A well thought-out gameplan is key to regularly win matches on the ATP Tour.

Pre-match scouting reports and post-match debriefs with coaches have long been part of the routine for top stars as they look to outthink their on-court rivals. Now, thanks to the ATP and Tennis Data Innovations (TDI), it is the mid-match strategic battle that could become even more decisive to give a player the best possible chance of victory.

Tennis IQ, ATP and TDI’s performance analytics platform, gives all ATP singles players access to advanced match analytics within one simple and intuitive platform. This week at the Nitto ATP Finals, tennis analyst Mike James, a member of Holger Rune’s team, is using the system on a tablet in the Dane’s player box to offer a live data-driven perspective to coach Boris Becker.

“Boris has his own view and he’s got a very good coaching eye, but what I see using the data in the match is confirmed learning,” James told ATPTour.com in Turin. “[Boris] might feel something is happening, he just wants confirmation of it — around the court position, around the serve speeds and serve accuracy. [These are things] that we can see live.

“I think traditionally how we’ve used analysis is obviously pretty much scouting, post-match in the game development and starting to work on things. Now doing it live, I think it has massive value.”

_{^{Mike James is part of Holger Rune’s team this week at the Nitto ATP Finals. Photo Credit: ATP Tour}}

James began working with Rune after he joined the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy in France in January 2022, when the Dane was No. 104 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. He was immediately impressed with the appetite for analysis of the then-18-year-old and his coach, Lars Christensen.

“Lars at the time was super into video analysis and data analytics, as was Patrick Mouratoglou, and Holger is obsessed with the game,” said James. “He’s eating the tennis ball for lunch, dinner, and evening meal, and he’s always watching video and diving into it anyway. So it was a really nice fit.”

Fast-forward nearly three years and Rune is this week making his Nitto ATP Finals debut as one of the top eight performing players across the 2023 season. So what are the key areas James is currently focused on to help Rune, who holds a 1-1 record in Green Group this week in Turin, compete against his elite rivals?

“For me, a big one is court position, because we know that for every metre you go further back, you have to hit the ball 18 per cent harder to keep the same ball speed,” explained James. “That’s just physics. The reality is for someone like Holger, who has a good above-average ball speed on his backhand and forehand, the court position is really important to keep dictating the rally.

“Of course there are [simpler] things like second-serve points won and things like this, but court position right now in his game is the big one that we are really focusing on.”

James emphasises that analysing the data itself is only one part of his job. The fact that he works with four different players — Rune and three WTA stars from the Mouratoglou Academy and Champ’Seed Foundation — makes communication key.

“I think the feel and the type of language you use [is important],” he said. “I keep it simple. It has to be digestible and quick to get to the player. A lot of tennis players naturally go on feelings, they go on emotions, so when you start bringing in sport science, it becomes a different challenge. You really have to tailor-make how you are delivering it to each individual team.

“I work with four different players. How I’m delivering it to Boris and the other coaches is totally different.”

In terms of its overall impact, James believes another advantage of Tennis IQ is the way it allows specific positive aspects of a performance to be isolated and conveyed to a player, even with data from matches they did not win. He cites the early months of the 2022 season, when Rune was just making the step up from the ATP Challenger Tour to the ATP Tour, as a prime example.

“During that period of January and February when he wasn’t winning many matches, this is where the analysis helps,” said James. “To give feedback that, ‘Look, you didn’t get the outcome today, but the process and the performance in an area of your game is going up’. People think it’s always about winning, but when you’re losing, there’s a lot of value to give an extra bit of confidence to the player.

“Information is power, but how you use that information and deliver that information can be destructive or creative. For someone like me who has been doing performance analysis for the past five or six seasons, I feel very in tune with knowing how to deliver it and when to deliver it. I think more people like myself will come into the game and it’s going to be interesting to see how it evolves.”

James is an experienced analyst who has worked in the role since 2018, previously helping the likes of Magnus Norman (the then-coach of Stan Wawrinka), Miro Hrvitan (then-coach of Miomir Kecmanovic) and the team of Iga Swiatek. He credits Tennis IQ with democratising the use of data and ensuring it is not only useful for top players who possess the resources to hire a specialist.

“The biggest value right now for Tennis IQ is during the match,” he said. “However, if you’re another player who doesn’t have access to someone like myself and the facilities we have at the academy, you can dive into the software and look at all the metrics that we have been using at the academy for the past two years.

“I think it creates a level playing field. What it gives someone like me to do is to create different insights, to keep one step ahead. I think it’s a good thing, I think it raises the level.”

Carlos Alcaraz has not forgotten what happened a few months ago in the US Open semi-finals. In that match, facing Daniil Medvedev at the last Grand Slam of the season, the Spaniard suffered from a “mental block” at the end of the first-set tiebreak that would continue through almost all of the second set. As a result, he lost in four sets and left with a bittersweet taste in his mouth.

After Wednesday’s 7-5, 6-2 win over Andrey Rublev, Alcaraz will Friday square off against Medvedev for the first time since that evening, and he will do so in what promises to be a high-octane encounter; the No. 2 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings needs to win to have a chance of reaching the last four at the Nitto ATP Finals.

“We’re going to try and use the US Open match as an example,” explained Alcaraz, whose Lexus ATP Head2Head with Medvedev is tied at 2-2. “I was mentally in the wrong place for a long time. That cannot happen against him. I will have to approach it differently. I know how he will play, so we’ll look at my strategy before the match.

“Medvedev is one of the best players in the world,” declared the 20-year-old Spaniard. “You have to play very well tactically, be patient and aggressive at the same time. It’s very difficult to beat him. You have to wait for the opportunity, but run and be calm, and get five or six shots in per point until the chance comes, while being aware that often it won’t.”

Alcaraz is heading into his final round-robin clash with Medvedev in a position he was not expecting two days ago, when he lost to Alexander Zverev in his opener at the Pala Alpitour.

“After the first match, I was feeling really bad,” said the Murcia native. “I didn’t know where my game was. I thought I couldn’t win any matches at this tournament feeling the way I did,” he admitted. “After yesterday’s practice session, and after today’s match, I’ve changed the way I feel and the way I will approach the coming days. Now I do have a chance to reach the semi-finals, and to have a good tournament here.”

After the defeat at the hands of Zverev, Alcaraz and his team established a plan to rediscover the player’s ‘A’ game. First, in Tuesday’s practice session, coach Juan Carlos Ferrero asked him to be aggressive, to forget the fear of failure that was hampering his shots. The Valencian former World No. 1 also spoke to his understudy before his victory against Andrey Rublev — and it seems his message had the desired effect.

“At the end of the day, compared to the first match, I’ve stopped thinking about winning or losing. Instead I’m focussing on playing good tennis and enjoying myself,” explained the two-time Grand Slam champion. “That’s what we spoke about with Juan Carlos: It doesn’t matter if I win or lose, I just have to play at the level I’ve been playing this year, and enjoy myself on court. That is the key to my tennis, although in recent months it’s been pretty hard for me.”

Regardless of what happens tonight in the match between Medvedev and Zverev, come Friday Alcaraz will still have a chance of claiming a spot in the semi-finals at the season’s grand finale — and he is looking increasingly capable of doing so.

Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury extended their Nitto ATP Finals winning streak to seven matches on Wednesday in Turin. In doing so, they sealed a semi-final spot at the prestigious season finale for the fourth consecutive year.

The defending champions Ram and Salisbury held firm for a 6-3, 3-6, 10-7 win against Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski inside the Pala Alpitour. Now 2-0 in Red Group, they are already assured a place in the last four regardless of what happens in their third match against Rinky Hijikata and Jason Kubler.

Ram and Salisbury have struggled for their usual consistency this year but became ATP Tour champions in Lyon in May and Vienna in October, either side of defending their title at the US Open. They are now 34-18 for the season after holding firm in a tense Match Tie-break to wrap an 83-minute triumph against Koolhof and Skupski.

A single break decided each of the first two sets in an absorbing encounter, the first between the two teams since Ram and Salisbury prevailed in the 2022 Nitto ATP Finals semi-finals. The American-British pair notched the first break of the match in the sixth game en route to winning an opening set in which they saved five break points, but Koolhof and Skupski broke to love in the eighth game of the second to draw level.

After edging their second-seeded rivals in a tight Match Tie-break by winning seven of nine points from 3/5 , Ram and Salisbury are now 14-5 across five appearances at the Nitto ATP Finals. They also reached the championship match in Turin in 2021, before their title run last year.

With a 1-1 record for the week, Koolhof and Skupski next face a straight shootout to become the second team to advance from Red Group against Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden.

Carlos Alcaraz kept alive his semi-final hopes at the Nitto ATP Finals on Wednesday when he moved past Andrey Rublev 7-5, 6-2 to earn his first win at the prestigious year-end event.

The 20-year-old bounced back from an opening Red Group defeat against Alexander Zverev with an aggressive display against Rublev. The Spaniard outlasted the fifth seed in a series of destructive baseline exchanges, redlining the ball to improve to 10-5 against Top 10 opponents in 2023.

With his 74-minute win, Alcaraz snapped a three-match losing streak. The World No. 2 fell against Grigor Dimitrov in Shanghai, Roman Safiullin in Paris and Zverev in Turin. He is now 64-11 on the season.

“It was a totally different match and level from me. This is the level I have to play if I want to give myself a chance in this amazing tournament,” Alcaraz said. “Yesterday was a good day for me in practise to find the level I needed to show today and I think I did pretty well. I am very happy with my level.”

Alcaraz, who is the youngest player in the eight-man singles field, is making his debut at the Nitto ATP Finals after missing last year’s edition due to injury. He is chasing his seventh trophy of the season and first since Wimbledon and will meet Daniil Medvedev in his final round-robin match on Friday.

“I need to relax. It is really, really fast the court,” Alcaraz said. “I need to hit first. You need to be more aggressive than your opponent. I think that is key if you want to have chances in this tournament.”

Alcaraz was not at his best in his opening match against Zverev but was dialled in from ball one on the quick courts inside the Pala Alpitour against Rublev. The Spaniard dropped just one point on his first serve in the opening set, while he committed just four unforced errors. He gained the crucial break in the 11th game of the first set before holding to lead.

In a good rhythm, the 20-year-old pushed on in the second set, exploiting Rublev’s defence with his powerful groundstrokes to force the 26-year-old into errors. Alcaraz also moved freely around the court, hitting a couple of stunning passing winners on the stretch. He sealed victory on his first match point.

Rublev, who won his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title in Monte-Carlo earlier this year, now holds a 0-2 record in Red Group play after losing to Daniil Medvedev in his first match. The 2022 semi-finalist meets Zverev in his final round-robin match.

Rohan Bopanna became the oldest player in tournament history to win a match at the Nitto ATP Finals on Wednesday when he teamed with Matthew Ebden to down Rinky Hijikata and Jason Kubler 6-4, 6-4.

The 43-year-old Bopanna and Ebden lost just one point on their first serve and saved the one break point they faced to triumph after 72 minutes in Turin.

With their victory, the third seeds improved to 1-1 in Red Group play, keeping alive their chances of qualifying for the semi-finals after losing their opening match to defending champions Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury.

Bopanna and Ebden will face Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski in their final round-robin match on Friday.

The Indian-Australian pair first teamed at the start of this season and enjoyed an impressive year together, winning tour-level trophies in Doha and Indian Wells. Bopanna is making his fourth appearance at the year-end event, while Ebden is debuting.

Australian Open champions Hijikata and Kubler are now 0-2 in Red Group play. They will meet Ram and Salisbury in their last match of the round-robin stage.

It’s Awards season, which means we need your help to determine this year’s Fans’ Favourite winners!

Which tennis players entertained you during the 2023 ATP Tour season? Show your support by selecting your favourite singles player and doubles team from the dropdowns below and submit your vote.

Voting for the 2023 Fans’ Favourite Awards closes at 11:59pm GMT on Friday, 1 December.

If you have already cast your vote, you have the option to change your selection through the dropdown menu during the voting period, but your last submission will be the only one recorded. 

Stay tuned over the coming weeks as we celebrate players and tournaments in the 2023 ATP Awards!

Note: Fans’ Favourite candidates are active players in the Top 100 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings and Top 25 teams in the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Team Rankings as of 6 November 2023. The Top 100 includes players with protected ATP Rankings who have played at least one tour-level match in 2023. Candidates with protected rankings are noted in the list with (PR). 

Following his 7-5, 6-7(5), 7-6(2) defeat to Jannik Sinner on Tuesday at the Nitto ATP Finals, Novak Djokovic greeted the Italian home favourite with a warm embrace at the net. His goodwill continued in his post-match press conference, where he was full of praise for his opponent’s play.

“You have to just congratulate him. He just played a fantastic match,” the Serbian said. “That’s what I told him at the net. I think in the most important moments, he played his best game and he absolutely deserved to win.”

Djokovic was especially complimentary of Sinner’s aggressive play during the crucial moments, with the Italian connecting on a flurry of big ground strokes during the close of the first and third sets.

“I think the main difference is that in the important points, he was going for it, he was more courageous,” said the World No. 1. “He deserved to win because in important moments I wasn’t aggressive enough, I wasn’t decisive enough. I gave him the opportunity to take the control over the points.”

While Djokovic could find little fault with his own game overall, he did take a lesson from the defeat.

“I think I learned that in some moments I have to be a bit more decisive. I wasn’t today. That’s OK,” he said. “Some you win, some you lose. Most of my career I was winning these kind of matches. Some I lost, like the one tonight.”

Djokovic’s task was made doubly difficult by the Italian crowd’s constant support for Sinner, as well as the 22 year-old’s desire to notch his first win in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series. But Djokovic is used to playing with a proverbial target on his back.

“They want to take the scalp. Jannik did that tonight,” he said. “It’s normal to lose some of the matches like this, but I have to be content with the fight, the fighting spirit. I managed to make a comeback from a set down, a break down in the third set, playing in really challenging and difficult conditions on the court today.

“I’m proud of the fight that I put in. It just wasn’t enough for the win.”

With heavy backing from the Italian crowd at the Nitto ATP Finals, Jannik Sinner earned a dramatic victory against Novak Djokovic for his first Lexus ATP Head2Head win in four tries against the Serbian. The 7-5, 6-7(5), 7-6(2) result improved Sinner to 2-0 this week in Turin and put him in command of the Red Group — though his qualification for the knockout semi-final stage is not yet confirmed.

Djokovic spent much of the three-hour, nine-minute matchup battling back from behind, but he had no answer for Sinner’s lightning start to the decisive tie-break. Long after he won nine straight points to snatch the opening set, breaking from 40/0 before a love hold, Sinner surged ahead in the final tie-break with five consecutive points, hitting huge ground strokes in the face of extreme pressure to build what proved to be an unassailable lead.

“It’s part of the process. I feel that I’m a little bit more confident in certain moments in a match,” Sinner said of his performance in the clutch moments. “I think I was really brave and intelligent in important moments, especially the third set. I felt like we were both serving really well so there were not so many exchanges, but when the exchanges were played we both played really well.

“That was a really high-level match.”

In an eventful third set, Sinner led 4-2 — ripping a forehand return winner to break — but was pegged back immediately as Djokovic broke serve for the first time in the match. There would be no comeback in the tie-break, as Sinner sent the crowd to fever pitch with victory before receiving a warm embrace from his opponent at net.

In the pair’s first hard-court meeting, Sinner’s brilliant ball-striking ended Djokovic’s 19-match winning streak, which dated back to his Cincinnati title run. The Italian’s career-best season now includes 59 match wins — the most by an Italian in the Open Era — and a 10-5 record against the Top 10. Sinner also improved to 15-1 indoors for 2023 by earning his second victory against a reigning World No. 1; he also beat then-No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz in the Miami semis earlier this season.

“It means a lot to me,” Sinner said of beating Djokovic for the first time. “When you win against the World No. 1, who has won 24 Grand Slams, it’s obviously in the top [of my career results]… I felt like it was a really tactical match and I managed to win, so I’m very happy.”

In addition to stellar serving from both players, who combined for 35 aces, Sinner also found joy with his variety when he wasn’t hitting at full tilt. He often mixed in drop shots to keep Djokovic guessing, and when the Serbian approached the net on his own terms, Sinner’s uncanny ability on the stretch led to several stunning passing-shot winners.

Djokovic, who applauded his opponents play on several occasions, dropped to 1-1 in Turin with the defeat but still remains in with a chance of reaching the semi-finals. He will close out his round-robin campaign against Hubert Hurkacz on Thursday, with the Pole coming in as an alternate to Stefanos Tsitsipas (back injury). Sinner will meet Holger Rune as he seeks to finish 3-0 in the group.

With a unique atmosphere on the court and renowned food and culture off it, Italy is a firm favourite with plenty of ATP Tour stars.

Yet which aspects of the southern European country most appeal to the players in Turin this week for the Nitto ATP Finals? Be it food, films, or Formula 1, ATPTour.com sat down with some of the doubles teams in Green Group to find out…

What is your favourite on-court memory in Italy?
Ivan Dodig: To be honest I like one special word in Italy, when we are on court, how they are cheering for the players. They say, ‘Dai, dai, dai’. It’s like we say in Croatia, ‘Idemo’. It’s famous, whenever we go around Italy, I always hear that, especially when Italian players are playing.

Austin Krajicek: Last year in Florence we played a 250 leading up to here and the crowd support there was amazing. We played a couple of Italian teams in a row, and although the crowd was significantly against us, to hear how loud the stadium was when we lost a point and how pin drop quiet it was when we won a point was a pretty cool experience. It’s cool to be in those atmospheres.

Edouard Roger-Vasselin: Maybe 10 or 15 years ago, I think the first time I brought my girlfriend at that time, who is my wife now, and we went to a Challenger in Italy together. I think it was the first time she came with me to a Challenger, and I made the final. It’s a good memory because it was one of the first times I made the final in a Challenger and my girlfriend was there, so we enjoyed the Italian style, the Italian culture the Italian food, obviously. It was a good memory.

Santiago Gonzalez: The last time I played in Rome. We played on Court Pietrangeli. It was amazing. I love the place… Actually Rome is one of my favourite cities for walking around everywhere.

What is your favourite off-court aspect of being in Italy?
Andres Molteni: I like Italy a lot. I have Italian blood, an Italian passport as well. My grandparents came from here, so we have a union, I think, between us and Italy.

Dodig: Pasta. Pizza. Mozzarella. Burrata. Repeat.

Maximo Gonzalez: I always enjoy being here. It’s one of my favourite places, one of my favourite countries. In Argentina we have some Italian blood. I have many good memories.

If you had the choice would you visit the Colosseum in Rome or climb Mount Vesuvius?
Krajicek: I think I would do the climbing. I’m a bit more of a get-active guy and I’ve seen the Colosseum a couple of times.

S. Gonzalez: I entered the Colosseum like 10 times already, so I would go for a new experience.

Which film would you rather watch, The Godfather or The Italian Job?

S. Gonzalez: The Italian Job. That’s a good one. It’s in Turin as well. I like that one, because The Godfather was a little too slow for me. It’s a great movie, but I prefer The Italian Job.

Molteni: I don’t know, I only saw parts of those movies!

Would you rather watch a Serie A football match or the historic Italian Grand Prix at Monza.
Dodig: Monza. I’m a big F1 fan and for me it’s all about Monza, even though I’m a soccer fan.

Roger-Vasselin: The F1 Grand Prix for me. I never experienced this, and it is on my to-do list at some point in time. I haven’t been in any Italian football stadium, but [I have been] in France, in England, in Spain. Definitely F1 is something I want to do.

S. Gonzalez: I just went three days ago to A.C. Milan vs. PSG. So already I have that mark checked and would go to the F1.

Favourite pizza topping? Is there any topping you won’t touch?
Dodig: My favourite Is here in Turin. Pizza with mortadella, pistachios on top and olive oil. The best ever. I figured it out two years ago and I’m always looking forward to having it, especially here in Turin.

Roger-Vasselin: I don’t want pineapple. No way. Especially here [in Turin] I love the truffle on top of the pizza, on top of everything. I love it. Our wives are going to buy some from Alba, which is like an hour from here or 30 minutes from here. Their job of the week to bring some truffle back home.

M. Gonzalez: Mozzarella. Just margherita with cheese. That’s my favourite here.

Which Italian dish can you cook best?
Krajicek: An Italian dish? I mean, I would struggle a little bit. We live in Texas, so grilling is more of our thing. I like to focus on meat a little bit. I could probably figure out some sort of pasta but it’s not going to be even remotely the same as here, that’s for sure. I’m going out to eat Italian.

Roger-Vasselin: Last Christmas I bought an oven to do some pizza. So I’ve been trying to make some pizzas at home and we are improving. I will say I’m not that bad at making some pizza.