The Grateful Eight

Field Set for 2026 Nitto ATP Finals; Four Cincy Champs in Round-Robin Draw

By Richard Osborn

The Race to Turin has come to a conclusion, and the field is set for the 2026 Nitto ATP Finals, to be played at Turin’s Inalpi Arena, Nov. 15-22. With two-time reigning champion Jannik Sinner out with injury, and four first-timers in the running, we’ll see who has what it takes to walk away with the sought-after year-end trophy. Will it be one of four former Cincinnati Open champions? CincinnatiOpen.com breaks down the elite eight-man round-robin draw:

ALEXANDER ZVEREV (GER) 2026 TITLES: 2 | 2026 RECORD: 65-18

For a guy who only a year ago was fully despondent, in his own words “quite alone in life” and struggling “to find joy outside the tennis court”, Alexander Zverev has sure turned over a new leaf. Long considered the best active player never to have won a major singles title, the 6-foot-6 German finally got over the hump in 2026, not only raising La Coupe des Mousquetaires at Roland Garros, but avenging his painful five-set title-match defeat of 2020 in Flushing Meadows. “I think the scars of the 2020 final, they kind of disappeared after I won in Paris,” said Zverev. “Before that, I felt a lot of stress all the time, because there was always a question mark, ‘Will I ever win one?’” The 2021 Cincinnati Open champ was rewarded for his consistency when earlier this month he became the 30th man to rise to No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings, and only the second German player to achieve the feat after Boris Becker. The 29-year-old expressed some frustration last week, saying he felt as if he somehow needed to justify his new status (“I feel like I’m the only world No. 1 in tennis history that has to explain why it’s okay for me to be world No. 1.”). He’ll have an opportunity to silence the doubt at the 2026 Nitto ATP Finals, an event he has won twice (2018, 2021).

CARLOS ALCARAZ (ESP) 2026 TITLES: 5 | 2026 RECORD: 42-5

Carlos Alcaraz has truly made up for lost time in a hurry. On Sunday, he rallied from 2-4 in the second set against Ben Shelton to seal the biggest indoor title of his career at the Rolex Paris Masters, 7-6(5), 7-5, his fifth tour-level title of the season. This after sitting out more than four months due to a right wrist injury. There was some cautious optimism when the 23-year-old Spaniard returned to the tour this summer in Flushing Meadows, but he has done nothing but surpass expectations ever since, reeling off titles in Tokyo, Vienna and Paris. This on-again/off-again status may be the new norm for the 2025 Cincinnati Open champion, who is clearly at his world-beating best when he’s feeling rested and joyful on the court. “I didn’t want to have this break because of an injury, but in the future, I’m going to take some breaks, some long breaks,” he said. “Maybe not four months, but one month, two months, missing some tournaments, because it’s impossible to play them all.” A Nitto ATP Finals runner-up in 2025, Alcaraz will go for title No. 6 on the year in Turin, which would level him with rival Jannik Sinner, the ATP’s pacesetter in that category despite a season-ending injury of his own. Fingers crossed we’ll again see them going head-to-head on a regular basis again in 2027, the Sincaraz showdown being the most compelling in the game.

BEN SHELTON (USA)

2026 TITLES: 4 | 2026 RECORD: 41-19

It’s been a year of milestones for Ben Shelton, who broke through to his first major singles final at the US Open and rose to a career-high No. 4 in the PIF ATP Rankings. In many eyes, the powerful, ultra-athletic lefthander has emerged as the go-to hope to end the now-24-year-long drought that has plagued American men at the sport’s four biggest events. That the former University of Florida star would hire Juan Carlos Ferrero, the former world No. 1 and longtime Carlos Alcaraz mentor, is a sign that he’s perhaps ready to take that next step. As we witnessed in New York, when he downed Alcaraz in a historic five-set late-night/early-morning epic that ended at 3:33 a.m. local time, Shelton’s got the firepower to do great things in this sport. The fact that he understands there is still some work to do should serve him well for years to come. “I don’t think I’m anywhere near the player that I want to be,” said Shelton, who went 0-3 in round-robin play at the Nitto ATP Finals in 2025. “I think I’m a great competitor. I’m able to stay focused and stay there on the court for many, many hours. I think that’s going to help me in the future moving forward.”

DANIIL MEDVEDEV

2026 TITLES: 4 | 2026 RECORD: 52-20

If Daniil Medvedev looked a bit lost these last few years (the former world No. 1 and 2021 US Open champion nearly dropped out of the Top 20 last summer), the 30-year-old Muscovite appears to have found himself in 2026. The Rookwood Cup winner at the 2019 Cincinnati Open, he kicked off the year with a trophy in Brisbane, becoming only the third active player to win 20 or more tour hard-court titles. He has since added trophies in Dubai, Hangzhou and Almaty. He also reached the ATP Masters 1000 final in Indian Wells, defeating Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinals. By mid-summer, qualifying for his seventh appearance in the Nitto ATP Finals began to seem realistic. “It’s all about results. If you lose in the first round, maybe you are not in Turin. If you make the quarters every Masters of the year, you probably are in Turin,” he said. “I’m just trying my best, and if I’m there, perfect. If not, the Maldives is good as well.” That island vacation will have to wait. Medvedev is headed to Turin after all thanks to a resurgence that has seen him break the 50-win mark for the first time since 2023. Following a series of coaching shakeups — he parted ways with Gilles Cervara in July 2025 and Thomas Johansson in July 2026 — Medvedev appears to be in concert with Andrey Golubev, whom he brought on board just prior to the Cincinnati Open.

FLAVIO COBOLLI (ITA)

2026 TITLES: 1 | 2026 RECORD: 36-24

Qualifying for the year-end championships has been priority No. 1 for Flavio Cobolli since he broke through to his maiden Grand Slam singles final at Roland Garros (l. to Alexander Zverev, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-1). Cincinnatians got an up-close-and-personal glimpse of the self-described “warrior” this summer at the Lindner Family Tennis Center, where he reached the semis on the back of four-consecutive three-set turnarounds. It somehow feels right that the six-foot scrambler will be representing Italy at Turin’s Inalpi Arena in his tournament debut. Of course, there’ll be some added pressure playing on home ground, but that’s when the 24-year-old is at his best. “I always say, the pressure is outside the court. When I’m on the court, I feel more comfortable. I feel more Flavio,” he said. “I don’t feel a lot of pressure, because I like to compete. I like to stay on court. I like to make war on the court.”

ARTHUR FILS (FRA)

2026 TITLES: 2 | 2026 RECORD: 39-16

If there’s a feel-good story at the 2026 Nitto ATP Finals it’s Arthur Fils, who after being relegated to the sidelines for some eight months due to a chronic back injury has played his way into his first year-end tour championships. In April, the speedy all-courter claimed his first title in two years in Barcelona. But it was his run to the crown at the 2026 Cincinnati Open, his first at the ATP Masters 1000 level, that really put him back on the map. This week, Fils — only the second Frenchman to reach three Masters 1000 semis in a single season —will become the first Frenchman to compete in the season finale since the recently-retired Gael Monfils a decade ago. “I found out that I was pretty strong mentally,” said Fils. “During that eight months, I didn’t really ask myself if I was going to be back. I was sure I was going to be back at my level, at a higher level. It was just going to take some time.” Perched at a career-high No. 7 in the PIF ATP Rankings, it’s safe to say he is indeed back.

FRANCES TIAFOE (USA)

2026 TITLES: 1 | 2026 RECORD: 44-21

Enjoying the most productive season of his now decade-long career, Frances Tiafoe is among four first-time qualifiers for the prestigious tour championships. A late-year reckoning in 2025 seems to have done the Marylander some good. Feeling stagnant and in need of a boost, he hired Mark Kovacs, claimed the biggest title of his career at the ATP 500 event in Halle, and returned to the Cincinnati Open final for the second time in three years. He subsequently reached the final four in Flushing Meadows for the third time in five years, matching International Tennis Hall of Famer Andre Agassi for the most US Open semis by an American man this century. “I’m just a different person in general,” said Tiafoe. “I was pretty fly-by-night last year, kind of just doing what I felt like doing. My routine is definitely helping me be locked in and show up and continue to try to give my best self each and every day. I’m more in a holistic-type situation, and not just on the court. I want to improve myself off the court, too. I want to be a better brother, a better boyfriend, a better son. That all helps me to be a better player in the end.”

RAFAEL JODAR (ESP)

2026 TITLES: 1 | 2026 RECORD: 45-19

The margins can be razor-thin when it comes to qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals. American Taylor Fritz was twice a point away from doing so last week at the Rolex Paris Masters, only to have it all slip away against Carlos Alcaraz. The miscue clinched the final spot for 19-year-old Spaniard Rafael Jodar, who in a matter of a single season claimed his maiden ATP title and went from No. 165 to No. 10 in the PIF ATP Rankings. The former UVA standout will be just the fifth player to qualify for the tour finale the year after making his debut at the Next Gen ATP Finals. All that hype surrounding the lanky 6-foot-3 Jodar? It’s for good reason.