Andy Roddick names the player to 'watch out' for at the ATP Finals and makes him second favorite to win the event behind Jannik Sinner

Andy Roddick names the player to ‘watch out’ for at the ATP Finals and makes him second favorite to win the event behind Jannik Sinner

Posted by Admin November 13, 2024 Tennis

Andy Roddick named the player he thinks is the biggest threat to win the ATP Finals title behind Jannik sinner.

The World number one is the frontrunner to claim the season-ending title in front of his home fans in Turin, Italy.

The 23-year-old has made a solid start to the campaign following a 6-3, 6-4 win over Alex de Minaur on Sunday night.

But Andy Roddick, a former top ranked player in his own right, thinks there is one player in particular that will push Sinner the hardest for the title, and it’s a former ATP Finals champion.

Who does Andy Roddick think will be Jannik Sinner’s biggest challenger at the ATP Finals?

Carlos Alcaraz is the name that would usually spring to mind first when it comes to changing Jannik Sinner the most.

The Spaniard has won all three of their ATP Tour head-to-head matches in 2024, including most recently in the Beijing final.

But with the Spaniard struggling with illness and consistency, Roddick thinks Alexander Zverev’s the player currently best equipped to take on Sinner in Turin. He is currently on a six-match winning streak after claiming the Paris Masters title before arriving in Rome.

Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images

“When you serve 70% first serves on a regular basis from 6ft 6 and can defend like you’re 6ft 1, that solves a lot of problems,” Roddick told the Tennis Channel Live podcast.

“Props to him because as we see with Medvedev and Rublev, we see people having meltdowns at the end of the year, maybe not feeling as great as they usually do.

“Zverev is just always right there. He always is opportunistic when the situation presents itself. We saw it in Bercy, we see it here. Watch out for him. I love him in this group. He has a shot at the title, I think he is the favourite outside of Sinner.”

How can Alexander Zverev and Jannik Sinner face each other at the ATP Finals?

Sinner and Zverev are the top two seeded players at the ATP Finals.

They have been placed in different groups and as they seeded one and two, they cannot meet until the final.

Both players won their first round robin match and should they win their second, are likely to have booked a spot in the semi-finals.

Zverev and Sinner have met on six previous occasions, with the 2024 French Open runner-up winning four times.

However, Sinner won their last encounter 7-6(9) 5-7 7-6(4) in the Cincinnati Masters semi-finals, which was a three-set thriller that went down to the wire.