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In the upcoming Nitto ATP Finals, Stefanos Tsitsipas is competing for more than simply a championship. In the race for the year-end No. 1 Pepperstone ATP Ranking, the Greek star has control over his future.
If the 24-year-old wins the season finale without dropping a set, he will reach World No. 1 and end the year at the summit of the men’s tennis mountain for the first time. Tsitsipas will, however, give Rafael Nadal the chance to reclaim first place if he fails to go 5-0 at the Pala Alpitour in Turin. By taking the crown, the Spaniard will achieve his goal. If Tsitsipas does not leave Turin as the tournament’s unbeaten champion, Nadal can also regain the top spot in the world rankings by winning the championship match after winning all three of his round-robin matches.
Five times before, most recently in 2019, Nadal was ranked first at year’s end. The Spaniard would tie Pete Sampras for the second-most year-end No. 1 rankings in Pepperstone ATP Rankings history (since 1973) if he were to accomplish the feat once more this year.
