ATP Finals 2021: Groups announced, Novak Djokovic to start off against Casper Ruud

The prestigious year-ending men's tennis tournament, ATP Finals 2021, gets underway from Sunday. The competition will be held in Turin for the first time after ending a nearly decade-long run in London. As usual, the top-ranked eight players take part in this event. Meanwhile, ATP has revealed the two groups of players.

As per the announcement, the players have been divided into two groups of four each. The groups have been named Green and Red. Reigning world number one, Novak Djokovic of Serbia, has been placed in Green, alongside Stefanos Tsitsipas (4), Andrey Rublev (5) and Casper Ruud (8). Red consists of Daniil Medvedev (2), Alexander Zverev (3), Matteo Berrettini (6) and Hubert Hurkacz (7).

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Djokovic would get his campaign underway against Ruud on Monday, while Medvedev plays Hurkacz on Sunday. Also, on Sunday, Zverev clashes against Berrettini, while on Monday, Tsitsipas faces off against Rublev. The Serbian and the Russian (Medvedev) are the favourites to reach the while.

The Greek (Tsitsipas) is also another favourite. Djokovic defeated Medvedev in the Australia Open final earlier this year, before losing to him in the US Open final in September. However, The world number one beat him in his recent meeting at the Paris Masters. Also, the Serbian had defeated Tsitsipas in the French Open final.

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As for the points and prize money, the winner would be granted 1,500 points along with prize money of $1,094,000. The semi-finalist would earn $530,000 and Round Robin+400 points, followed by $173,000 per RR win and 200 points. The participation fee happens to be $173,000 (three matches), $129,750 (two matches) and $86,500 (one match). Jannik Sinner and Cameron Norrie happen to be the injury alternates who would earn $93,000.