Jannik Sinner may be the world No.1 and king of the hard courts after winning this year’s Australian Open and US Open but Carlos Alcaraz can give him a run for his money in the ATP Finals in Turin.
Sinner started the tournament as 11/8 favourite with BoyleSports, SpreadEx and Sporting Index after also claiming titles at Rotterdam, Miami, Halle, Cincinnati at Shanghai and the 23-year-old Italian will have massive home support, despite still being wrapped up in controversy after August’s revelation he had tested positive for a banned steroid.
He was cleared to continue playing after it was found there was ‘no guilt or negligence’ on his part, but that decision does not sit well with all in the tennis world and the decision has been challenged by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Sinner is in the Ilie Nastasie group at the finals, drawn alongside Daniil Medvedev, Taylor Fritz and Alex De Minaur while Alcaraz is in the John Newcombe round-robin pool where he faces Alexander Zverev, Casper Ruud and Andrey Rublev.
The Spaniard successfully defended his titles at both the French Open and Wimbledon this year while also being crowned champion at Indian Wells and the China Open in Beijing at the start of last month, and it is this victory that leads us to believe he can triumph in Turin.
It was the third time in a row he defeated Sinner, bouncing back from losing a first-set tie-break to level the final with a 6-4 success in the second set before winning another tie-break to lift the trophy.
Alcaraz also trailed after losing the first to Sinner at Indian Wells and Roland Garros which is worth noting if they meet in the final as sporting history is definitely repeating itself in this instance and he appears to hold the edge over his big rival.
With seven-time ATP Finals winner Novak Djokovic withdrawing from the event, a new champion must be crowned and Alcaraz is a standalone 9/4 with BoyleSports while he is 4/5 with William Hill to reach the semi-finals as group winner.
He can get his campaign off to a flying start by beating Ruud with minimum fuss on Monday afternoon and the best bet is for there to be under 20.5 games in the duel at 3/4 with Ladbrokes and Coral.
• Zverev beat Rublev 6-4, 6-4 when they met in the round-robin stage of last year’s ATP Finals and is evens with bet365 to do so again on Monday evening.
• The Los Angeles Rams have not beaten the Miami Dolphins at home in four games since the NFL franchise left St Louis but can reverse that trend by winning their Monday Night Football showdown at 4/5 with Ladbrokes, Coral and William Hill to take their record for the season to 5-4.
Cooper Kupp has 16 catches for 155 yards and a touchdown in two games since returning from an ankle injury and is 9/1 with Sky Bet, BoyleSports and Betfred to score the first TD and 6/4 with the same firms to haul in six points at any time.
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