e 16 seeded players:-

1       Carlos Alcxaraz

2       Rafael Nadal

3       Casper Ruud  

4       Danill  Medvedev 

5       Stefanos Tsitsipas

6      Noval Djokovic

7      Andrey Rublev

8      Felix Auger-Aliassime

9      Taylor Fritz

10   Hubert Hurkacz

11     Janik Sinner

12'    Cameron Norrie

13      Mattreo Berrettini

14     Pablo Carreno-Busta

15     Matin Cilic

16     Frances Tiafoe

ROUND  2

Top Half of the Draw

1    Carlos Alcaraz                                 vs          Yoshihito Nishioka

Fabo Fognini                                         vs          Grigor Dimitrov

10   Hubert Hurkacz                              vs          Holger Rune

7    Andrey Rublev                                 vs         John Isner

4     Danill Medvedev                             vs        Alex de Minaur

16    Frances Tiafoe                                vs         Jack Draper

9     Taylor Fritz                                      vs         Gilles Simon

8     Felix Auger-Aliassime                     vs         Mikhail Ymer

Bottom Half of the Draw

6    Novak Djokovic                                vs        Maxime Cressy

Marc-Andrea Huesler                             vs         Karen Khachanov

Lorenzo Museetti                                   vs         Nikoloz Basilashvili                      

3      Casper Ruud                                  vs         Richard Gasquet

5     Stefanos Tsitsipas                           vs         Daniel Evans

12    Cameron Norrie                            vs          Corentin Moutet

14   Pablo Carreno-Busta                      vs         Denis Shapovalov

2     Rafael Nadal                                   vs          Tommy Paul

Djokovic is playing - his only hope to get into the EOY Championship in Turin would be if he wins in this Tournament in the final and all of Auger-Aliassime, Fritz and Hurkacz go out in early rounds in the tournament - otherwise his chances are very, very slim.    

ROUND  3

Top Half of the Draw

1    Carlos Alcaraz                                 vs        Grigor Dimitrov

7    Andrey Rublev                                 vs      Holger Rune  

16    Frances Tiafoe                                vs      Alex de Minaur              

8     Felix Auger-Aliassime                    vs      /Gilles Simon

Bottom Half of the Draw

6    Novak Djokovic                                vs        Karen Khachanov

3     Casper Ruud                                     vs        Lorenzo Musetti

5     Stefanos Tsitsipas                             vs       Corentin Moutet

14    Pablo Carreno-Busta                       vs       Tommy Paul

QUARTERFINALS

Top Half of the Draw

1    Carlos Alcaraz                                         vs      Holger Rune  

8     Felix Auger-Aliassime                            vs    16    Frances Tiafoe   

Bottom Half of the Draw

6      Novak Djokovic                                     vs    Lorenzo Musetti       

5     Stefanos Tsitsipas                                   vs      Tommy Paul

 The performance by Nadal was pathetic to watch and can only be attributed to him not being match-fit as was clear especially in the deciding set where he lost  6-1 confirmed it.    There was a scene on TV where after the second set he was sitting looking very worried and shaking his head that confirmed something was very wrong in his case - losing the te-breaker after making 2 double-faults in the process.    After watching that show I wonder whether he will even bother to turn up at the Turin End of Year Championship only 10 days away.

My assessment of Medvedev's performance confirms something I have observed over in 2022.   Medvedev's game has gone down badly over the period.   His serving is still good enough - the  rest of the game shows total lack of real attacking ability.    His hits are slow and opens the way for opponents to attack and forces Medvedev in to making mistakes,       

The fact that all of Fritz, Hurkacz, Norrie and Sinner lost in Round 2 means they are out of the Turin tournament and opens the way for Djokovic to get entry into the tournament.   

8 of the 16 seeded players lost in either Round 1 or Round 2 - and the way the tournament is going more seeds may be going out today.   I do think only 2 of the seeds are sure of going through to the quarterfinals - there are indeed question marks as to the other 6 seeded players.

SEMIFINALS

 8     Felix Auger-Aliassime               vs            Holger Rune 

5     Stefanos Tsitsipas                       vs            6    Novak Djokovic

FINAL

6    Novak Djokovic                   vs          Holger Rune

This is the second tournament won by Nure in October/November this year and in fact the only two tournaments he won in his career.   Although he was rather up and down in 2022  he at last is showing how really good a youngster he really is.   Congrats and hope there are plenty more coming.