Alex Mann is back with his weekly summary and predictions for the ATP and WTA tours. This is This Week in Tennis #44 2022.
The Past Week – Aliassime and Medvedev rule
It was lucky number three for Felix Auger-Aliassime, as the Canadian won his third title in as many weeks. Aliassime defeated the young, promising Holger Rune at the Swiss Indoors event in Basel, 6-3, 7-5. On his way to the final, Alisassime defeated World Number 1, Carlos Alcaraz, to reach his fifth tour-level final of the season. Before this year, Aliassime had lost eight out of the eight ATP finals he had played, doing so without winning a set. Improving this record this year, Aliassime has now won four out of his last five finals.
Rune’s final run was also impressive, backing up his victory in Stockholm last week to reach back-to-back finals. This win has strengthened Aliassime’s position in the ATP Race to Turin, and is in a prime position to reach the ATP Finals ahead of the final Masters’ event in Paris. The last two spots remain. Aliassime is in the lead, with 3,635 points, and Andrey Rublev sits just behind him with 3,440.
Taylor Fritz and Hubert Hurkacz could still qualify if they have a deep run this week in Paris. Fritz sits on 2,910, while Hurkacz currently has 2,860 points.
In Vienna, Daniil Medvedev won his second ATP title of the season and fifteenth overall, defeating Denis Shapovalov 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. With this win, Medvedev confirmed his place in ATP Finals for the fourth consecutive year.
WTA Finals 2022
This week sees the top eight WTA players battle it out to be crowned the end-of-year champion. Here are the top eight WTA players who have qualified for the end-of-year finals;
Iga Swiatek
Ons Jabeur
Jessica Pegula
Coco Guaff
Maria Sakkari
Caroline Garcia
Aryna Sabalenka
Daria Kasatkina
Format
The competition will be played in a round-robin format. The eight players have been split into two groups. Players play every one in their group. The two players who finish top of their group will advance to the semi-final knockout stage and will face the second-placed player in the opposite group. The two players who won their semi-final match will then face off against each other in the final to be crowned the end-of-year champion.
The two round-robin groups are as follows
Tracy Austin Group
1. Iga Swiatek
4. Coco Gauff
6. Caroline Garcia
8. Daria Kasatkina
Nancy Richey Group
2. Ons Jabeur
3. Jessica Pegula
5. Maria Sakkari
7. Aryna Sabalenka
Group predictions
Swiatek and Kasatkina to top the Tracy Austin Group, Jabeur and Pegula to top the Nancy Richey Group
Semi-final predictions
Swiatek to beat Pegula
Jabeur to beat Kasatkina
Final prediction
Swiatek to beat Jabeur
WTA Doubles Finals
The doubles tournament follows the same format as the singles. The doubles groups are as follows;
Rosie Casals Group
1. Barbora Krejcikova/Katerina Siniakova
3. Coco Gauff/ Jessica Pegula
6. Xu Yifan/Yang Zhaoxuan
8. Desiree Krawczyk/Demi Schuurs
Pam Shriver Group
2. Gabriela Dabrowski/Giuliana Olmos
4. Veronika Kudermetova/Elise Mertens
5. Lyudmyla Kichenok/Jelena Ostapenko
7. Anna Danilina/Beatriz Haddad Maia
Group predictions
Krejcikova/Siniakova and Guaff/ Pegula to top the Rosie Casals group
Kudermetova/Mertens and Kichenok/Ostapenko to top the Pam Shriver group
Semi-final predictions
Krejcikova/Siniakova to beat Kichenok/Ostapenko
Kudermetova/Mertens to beat Guaff/ Pegula
Final prediction
Krejcikova/Siniakova to beat Kudermetova/Mertens
Paris Masters (ATP 1000)
This year will be the 50th edition of the Paris tournament. Record 6-time defending champion Novak Djokovic has entered. Rafael Nadal makes his singles return as he plays for the first time since this year’s US Open. Carlos Alcaraz is this year’s top seed, with Nadal as the second seed.
Prediction – Medvedev to win
