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.