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Preamble

The typical complications of tournament pool play mean by this stage of the ATP World Tour Finals viewers are commonly scratching our heads, scrambling about for a mathematical tool and attempting to calculate the mind-boggling qualification scenarios. But tonight’s match between Zverev and Auger-Aliassime, fortunately, is easy. It's a direct elimination: the successful player earns a semi-final contest against Carlos Alcaraz at this season-ending event; the defeated player is eliminated.

Zverev is the predicted winner for this: the world No 3 is the more experienced competitor, has previously won at this event on two prior occasions and is ahead in their direct encounters with six victories against three defeats, having won both their past encounters on an enclosed hard court.

But … this is the surface on which Felix has secured most of his championships, he’s riding a high after his compelling comeback against Shelton on midweek and he eliminated the German in the US Championships third round in August. Plus, the playing speed is higher in Turin than at Flushing Meadows, which is even more beneficial in Auger-Aliassime's favour.

Should Zverev be cautious, like he was against Sinner, and Felix aggressively challenges the German with his stinging serves and fearless play, there is a strong chance the North American athlete – the earlier standout who was previously positioned in front of the Spanish and Italian stars to take over from the tennis icons – who earns the questionable privilege of competing with the world No 1 on Saturday.

The match starts: at about 8.30pm local time, 7:30 PM in the UK.