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A new ATP Finals illustration featuring Stefanos Tsitsipas and Taylor Fritz along with Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev, Jannik Sinner, Andrey Rublev, Alexander Zverev, Holger Rune, and Hubert Hurkacz, has received diverse reactions from tennis fans on the internet.
Fritz and Hurkacz, included in the illustration, failed to qualify for the year-end championships which will begin on Sunday, November 12, at Pala Alpitour in Turin, Italy. The Pole finished in the ninth position with 3,245 points with Fritz closely behind him managing 3,100 points in the qualification race.
The other eight players have already been divided into two quartets, namely the Green Group and the Red Group. Djokovic, Sinner, Tsitsipas, and Rune will vie for two semifinal spots from the Green Group under a round-robin format whereas Alcaraz, Medvedev, Sinner, and Rublev will compete amongst themselves in the Red Group.
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Ahead of the 2023 ATP Finals, the illustration posted by Tennis TV on X (formerly Twitter) is causing a buzz. The qualifying players can be spotted killing time inside an airport lobby with Fritz and Hurkacz being denied entry by the airport authority.
A section of tennis buffs on social media believed that the illustration was distasteful towards the two players who fell short.
"Hey, that’s a bit mean to Hubi & Taylor. The pic is cute though," a fan wrote.
Another fan chimed in saying:
"Most tasteless way of using the images of the two next in the Race they had prepared just in case."
One user noticed Tsitsipas holding a book titled 'Spanish Grammar' in his hands, which apparently is a reference to the Greek's girlfriend and WTA star Paula Badosa and wrote:
"Stef learning Spanish for Paula is cute in this ngl."
Here are a few more reactions from X (formerly Twitter):
Stefanos Tsitsipas to take on Jannik Sinner in 2023 ATP Finals opener
Stefanos Tsitsipas and Jannik Sinner will kickstart the 2023 ATP Finals proceedings in Turin on Sunday. It will be their eighth encounter to date, with the Greek maintaining a healthy lead of 5-2 in the head-to-head count.
The duo first played against each other in 2019 at the Italian Open. Tsitsipas clinched victory in straight sets without much resistance from the Italian in that instance. Sinner, however, settled accounts at the same tournament the following year.
The next four encounters, including the one at the 2023 Australian Open in Round of 16, went Stefanos Tsitsipas' way. Sinner registered his second win against the Greek recently at the Rotterdam Open this year and has been in excellent form coming into the year-end tournament in his home country.
