The Nitto ATP Finals – the tournament that closes the men’s tennis season – are being played these days, until Sunday 16 November 2025, at the Inalpi Arena in Turin. The Davis Cup will follow the following week. A tournament in which the great spectacle of tennis is condensed into 8 days of matches that will elect the “Master” of 2025. It is an opportunity to see the Italian champions in action. In the singles, the wait is all for the number 1 in the ATP ranking, Jannik Sinnerand for Lorenzo Musetti. The South Tyrolean has already started his tournament in an excellent way, beating Auger-Aliassime last night by 2 sets to 0 (7-5; 6-1), while Musetti will play this evening at 8.30pm against the Australian De Minaur after losing his debut match against Taylor Fritz. There is also great anticipation for the doubles tournament, where the blue pair formed by Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori has already reached the semi-finals, after beating Granollers and Zeballos 2-0.
The Nitto ATP finals in Turin, a tournament different from all the others
The most obvious feature of the “Masters Tournament”, as it was once called, is that there are only 8 participants. Not the best 8 of the ATP ranking but the best 8 of the “Race”, i.e. the ranking that only considers the points accumulated in the calendar year.
However, what is completely different from any other tournament is the format: two Italian-style groups of 4 tennis players each (or 4 pairs, in the doubles tournament), in which each player faces all the opponents in their group. The top two advance to the semifinals, and from there to the final.
This regulation brings out some fascinating anomalies for tennis lovers, including the fact that it is possible to lose a group stage match without being eliminated from the tournament, a more unique than rare case. An athlete can also face the same opponent twice: once in the group, the second time in the final, as happened for two consecutive years in Sinner: against Novak Djokovic in 2023, with Jannik winning in the group and Novak winning in the final 6-3 6-3, and against Taylor Fritz in 2024, with the Italian winning 6-4 6-4 in both the group and the final.
This structure makes the Finals an unpredictable tournament capable of overturning predictions, played by the best tennis players of the year, who however often arrive at this stage of the season worn out by 10 months of matches at the highest level. It therefore doesn’t take much to lose concentration in a tournament where there are no easy opponents to face.
Slam points and prize money in the Turin masters tournament
The points offered by the tournament also follow a unique and particularly generous scheme. In fact, each victory in the group is worth 200 points, the victory in the semi-final 400 points, the victory in the final 500. This means that the winner, if he has not lost any match, takes home 1500 points, i.e. a cross between a Masters 1000 (which offers 1000 points up for grabs) and a Grand Slam tournament, which guarantees 2000 points.
The big difference is that in a Slam there are 128 tennis players registered in the main draw, here only 8, with the addition of being able to even lose a match without giving up the possibility of lifting the trophy. Many points reserved for very few athletes, a sort of “production bonus” for arriving at the end of the year among the best in the world.
Even in economic terms there is no joke: the champion, if undefeated, will take home a check for $5,071,000, the highest in the history of the Finals, approximately 200 thousand dollars more than the last edition.
The total prize pool is $15.5 million, to be shared among the select few who will pocket $331,000 just for participating in the tournament. A victory in the group is worth just under $400,000, winning the semi-final guarantees $1,183,500, winning the final $2,367,000.
To make a comparison, Jannik Sinner, by winning Wimbledon this year, collected a check for 3 million pounds, just under 3.5 million euros.
Even in the doubles tournament there is no joke even with decidedly lower sums: the winning couple, if undefeated, will pocket just under 1 million dollars. A decidedly generous reward for a tournament that is played between only 8 participants in the best of 3 sets.
Entertainment on and off the pitch
The ATP Finals are meant to be a great show, not just a sporting competition. The opening ceremony with guests Max Pezzali and the Nuclear Tactical Penguins (and tickets starting from €100), a huge fan village where you can get to know your idols up close, watch the matches on a big screen, taste the best specialties of our country or play any sport that involves a racket, and even talks and events in the city center and parties on the opening and closing weekends of the tournament.
It is no coincidence that many experts, including the ATP president himself, Andrea Gaudenzi, underline how one of the main criteria in choosing the venue for the Finals is precisely the atmosphere that can be generated around the event. A quality indoor structure is not enough: it is necessary to make the audience an integral part of the show. In recent years, Turin has grown as a location and has shown ambition and organizational skills. The balance is certainly positive, with audiences increasing year after year (as well as the cost of tickets, with prices starting from €660 up to €2000 for a ticket for the final on Sunday 16th), investments and improvements, also thanks to the explosion of Italian tennis and Sinner-mania.
Media, sponsors and the public look at the tournament with special eyes: it is the event capable of catalyzing attention in a period in which tennis risks being talked about little, condensing in a few days everything that tennis has represented in a season: the competition, the spectacle, the excellence, the pressure.
