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Overview

The occupational hazards of tournament pool play often result in at this point of the ATP World Tour Finals viewers are commonly confused, scrambling about for a calculator and attempting to calculate the complex potential outcomes for advancement. But tonight’s match between Alexander Zverev and Auger-Aliassime, fortunately, is easy. This is a winner-takes-all affair: the winner earns a semifinal contest against Carlos Alcaraz at this championship finale; the unsuccessful competitor is eliminated.

Zverev is the predicted winner for this: the third-ranked player is the more experienced competitor, has previously won at this event previously on two instances and holds the advantage in their personal record 6-3, winning both their previous matches on an indoor hard court.

However … this particular court on which Felix has secured the bulk of his trophies, he is full of confidence after his compelling comeback against Shelton on midweek and he defeated Zverev in the US Championships third round in late summer. Plus, the court pace is quicker in the host city than at the US Open venue, which works even more in AA’s favour.

Should Zverev be cautious, as he did against the Italian, and the Canadian presses the German with his powerful serves and confident shots, it could well be the young Canadian – the earlier standout who was once in line before the younger champions to succeed the legendary trio – who obtains the dubious honour of competing with the top-ranked player the next day.

The match starts: at about 8.30pm local time, 7:30 PM in the UK.