‘We want to see Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer’ – Olympic champ slams ‘weak’ ATP Finals field
The ATP Finals draw is light on the ground when it comes to the very best players according to this Olympic gold medallist.
The ATP Finals is kicks off its stint in Turin this year as the top eight players from the 2021 season compete for the title.
However, some are complaining that the field is not strong enough this year.
In particular, 1992 Olympics singles gold medallist Marc Rosset is unhappy with the level of quality set to take to the court in Turin this year.
“There are new faces, and it is true that it could be nice,” he admitted to Swiss news source RTS.
“But besides the semi-final appearance of [Hubert] Hurkacz at Wimbledon, [he and Casper Ruud] did not shine at Slams [this year]
“The general public wants to see [Rafael] Nadals, [Roger] Federer, [Andy] Murray, Stan [Wawrinka].
“Not guys who have won their places by winning ATP 250 tournaments. We are far from the great and exciting competition that has been played in London in recent years.”
While of course five-time champion and 20-time Slam winner Novak Djokovic is competing, only he and Daniil Medvedev have Slam titles to their name.
Casper Ruud leads the tour in terms of the number of titles won in 2021 at five, jointly with Djokovic and Alexander Zverev.
Meanwhile Hurkacz won the Miami Masters, an ATP 1000 level event, in March.
Stefanos Tsitsipas reached the final of Roland Garros, and Matteo Berrettini did the same at Wimbledon.
“To be frank, I don’t remember a Masters with such a weak field!” Rosset added.
“Zverev must win a Slam next year, Tsitsipas too. That would give the next Masters more credit.”
Djokovic is the only member of the ‘Big Four’ of himself, Nadal, Federer and Murray appearing in Turin. This is the first time only one of those has been present at the event since 2004.
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