From November 10 to 16, I worked at the ATP Finals in Turin. This time everything started with a small personal surprise: I applied for accreditation as an independent freelancer for the first time and was almost sure I’d be rejected. Until now, I had always applied through major media outlets, and the approval came automatically. Now I was in a new status, with new uncertainty. That’s why receiving the approval email – without extra questions or checks – felt almost shockingly pleasant. Even annoyingly pleasant, as if the universe had said: “Fine, you may enter.” On the other hand, I had already worked this tournament twice before, and they knew me…

Most of the photographers at ATP Finals were Italians – it’s their home event, their familiar professional circle. But major agencies were present as well: Getty Images sent a photographer, Reuters did too. And Ray Giubilo was there – suddenly famous thanks to that iconic “mask” shot of Jasmine Paolini. Very small, very tidy photographer pool – no chaos, no crushing crowds. The organizers created a WhatsApp working group and shared key info there, like when and where Carlitos would be officially honored as year-end No. 1.

This is one of the reasons why the ATP Finals is almost a vacation for a photographer’s nervous system. None of the chaos you get in the opening rounds of a Grand Slam, when you run between dozens of courts trying to shoot as many main-draw players as possible. The quality of your images inevitably suffers.

Turin is different. One main court. One rhythm. You can finally focus on photography as a craft, not on sprinting after players.

If only it weren’t for the light.

The light that works against the photographer

The indoor court at Pala Alpitour remains one of the darkest and most difficult central courts to shoot in the entire tennis world. Theatrical, cold lighting hits the players from above; the stands fall into complete darkness; the color temperature jumps wildly. Blue, turquoise, cold white – all at once, all at different intensities.

Zoom lenses here are often useless – they simply can’t handle this lighting. Only fast primes save the day: bright, quick, wide open. And even they struggle.

You constantly walk a tightrope:

• raise ISO – you get grain and mush;

• lower ISO – everything turns into basement darkness;

• shutter below 1/2000 – the ball becomes a yellow comet;

• higher shutter – ISO shoots up again, and the circle continues.

In many ways, the ATP Finals test not only the players, but also the photographers – and the limits of modern technology.

What was shot and what remained

Over seven days in Turin, I took around 10,000 photos.I selected roughly 400 – only those that truly met the standard.The agency published about 200.

As part of this article, I will show 13 images:

– the 8 ATP Finals participants

– plus an additional separate set – the “Sincaraz” photos, befitting their status as the top names.

These seven days were more than work. They were a return to the environment where professionalism matters, where you feel the rhythm of the tour, where you can measure yourself against your colleagues. Turin became a reset once again – a reminder of why all this is worth doing.

Moments like these make you realize: yes, the light can be brutal, the equipment can struggle, your back can ache – but the feeling of being at the heart of world tennis is worth every effort.

All images © Sergey Vishnevskiy