Alcaraz with Zverev from the group stage

The German Alexander Zverev will face the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz who thus avoided the world No.1 and favorite, the Italian Jannik Sinner, from the group stage of the ATP Masters which begins on Sunday in Turin, after the draw made on Thursday .

In the group called John Newcombe, Alexander Zverev, 2nd in “The Race”, the annual ranking which determines the eight participants in this end-of-year tournament, will face, in addition to Alcaraz, the Norwegian Casper Ruud and the Russian Andrey Rublev.

Sinner, leader of “The Race” and world No.1, will be pitted in the Ilie Nastase group against the Russian Daniil Medvedev, the American Taylor Fritz and the Australian Alex De Minaur.

At the end of this group stage, the two best players in each group will advance to the semi-finals scheduled for Saturday, before the final on November 17.

Among the eight entered, only Zverev (2018 and 2021) and Medvedev (2022) have already won the prestigious “masters tournament”.

Sinner, 23, dominated the 2024 season with his first two Grand Slam crowns, in Melbourne and New York, for a total of seven titles.

But his year was marked by a resounding case of doping with clostebol, an anabolic steroid, of which he was initially cleared by the International Agency for the Integrity of Tennis (Itia).

But at the end of September, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appealed and demanded a suspension of one to two years.

Novak Djokovic, double title holder and record holder for victories in the event with seven coronations, withdrew at the start of the week for this “masters tournament”.

For the first time since 2001, no member of the “Big 4”, formed by Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray who reigned supreme over world tennis for more than twenty years, will participate in the tournament.

The 2024 ATP Masters groups:
Groupe Ilie Nastase: Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev, Taylor Fritz, Alex De Minaur.
Groupe John Newcombe: Alexander Zverev, Carlos Alcaraz, Casper Ruud, Andrey Rublev.

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