Turin doubles field eyes season-crowning triumphs
Eight elite pairs descend on Inalpi Arena, blending redemption quests, debut nerves, and a tight race for year-end No. 1 in the Nitto ATP Finals' intense group format.
On November 8, 2025, the Inalpi Arena in Turin pulsed with the subdued energy of anticipation as the top eight doubles teams assembled for media day. These partnerships, shaped by a year of tactical shifts across surfaces—from the high-bouncing clay of spring to the swift grass of summer—now confront the indoor hard courts' low trajectory and rapid pace, where every serve demands pinpoint placement and volleys reward aggressive net rushes. Storylines layer thickly: former champions guarding legacies, debutants testing mettle, runners-up seeking reversal, and rivals vying for ATP Year-End Doubles No. 1 presented by PIF honors in a round-robin that turns small edges into decisive outcomes.
Defenders draw on past glories
Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz, the 2024 titlists entering as sixth seeds, arrived with the quiet assurance of players who have navigated Turin's pressure cooker before. Their season's consistency—deep runs built on steady crosscourt exchanges and timely underspin slices to break opponents' baseline rhythms—secured this return, but the mental weight of repetition lingers in every practice rally. The Germans' familiarity with the arena's confines sharpens their focus on adapting one–two combinations to the surface's speed, where a mistimed poach could unravel hard-earned points.
"Very nice [to be back], of course," Krawietz told ATPTour.com in Turin. "I’ve got a lot of nice memories coming here. To practise here and see the guys and end up here in the top eight, that was our goal at the beginning of the season. We made it again, so let’s go to compete."
Puetz added: "I think we had a really consistent year doing really well in most tournaments. If you make it here, it’s just proof you’ve had a good year. It doesn’t matter where you are coming from or where you got the points, you must have got a lot of points. I feel really proud of being back."
In the Peter Fleming Group, they encounter diverse threats: Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool's maiden outing as top seeds, the 2024 finalists Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos' refined net approaches, and home favorites Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori, whose local backing could amplify every down-the-line winner into crowd-fueled momentum. The Italians' entrance captured that national fervor, turning heads with their poised arrival amid the media throng.
FORZA!! 🇮🇹
Italians @BolelliSimone and Andrea Vavassori make a grand entrance at the #NittoATPFinals doubles Media Day. pic.twitter.com/Aq46R7fbyE— ATP Tour (@atptour) November 8, 2025
Year-end chase intensifies rivalries
Cash and Glasspool hold a 1305-point lead in the PIF ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings over Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten, transforming group matches into pivotal battles where a single upset could shift the season's summit. The Britons' fluid style—deep inside-out forehands transitioning to net coverage—aligns with the indoor hard's demands, yet their recent Paris Masters final loss to the challengers exposed vulnerabilities in extended rallies. Heliovaara and Patten, fresh from that ATP Masters 1000 breakthrough, enter the John McEnroe Group with composed urgency, their serve-volley precision honed to exploit any falter from the leaders.
"It happened naturally, the 1000 win. I don’t think we felt that much pressure about it," said the Finn. "We had some semi-finals in the past and last week was the one when it was our turn to win. The [Nitto ATP Finals] does not come around as often, so I don’t know if there is extra pressure to win it because the next chance might never come. We are confident, feeling quite calm. We will play match by match and try our best."
This group also features Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic's lefty-righty synergy, ideal for disrupting crosscourt patterns with angled poaches, alongside Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski's return aggression, informed by Salisbury's back-to-back Turin titles with Rajeev Ram in 2022 and 2023. The all-American duo of Christian Harrison and Evan King stands as the field's sole fully debutant pair, one of five same-nation teams—the most since 2004—drawing from U.S. doubles heritage to counter veterans with flat-ground strokes and resilient defenses.
Redemption fuels final pushes
Arevalo and Pavic carry the sting of last year's championship match, a pair of tie-breaks that slipped away against Krawietz and Puetz, fueling a drive to seize those elusive points on Turin's slick deck. Their season's versatility—strong on grass with booming serves, adaptive on clay via spin variations—positions them to challenge the McEnroe Group's baselines, but the format's math demands flawless execution in every inside-in approach. Salisbury, a former No. 1 in the PIF ATP Doubles Rankings, exudes the event's unique thrill, his experience underscoring how the elite gathering sharpens tactical edges amid the arena's intimate roar.
"It’s great to be back," said Salisbury. "It’s always exciting coming back for the Tour finals. Obviously, it means you have had a great year. You get treated better than anywhere else and you are one of only eight teams, so it’s really special."
"It’s always the goal to be back in Turin," said Arevalo. "We were pretty close last year, because we lost the final in two tie-breaks, so a couple of points would have changed the whole history. We are happy. We had a great season last year and we are having a great season so far also this year, and this is just the cherry on top of the cake. Hopefully we can play well here again."
Harrison and King, unburdened by prior Finals scars, channel American legacy into their bid, their straight-line hitting poised to extend points and test volleys if they force errors from the net. King reflected on that storied past, noting how Stan Smith and Arthur Ashe's 1970 triumph adds inspirational weight without overwhelming their focus.
"I saw Stan Smith and Arthur Ashe won in 1970," said King when asked about the United States’ storied history in Nitto ATP Finals doubles. "I thought that was pretty sweet. Other than that we’re just trying to do us. If we could do some good stuff here, it would be sweet. Maybe if we did well enough, we would get picked for Davis Cup and that would be pretty cool, but we are just out here competing."
As practices echo through the arena, blending the sharp crack of serves with murmured strategies, these teams calibrate for the psychological tilts ahead—Bolelli and Vavassori harnessing home energy for bolder risks, Granollers and Zeballos refining patterns to redeem their finalist finish, and all pairs bracing for the indoor hard's unforgiving tempo. In this culminating clash, a well-timed slice or decisive poach could crown the season's defining partnership.
