Thiem: Two Favorites For ATP Finals

By Richard PagliaroDominic Thiem opened the ATP Finals with a win—and offered his view on the field's favorites.US Open champion Thiem defeated defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-3 in today's ATP Finals rematch of the 2019 championship match.More: Thiem Changes Tune on OlympicsThe third-seeded Austrian cites the usual suspects—world No. 1 Novak Djokovic and second-ranked Rafael Nadal—as the favorites to raise the title trophy next Sunday at London's O2 Arena.Tennis ExpressThough Nadal has yet to win the prestigious season-ending event, Thiem says the overall achievements of the world's top two makes them the slight favorites with other six players in the eight-man field on equal ground."I think that especially this year all eight players are in great form and are pretty much on a hot streak, as well," Thiem said. "I think besides Rafa and Novak, because of all they have achieved and what they are, I think they are a little bit above the other six. But in general, I guess that every single of the eight players can win every match here."The 2019 finalist said he views each round-robin match as a toss-up."So I see myself just as everybody else, and every match is pretty much 50/50," Thiem said. "And the one who has a better day and a little bit more lucky these certain days is going to win the matches. I think, well, the one who has the best week is going to end up winning the tournament."Playing for his record-tying sixth ATP Finals crown, Djokovic is listed as a 6/4 favorite to take the title with both Nadal and Daniil Medvedev listed at 11/2 by Oddschecker.Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve]]>

Richard Pagliaro is Tennis Now Managing Editor. He is a graduate of New York University and has covered pro tennis for more than 35 years. Richard was tennis columnist for Gannett Newspapers in NY, served as Managing Editor for TennisWeek.com and worked as a writer/editor for Tennis.com. He has been TennisNow.com managing editor since 2010.