LOS ANGELES, Nov. 10, 2021 – Tennis Channel’s live coverage of the 2021 Nitto ATP Finals – the annual year-end championships of the men’s tennis season – begins Sunday Nov. 14, at 5:30 a.m. ET, and runs through the event’s conclusion Sunday, Nov. 21. Led by World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, who came one win shy of becoming the first man since 1969 to win all four majors in the same calendar year, and No. 2 Daniil Medvedev, who defeated Djokovic in the US Open final to end the pursuit, the tournament field features the top points earners on the 2021 ATP Tour. The network will show every match live – more than 60 hours of tennis – with another 80 hours of encore coverage. All competition will be available on-demand on streaming service Tennis Channel Plus, with select matches live on the platform as well (live coverage is listed below).
Held at the Pala Alpitour in Turin, Italy, the country’s largest indoor facility, the ATP Finals is the most exclusive annual competition in men’s tennis. The event is only open to the eight players who have earned the most points during the 2021 season, and its round-robin format puts the year’s best against each other in every match, with participants separated into two groups of four and guaranteed three matches each. The top two in each group advance to the semifinals, and winners of those matches play for the coveted year-end title. The ATP Finals doubles tournament follows the same format, pitting best against best throughout the event.
Tennis Channel’s typical daily live schedule features a doubles match at 5:30 a.m. ET, singles match at 8 a.m. ET, doubles match at 12:30 p.m. ET and singles match at 3 p.m. ET. These matches are part of round-robin play Sunday, Nov. 14 through Friday, Nov. 19. On Saturday, Nov. 20, the schedule remains but the matches will be semifinals for the doubles and singles tournaments, respectively. Championship Sunday, Nov. 21, will see the season-ending doubles title match begin at 8:30 a.m. ET, followed by the singles final at 11 a.m. ET.
Hall of Famer Jim Courier, who as a player reached the finals of the event in 1991 and 1992, will offer in-depth analysis during Tennis Channel’s coverage of the 2021 ATP Finals. Emmy Award-winning announcer and network mainstay Brett Haber (@BrettHaber) will call matches for the channel. Former player Prakash Amritraj (@PrakashAmritraj) will join host Dani Klupenger (@daniklup) at the network’s stadium desk. Amritraj and Klupenger appeared at every Masters 1000 tournament during the men’s tennis season this year.
Streaming service Tennis Channel Plus will offer live ATP Finals singles matches in the 3 p.m. ET window during the first three days of the tournament, Sunday-Tuesday, Nov. 14-16.
Djokovic, who is tied for the men’s-record 20 major singles titles with fellow greats Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, had a year for the ages, winning three of the sport’s four majors and coming one victory shy of completing the Calendar Slam at the US Open in September. In the final of that event he lost to Medvedev, an opponent he had defeated earlier in the year in the Australian Open championship. This past Sunday, Nov. 7, Djokovic and Medvedev renewed their budding rivalry at the Rolex Paris Masters final in France, with Djokovic dropping the first set before rallying to take the second and third sets in a thrilling, hard-fought championship. As the world’s two top-ranked players, Djokovic and Medvedev will be in opposite groups at the ATP Finals, and will not meet before the semifinals or finals, should they advance.
They will be joined by six of the best singles players in the world: Alexander Zverev (World No. 3), Stefanos Tsitsipas (No. 4), Andrey Rublev (No. 5), Matteo Berrettini (No. 6), Hubert Hurkacz (No. 7) and Casper Ruud (No. 8).
The doubles field is no less impressive. All four of 2021’s major championship teams will be present: Filip Polasek/Ivan Dodig (Doubles World No. 8 and 13, respectively – Australian Open winners), Nicolas Mahut/Pierre-Hugues Herbert (No. 7 and 9 – French Open winners), Mate Pavic/Nikola Mektic (No. 1 and 2 – Wimbledon winners) and Joe Salisbury/Rajeev Ram (No. 3 and 4 – US Open winners). The other four teams are: Horacio Zeballos/Marcel Granollers (No. 5 and 6), Juan Sebastian Cabal/Robert Farah (Tied for No. 10), Kevin Krawietz/Horia Tecau (No. 14 and 19) and Bruno Soares/Jamie Murray (No. 16 and 17).
