Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos prepare for Turin | ATP Tour

Nitto ATP Finals

Granollers & Zeballos chase Turin’s elusive, year-end No. 1 title

The Spanish-Argentine enters the Nitto ATP Finals second in the PIF ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings

November 10, 2024

Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos are just one win away from claiming the Nitto ATP Finals in 2023. They were defeated in the final by Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury. One season later, the Spaniard and Argentine returned to Turin after an impressive 2024 season that took them to the top of the PIF ATP Doubles Team Rankings, where they could finish the season if things go well in Italy.

“We arrive here after a very good year,” explained Granollers on Saturday. “We’ve had good results in almost every competition we’ve played in. We’ve had a consistent year and getting here with these results gives us confidence,” he added. “We are playing well, we are training well and hopefully we will have a good tournament.”

Granollers and Zeballos, who will play their opening match on Sunday against Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten, have been doing very well all season, with a very well thought out plan.

“None of us are 20 years old”, said Granollers, 38. “We try to achieve that balance, to be fresh and hungry and to have a good mindset when important competitions come. If we look at the results we have had throughout the year, it has worked well for us. We have been able to make a plan that prioritizes the competitions big ones,” he added.

“I think if you look at yourself and do things the right way… we see a lot of doubles players who are our age, some even older, and they are able to play at a good level,” continued Granollers. “We don’t think about the next five years, we actually take things from year to year. We feel good, we play well, why not?”

The “why?” it was a guarantee that Granollers would continue to play in 2025, despite the fact that he was considering retiring at the end of this season. With two titles in 2024 (the ATP Masters 1000s in Rome and Canada) and three more finals (Auckland, Buenos Aires and Indian Wells), there is no shortage of reasons to keep going.

“This year has been very good and, finally, we are getting very good results,” continued Granollers. “Obviously that helps with the daily grind. Having said that, I hope we can do the same program next year, which means we did well. We are very motivated to have another good season.”

First though, of course, they’re on a mission to win Turin, and end the year at the top of the rankings while they’re at it.

“It would be nice, of course”, said Granollers. “We have been at the top for several months. It would be nice, but we are really focused on trying to play our tennis. We know that a good team here will achieve that, but we are taking it day by day. The competition is very difficult and we have to be at a high level.”