World No. 1 Janik Sinner has said that the ATP finals will be extra special for him this year as it gives him a chance to play the mega tournament on his home soil in Italy. He had missed the Italian Open in Rome due to a hip injury.

The ATP Finals will be featuring the top-eight singles players and doubles teams in the world. It is being held at the Inalpi Arena in Turin from November 10-17.

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“Many things make (this tournament) special,” Sinner told ATP Media on Thursday.

“First of all, being an Italian and playing in Italy. I haven’t played in Italy this year, because I missed Rome. That was a really tough one, but I am even more excited and happy to be here.

“The atmosphere is just amazing… I’m just happy to be back here and hopefully I can show some good tennis.”

Sinner will begin his ATP finals campaign on Sunday evening, taking on tournament debutant Alex de Minaur, before facing former U.S. Open champion Daniil Medvedev and American Taylor Fritz.

“(De Minaur) is a very solid, very fast mover (with) a great mentality. You have to win every point somehow. He is not going to give it to you, so you have to go for it,” said Sinner.

“(Medvedev) is changing his game style a little bit so he’s even more dangerous to play. He has been one of my key points in evolving myself as a player, because I struggled a lot to beat him. Now, every match is quite open, you never know what’s going to happen.

“Taylor Fritz, I might know slightly less, because we haven’t had so many encounters yet. But he is an amazing server, hitting the ball very strong. He has improved a lot in the last two years, starting with the serve and returning very well.”

Sinner could face rival and four-times Grand Slam winner Carlos Alcaraz in the knockout stage of the tournament if both players make it through the group matches.

(With Reuters inputs)