They were wonderful, the blue hours of London.

Every year in November, the O2-Arena was in a dimly beautiful atmosphere, while the best showed their best in the spotlight on the tennis court - of course blue - below.

In the largest domed structure in the world, Roger Federer became the record winner at the ATP Finals when he won his sixth and probably last title ten years ago.

Thomas Klemm

Sports editor.

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Rafael Nadal fought as relentlessly as in vain to win the annual tournament at least once. Novak Djokovic managed the feat of getting the handle pot four times in a row between 2012 and 2015. And Alexander Zverev celebrated his greatest triumph three years ago in London, at least until he became the first German tennis man to become Olympic champion in Tokyo. Yes, there were twelve exciting years in London before it was 2020: basta and bye-bye. And off to Italy.

From this Sunday on and for the next five years, the eight best men of the tennis year will play in Turin for the unofficial title of ATP world champion.

Not everything is new in the Pala Alpitour, the largest multi-purpose hall in Italy, but a lot is different.

The two groups of four are no longer named after the dazzling tennis champions of the past, but simply differentiated in color in green and red.

And the popular stars Federer, Nadal and the Austrian Dominic Thiem are not present at the Turin premiere, because on the one hand they are recovering from protracted injuries and on the other hand they have not qualified for a lack of points this season anyway.

Is Djokovic catching up with Federer?

Instead, the world is seeing faces that are far less familiar to it than the triple-A celebs of the past decade. On the one hand there is the debutant Hubert Hurkacz, who is the second Pole after Wojtek Fibak to take part in the tournament of the eight best in 1976. Everyone calls the 24-year-old “Hubi”, which doesn’t match his stately height of 1.96 meters or his power of punch, especially when serving.

On the other hand, there is the debutant Casper Ruud, who is the first Norwegian ever to take part in the ATP Finals and thus definitely outdoes his father and former top 40 player Christian. Outwardly, Ruud junior is not as imposing as Hubi Hurkacz, but has gained a lot in stature this year. The 22-year-old has won five tournaments, as many as Djokovic and Zverev and no one else. In his first match on Monday (2.00 p.m. on Sky), Ruud will face world number one Djokovic, who appreciates the fast hard court in the Turin hall more than the Norwegian, who feels most comfortable on sand and is most successful . "He doesn't have much to lose here," said Djokovic on Friday.

It looks completely different with the Serb himself, he is fighting for the next entry in the golden book of tennis records. It is certain that he will finish a year as the world's number one for the seventh time. If Djokovic were to win the ATP Finals for the sixth time, he would also be on top in these statistics, together with Maestro Federer. In addition to Casper Ruud, the Russian Andrej Rublev and the ATP world champion of 2019, the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, all in the green group stand in the way of Djokovic.

In the red group, on the other hand, there is an alarm mood.

At least from the point of view of Alexander Zverev, who frankly admitted to journalists on Friday that he “would have liked a few other names”.

The Olympic champion was drawn to the defending champion and world number two Daniil Medvedev, the Wimbledon finalist and local hero Matteo Berrettini and Hurkacz.

All opponents in the group are pretty tough when they serve and are extremely dangerous on a hard court like in Turin.

Against the Russian Medvedev, Zverev lost only last week at the Masters tournament in Paris and was so exhausted that he took a day off longer than planned.

Are you strong enough at Zverev?

On this Sunday evening (9 p.m. on Sky), Zverev faces a multi-demanding challenge against the Italian Berrettini. On the one hand, the 24-year-old from Hamburg is struggling with his symptoms of exhaustion after the long season, like the competition. On the other hand, the Turin hall will be full of Tifosi who will whip their compatriot Berrettini to the last. That her temper could get away with the Italians leaves Zverev cold. “I'm a fan of it when it gets loud and energetic in the stadium.” Allegedly, the Hamburg resident of Monte Carlo even likes “when the spectators are against me”. He can have that at the opening single this Sunday.

The only question is whether there will be enough strength. Like all participants in the Achterfeld, Alexander Zverev put the many tournaments of the year in their bones. But being there is not everything for him, he wants to become world champion like in 2018: "Even if you are physically tired and emotionally exhausted, at such an event you get all your reserves out of yourself."

The same thing happens to the second German who wants to successfully move from London to Turin.

Kevin Krawietz has managed to be part of one of the best eight doubles of the season for the third time in a row.

Unlike in the two previous years, the Coburg resident is not competing with his Cologne partner Andreas Mies, with whom he won the French Open twice.

But with the Romanian Horia Tecau, with whom he optimally compensated for Mies' injury-related loss in 2021.

For the two Germans, the blue hours in London were hardly worth a trip, as they were eliminated with only one win after the preliminary round.

So things can only get better for Krawietz and a few colleagues in Turin.