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Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski showed their mettle on their Nitto ATP Finals team debut on Monday in Turin, where the top seeds withstood a big-serving barrage from Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis to clinch an opening 6-7(3), 6-4, 10-5 in Green Group.

Kokkinakis and Kyrgios fired 24 aces in their first tour-level meeting with Koolhof and Skupski and looked well-placed to kick off their own maiden campaign at the season finale with victory after powering through the first-set tie-break.

The Dutch-British duo stayed patient, however, securing a crucial break in the seventh game of the second set before dominating the Match Tie-break for a 91-minute win.

Koolhof and Skupski have enjoyed a stellar first year together on the ATP Tour in 2022. The Dutch-British pair has won seven tour-level titles and secured the year-end No. 1 spot in the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Team Rankings en route to lifting the Rolex Paris Masters trophy a week ago. 

Koolhof has enjoyed success at the year-end championships before. Two years ago, the Dutchman triumphed at the Nitto ATP Finals alongside Croatian Nikola Mektic.

If the Green Group meant 'go' on the opening day of the 2022 Nitto ATP Finals, the Red Group could stand for 'danger' on Monday in Turin.

The loaded singles foursome features a trio of former champions — Novak Djokovic, Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas — as well as the powerful Andrey Rublev, who is making his third straight appearance at the season finale. It is the first time since 1996 that three former champs have been placed in the same group. 

On Day 2, Djokovic will meet Tsitsipas in the evening session after Medvedev and Rublev square off earlier in the day.

In doubles action, Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios make their much-anticipated Nitto ATP Finals debut against top seeds Neal Skupski and Wesley Koolhof, before Croatians Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic face Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek.

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In just his second match in the space of 10 weeks, Rafael Nadal was defeated by the inspired debutant Taylor Fritz on Sunday at the Nitto ATP Finals. Yet there was no sign of panic from the Spaniard despite his opening loss at the Pala Alpitour, where he believes one crucial factor cost him dearly in the Green Group clash.

“It's about time,” said Nadal at his post-match press conference. “Tennis and the sport in general, it's about time. I have less time than him to do what I want to do on the ball. I felt that everything was going so fast. When that happens, normally you are under stress, and you don't have the time to play the kind of shot that you want.”

Since reaching the fourth round of the US Open while struggling with an abdominal tear in September, Nadal’s sole tour-level singles outing was a three-set defeat to Tommy Paul at the Rolex Paris Masters 11 days ago. The 36-year-old acknowledged the difficulties of taking on high-class opponents immediately after an injury lay-off.

“In most of the points of the match, I was in a defensive position, and he was in an offensive position,” said Nadal. “That's what happened… But every single time I came back from injury, [it’s not normal] playing against top players [from] the first day. That's what's happens when you are coming back playing Masters 1000s and [the Nitto ATP Finals].”

Injuries were a major storyline in the previous two 2022 meetings between Rafael Nadal and Taylor Fritz. On Sunday at the Nitto ATP Finals, both men were operating with clean bills of health in Turin — with Fritz putting forth an equally clean performance to earn a famous upset.

With a 7-6(3), 6-1 win, Fritz completed a dream debut at the season finale while denting Nadal's bid to win the lone big title that has eluded him in his legendary career. The Spaniard's defeat also means he must now claim the Turin title to overtake Carlos Alcaraz for the year-end No. 1 Pepperstone ATP Ranking.

Fritz improved to 2-2 in his ATP Head2Head series against Nadal, backing up his win in the Indian Wells final in March — a match the American nearly didn't play due to an ankle injury. He also gained a measure of revenge after a heartbreaking Wimbledon quarter-final defeat in which Nadal came from behind despite struggling with an abdominal tear.

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The last man into the Turin field, Fritz showed he belonged with a dominant display as he controlled the match with his serve and forehand. The 25-year-old did not face a break point and created nine of his own, converting on two of six in the second set as he ran away with the victory by winning the final five games.

Both men looked to find their forehands early and often in the rallies, and it was Fritz who found more success with the crucial tactic, finishing the match with 23 winners to Nadal's 18. After he failed to convert on three break points in the opening set, Fritz never trailed in the tie-break after taking a 3/0 lead with the help of a Nadal double fault on its first point.

The American dealt a final blow late in the second set by converting on his fifth break point of a six-deuce game. He then quickly served out the match with one hour, 37 minutes played to record his first win against a Top 3 opponent in 12 attempts. 

Eight champions, one unforgettable interview. That is what fans received Sunday when the ATP released an exclusive all-eight interview with every singles player competing at the Nitto ATP Finals.

Top seed Rafael Nadal and five-time season finale champion Novak Djokovic quickly praised one another, with the rest of the champions listening intently.

“I think I have to say to Novak, he’s able to be super professional, to control his body, to hold the passion. It doesn’t matter how things are going, he always keeps going until the end and that’s something very difficult, especially in a super long career after all the success,” Nadal said. “To keep having the passion and the love for the game, I think it’s something I admire a lot.”

Djokovic and Nadal have met a record 59 times (Djokovic leads 30-29) in their ATP Head2Head rivalry. Five of those clashes have come at the Nitto ATP Finals, with another battle possible later in the week in the knockout stages of the year-end championships.

“I am really privileged to have the rivalry that we had over the years,” Djokovic said. “I think we respect each other a lot and we push each other to the limit and kind of motivate each other to go even higher. It’s great to be part of that era.”

Will this be the year Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury emerge victorious at the Nitto ATP Finals? The American-British duo made a good start on Sunday evening in Turin.

The second seeds battled past seventh seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos 6-3, 6-7(8), 10-8 in a Turin rollercoaster to move to 1-0 in Red Group action. They needed one hour and 51 minutes to win a topsy-turvy encounter at the Pala Alpitour.

Ram and Salisbury had the match well in hand up a set and leading 6/4 in the second-set tie-break, but Granollers and Zeballos refused to go away. They showed clutch returning to claw into a Match Tie-break.

A thrilling match came to a surprising end when Zeballos missed a high swinging forehand volley on Ram and Salisbury’s third match point. This year’s US Open champions have now won five consecutive matches against Granollers and Zeballos.

The clash was full of highlight-reel shotmaking, with all four players hitting stunning returns and showing superb athleticism on centre court. Earlier in the day, Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara opened Red Group with a victory against Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer.

Felix Auger-Aliassime is determined to respond at the Nitto ATP Finals following his round-robin defeat Sunday against Casper Ruud in Turin.

The Canadian arrived at the prestigious year-end event having won 16 of his past 17 matches. However, he was unable to find his best level against the Norwegian at the Pala Alpitour, leaving him with work to do if he is to qualify for the semi-finals.

“My back is against the wall,” Auger-Aliassime said in his post-match press conference. “It would have been better to start with a win here. For Casper, I'm sure it's a big weight off his shoulders. For me, I need to bounce back and play better, play a little bit better. I'm not far from playing well, but there are a few things I can do better. I will try to use the day tomorrow to do that, to work on a few things.”

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The 22-year-old enjoyed an impressive end to the season, lifting tour-level trophies in Florence, Antwerp and Basel. His form propelled him to seventh in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, before he sealed qualification in Paris.

Nitto ATP Finals debutant Taylor Fritz answers a lightning round of questions about Italy...

Visit the Colosseum or climb Mount Vesuvius?
I would probably visit the Colosseum. It sounds a little easier. Sounds like a more chill day.

Attend a Serie A football match or watch the historic Italian Grand Prix at Monza?
I’d go to the football match. I like soccer.

Films set in Italy: The Godfather or The Italian Job?
The Godfather.

Espresso or Cappuccino?
Cappucino.

In a battle between two of the biggest forehands on the ATP Tour, Casper Ruud downed Felix Auger-Aliassime 7-6(4), 6-4 on Sunday to kick-start his 2022 Nitto ATP Finals campaign with a win.

A Green Group encounter largely dominated by serve was decided by a few crucial moments. Ruud stayed the more consistent to pull clear in the first-set tie-break after the first five points had gone with serve, while a solitary break in the seventh game of the second set proved enough for the third seed to wrap a one-hour, 51-minute victory in the opening singles match of the week at the Pala Alpitour.

The third-seeded Ruud is looking to progress from the round-robin stage for the second consecutive year in Turin. The Norwegian fell to Daniil Medvedev in the semi-finals in 2021.

It was a tough tournament debut for Auger-Aliassime, who was unable to find the level that saw him win 16 straight matches and lift three consecutive ATP Tour titles across October and early November. The 22-year-old Canadian will seek to bounce back in his remaining round-robin matches against Rafael Nadal and Taylor Fritz.

More to follow…

Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara tasted victory on Sunday at the Nitto ATP Finals, where the sixth seeds opened their debut campaign at the season finale with a 7-5, 7-6(3) triumph against Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer.

The British-Finnish pair produced a high-class serving performance to seal victory at the Pala Alpitour in Turin, firing 11 aces and winning 83 per cent (39/47) of points behind first serve against the reigning Roland Garros champions.

After saving two break points to keep parity at 2-2 early, Glasspool and Heliovaara clinched a decisive break at 6-5 to seal the first set. With little to separate the two teams in the second set, Glasspool and then Heliovaara fired stunning returns on consecutive points to open a 4/1 lead in the tie-break. The debutants did not let slip their advantage, as they dropped just two more points to wrap a a 91-minute triumph.

Heliovaara let out a jumping roar of delight as he and Glasspool notched their maiden Nitto ATP Finals victory, just less than two years after they first teamed at an ATP Challenger Tour event in Portugal.

The pair's win also avenged their straight-sets defeats to Arevalo and Rojer in both the Dallas and Stockholm finals this season. Despite those disappointments, the sixth seeds have enjoyed a consistent year on Tour, highlighted by winning their maiden ATP 500 title in Hamburg in July.

When Andrey Rublev saw the Nitto ATP Finals groups, the World No. 7’s eyes lit up as it was revealed that he would collide with all three of the tournament’s former champions in the draw: Novak Djokovic, Daniil Medvedev, and Stefanos Tsitsipas. A heavy-hitting, tough-as-nails Red Group.

But as Rublev anticipates his opening match Monday, a first encounter this season against Medvedev, the 25-year-old is narrowing his focus to the job at hand.

“Against Daniil, that’s going to be a real chess match,” Rublev said. “I’m not even looking at my other matches. I believe both of us will show a great level that spectators will enjoy. “My first reaction [to the group] was not good. “I thought, ‘What am I doing here, in this group?’”

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Rublev is aiming towards a strong run in his third appearance at the season finale, which showcases the world’s best eight players. He hopes to improve upon his previous round-robin exits. But there is no easy path.

Jiri Lehecka may not have finished the 2022 season by lifting the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals trophy on Saturday, but the 21-year-old leaves Milan with a positive outlook thanks to his performance at the year-end showcase.

After winning his third ATP Challenger title in August on home soil in Liberec, the Czech's rise up the Pepperstone ATP Rankings was slowed by an inconsistent close to the season. Now Lehecka can look forward to 2023 with renewed confidence after reaching the final in Milan.

"This has been a great end to the season," he said of the 21-and-under event. "After some tough losses in the past few weeks, after the US Open, I wasn't feeling very comfortable on court. I didn't feel like it was going the right way.

"So this for sure has been a great impact to my game and to see what I need to work on again. To [help] improve stuff we need to improve to get to the highest level and compete against the best guys. In the past few weeks, I've shown that I have the game to beat top guys — that I have the tennis I need for playing very good tennis."

Despite his 4-3(5), 4-3(6), 4-2 defeat to Brandon Nakashima in Saturday's final, Lehecka enjoyed his time at the Allianz Cloud this week.

"This is an incredible event. I enjoyed this week fully," he said. "I'm very happy that the ATP organised something like this, because it's a nice gift for players to be able to compete in this event. For me, it was the best end of the season that I could wish for. Unfortunately, I didn't get a win today, but if somebody told me before this season that I would be in the final, I would take it, for sure."

It is not often the fifth seed at the Nitto ATP Finals enters the season finale with the most momentum of any player in the field. However, that is the case for Felix Auger-Aliassime.

The Canadian arrives in Turin playing the best tennis of his career. Before the ATP 250 in Florence last month, the 22-year-old owned one ATP Tour title. He then rattled off 16 consecutive victories and captured three trophies along the way in Florence, Antwerp and Basel.

“There’s not really a specific moment when it clicked,” Auger-Aliassime told ATPTour.com. “But I can say after the first title, I felt like, ‘If I keep playing this way, I’ll give myself a chance to win more’.”

Auger-Aliassime has dominated with a not-so-secret weapon. The 6’4” righty has powered past opponents behind the strength of his serve, winning 95 per cent of his service games (167/175) during his winning streak. He has won 86 per cent of his service games for the year.

Felix hit 175 aces during the 16-match stretch and saved 31 of the 39 break points (79%) he faced.

Brandon Nakashima made a list of goals at the start of the season. Eleven months on and the American revealed that he had achieved his targets as he reflected on his impressive season after winning the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals.

The 21-year-old American downed Jiri Lehecka in the Milan final on Saturday to round off a year that also saw him win his maiden tour-level title in San Diego and rise to a career-high No. 43 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

“I think it has been a great season for me,” Nakashima said following his straight-sets win. “I've definitely learned a lot every match and every tournament. At the beginning of the year, I had some goals. [One was] to win my first ATP title and to be able to do that in San Diego was super special. Then to finish off the year here winning the title at Next Gen is super special.

“I think the whole year for me has been very consistent. I have such great memories both on and off the court and I'm super thankful for everyone that has been a part of it.”

Nakashima won all five of his matches at the 21-and-under event, which plays host to a range of rules and innovations. The fourth seed feels that the tournament provides the perfect opportunity for the Tour’s up and coming stars to make their mark.

With the pre-tournament pageantry complete in Turin, Sunday marks the start of play at the 2022 Nitto ATP Finals. Group-stage action will light up the Pala Alpitour, with top seed Rafael Nadal set to close opening day with his matchup against tournament debutant Taylor Fritz.

Casper Ruud takes on the red-hot Felix Auger-Aliassime in the afternoon, after Roland Garros champions Jean-Julien Rojer and Marcelo Arevalo open play against Harri Heliovaara and Lloyd Glasspool. Last year's doubles finalists, Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram, will also take the court against Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos.

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[1] Rafael Nadal (ESP) vs. [8] Taylor Fritz (USA)

Nadal fell out of the rhythm of the ATP Tour in the second half of the season, for reasons both good and bad. He welcomed the birth of his first child in October but also spent time out of action as he recovered from two abdominal tears, suffered at Wimbledon and just before the US Open.

After an early exit at the Rolex Paris Masters, he said he would travel to Turin early in his bid to get back to the peak form that saw him start the season with a personal-best 20 straight wins. Indeed, the Spaniard was one of the first to begin practising in Northern Italy.

One year ago, Brandon Nakashima fell in the semi-finals of the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals. The American would suffer no such heartbreak in his second - and final - appearance in Milan, defeating Jiri Lehecka 4-3(5), 4-3(6), 4-2 in Saturday's title match to emerge as an undefeated tournament champion.

The 21-year-old quickly found his range, striking his fierce groundstrokes with precision and power in front of a vocal crowd at the Allianz Cloud to become the first American to triumph at the 21-and-under event.

“I am super happy right now,” Nakashima said. “It was a great tournament, this whole week. This final was another tough match. Just a few points that could have gone either way. I am happy with my level today. It is a good way to finish off the year.

“It was a final, so there are going to be some pressure moments. There were some nerves at the beginning, but I am happy I was able to turn it around quickly and close it out at the end.”

In a hard-fought clash, Nakashima rallied from 1-3 in the first set and saved two set points in the second-set tie-break as he raised his level under pressure. The American struck 19 winners and committed just four unforced errors to secure his standout victory in 80 minutes.

After a "crazy" string of matches led him to the title match last year at the Nitto ATP Finals, Daniil Medvedev returns to Turin with his sights set on a third straight run to the final at the prestigious event.

The 26-year-old was an undefeated champion in London in 2020, and again reached the final with a perfect 4-0 record last season before falling to Alexander Zverev. Each of his round-robin matches in 2021 went three sets as he defeated Hubert Hurkacz, Zverev and Jannik Sinner.

"They were crazy," he said of his group-stage contests. "Two final-set tie-breaks, and against Hubert was also a crazy, close match. I remember it like if it was yesterday.

"That's the thing about the [Nitto] ATP Finals. Every match is going to be tough. Even if you're going to, for some reason, win with an easy score, it's going to be a tough match still — tough mentally, where from the first to last point you have to show your best tennis. That's what we love about it."

That will certainly hold true this year, as Medvedev was drawn into a stacked Red Group that also includes five-time Nitto ATP Finals champ Novak Djokovic, 2019 winner Stefanos Tsitsipas and sixth seed Andrey Rublev.

On the steps of the Gallerie d’Italia in the majestic Piazza San Carlo, Rafael Nadal explains that his son, who was born in October, is with him in Turin. The 36-year-old is set for his debut in the Italian city, where he will be competing in his 11th Nitto ATP Finals starting on Sunday. 

The Spaniard, who has a chance to finish the year as No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the sixth time in his career, is bidding to claim the only big title that is yet to adorn his trophy cabinet, and to put the icing on the cake of his unforgettable season.

“I arrive here without match time, but in Paris I was playing well, a set and break up against Tommy Paul, a good player,” the World No. 2 told ATPTour.com, having fallen at the first hurdle in the Rolex Paris Masters. “I’m happy because I’ve been able to train and I’m excited to play well. If I didn’t think I had a chance to fight for what I came for, I wouldn’t be here. I think I have a chance.”

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After several weeks without playing, Nadal returned to competition at the ATP Masters 1000 in Paris-Bercy, where he bowed out in his opener against the American Paul in three sets. He was evidently fatigued.

“There was no big problem,” admitted the Spaniard. “A long time without competing. I had a small problem with my stomach. I was nauseous at the end of the third set, I felt awful, but I didn’t say anything because it wouldn’t have been right,” he added. “I’m fine. A bad day. Later I was able to get back to training normally without any problems.

Stefanos Tsitsipas knows what it takes to win the Nitto ATP Finals. After claiming the title in London in his 2019 debut, the Greek is looking forward to making new memories in Turin, where his 2021 showing was cut short by an elbow injury.

If the second seed can recapture the year-end title as an undefeated champion, he will finish the season atop the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time.

"I'm actually very determined and extremely privileged to be in a position to be fighting for the World No. 1 spot, because it's always been a dream of mine since I was a little kid to be crowned World No. 1," he told ATP Media ahead of the event.

"It would definitely mean a lot. It's an amazing thing to accomplish something like this. I'm going to try to be relaxed, enjoy the process of it, not think too much of the destination, but the journey is the one that matters the most. In this case, playing good tennis and enjoying myself out on the court is much more important than obsessing over that World No. 1 title, which might come now or come later. It's more of a marathon than a sprint."

While the Greek admitted nerves about his opportunity to reach No. 1 contributed to his first-round exit at the US Open — where a title would have lifted him to the top spot — he enters Turin with a fresh mindset, full of confidence after a consistent season in which he captured two titles and won a tour-leading 60 matches.