the second seed, Norwegian Casper Ruud, seeded sixth, and Russian Andrey Rublev, seeded eighth.
Thus, the winner of the 2024 Roland Garros and Wimbledon will meet Zverev and Rublev again, with whom he shared the round-robin competition last year, suffering a defeat to the German (6-7, 6-3, 6-4) and securing victory against the Moscow player (7-5, 6-2).
The German, who snatched the world number two ranking from him this week, arrives in great form after clinching the last Masters 1000 of the season in Paris-Bercy, also held on indoor courts like those of the ATP Finals. Additionally, Zverev has won this title twice, in 2018 and 2021.
On the other hand, Alcaraz, a semifinalist in this event in 2023 where he fell to the notable absentee this year, Serbian Novak Djokovic, will face Ruud and Rublev who are not currently at their peak form, although the Russian eliminated him in the Mutua Madrid Open.
The Spanish player successfully avoided being drawn alongside the world number one, Jannik Sinner, the 2023 Australian Open and US Open champion and last year’s finalist, who will be the player to beat in the seemingly tougher Ilie Nastase Group, which also includes Russian Daniil Medvedev, the 2020 champion, American Taylor Fritz, always a threat on these courts as demonstrated in the Laver Cup, and Australian debutant Alex de Minaur.
In doubles, Spanish player Marcel Granollers, who pairs with Argentine Horacio Zeballos and is the second seed, will compete in the Mike Bryan Group alongside Wesley Koolhof-Nikola Mektic (3), Max Purcell-Jordan Thompson (5), and Harri Heliovaara-Henry Patten (7).
Meanwhile, the world number ones in the doubles category, Marcelo Arévalo and Mate Pavic, will be in the Bob Bryan Group with Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori (4), Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden (6), and Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz (8).
