Having dug in early on to stay with Federer, Nishikori ended up running away with the match to inflict a first straight sets defeat in the ATP Finals round-robin stages on the 20-time Grand Slam champion.
The Monte Carlo Masters begins on Sunday. Nadal has won the event a record 11 times, with his last victory coming in 2018.
Andrea Binaghi, who has headed the Italian tennis federation (FITP) since 2001, pointed to reforms over the last 10-15 years to decentralise the coaching system and offer more financial, technical and psychological support to young talent.
The 36-year-old was given a thorough workout by Sock although had he been a little more clinical the scoreline would have been more heavily-weighted in his favour.
A mouthwatering finale to the season ended before it even began on Sunday when Roger Federer was forced to pull out prior to the ATP World Tour Final showdown with Novak Djokovic.
Former Australian player Brad Drewett was named on Thursday as the new head of the men's governing tennis body the ATP.
Djokovic's sixth trophy this season helped him to extend his lead over the second-ranked Carlos Alcaraz in the race to the year-end number one spot
Ronaldo got involved in ball kid duties while watching world number one Novak Djokovic's opening match against John Isner of America as the tennis ball bounced into the stands near the first row where he was sitting.
Britain number one Andy Murray has overtaken 14-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal to claim the third spot in the ATP world rankings.
Rublev came into the tournament on a four-match losing streak, but has eased into the final, knocking out second seed Carlos Alcaraz on the way, and will face unseeded Canadian Auger-Aliassime for the title on Sunday.
Riding on his sizzling performance in the Japan Open, Leander Paes is once again knocking the doors of the top-five zone as he gained two spots to be placed sixth in the ATP doubles world rankings, issued on Monday. Paes and Lukas Dlouhy reached the final of the Japan Open last week but lost the summit clash, missing out on the opportunity to pocket back-to-back ATP titles.
Indian Davis Cupper Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles cruised into the finals of the euro 891,000 ATP Swiss Indoor tournament, defeating Argentine pair Jose Acasuso and Agustin Calleri in straight sets in Basel on Saturday.
The ATP had fined him US$106,000 for failing to attend an interview. The world no 1 says he has been defamed and wants the fine dropped.
The opening match in the Pete Sampras Group produced a feast of stylish backhands from both players but it was Dimitrov, the first Bulgarian to qualify for the tournament in its 48-year-old history, who overcome some late jitters to prevail.
The ATP launched a novel advertising campaign to promote the game at all its tournament sites.
Sumit Nagal had to be content with a runner-up finish at the ATP Tulln Challenger event after losing the singles title clash in straight sets to Czech Republic's Vit Kopriva, in Tulln on Sunday.
The win at the Chennai Open challenger event on Sunday pushed Nagal to 98th in the latest singles rankings.
Carlos sought tranquility in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, accompanied by his brother Alvaro and friends.
Bopanna also spoke about the challenging conditions at the Australian Open and having to push his boundaries to get them wins.
The victory saw him move up by three places to stand only behind Spain's Rafael Nadal and Swiss star Roger Federer.
Novak Djokovic's tremendous run of form since the start of the year means the Serb has already booked his spot at the ATP World Tour finals in London.
Djokovic did not drop a set en route to the final in Rome
Spain's Rafael Nadal said on Wednesday that he is not sure if he will be able to play at next month's French Open.
The former Wimbledon champion has decided to take on the tournament director's role at next year's World Indoor tournament.
Croatia's Ivo Karlovic became the oldest ATP winner since Jimmy Connors in 1989.
Teenager Kei Nishikori became the first Japanese to reach an ATP final at the Delray Beach International.
Bopanna had scripted history in March to become the oldest ATP Masters 1000 champion when he and Ebden won the BNP Paribas Open.
India's Mahesh Bhupathi on Monday advanced to the second round of the ATP World Tours Finals after he and his partner Max Mirnyi defeated Lukasz Kubot and Oliver Marach in straight sets at London.
The duo lost their second round men's doubles match to Marcelo Arevalo of El Salvador and Mate Pavic of Croatia at the Australian Open.
Factbox on Carlos Alcaraz, who beat seven-time champion Novak Djokovic
At the Hong Kong Tennis Open, top-seeded Andrey Rublev of Russia pocketed his 15th career title with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Finland's Emil Ruusuvuori.
Roger Federer rediscovered his verve in the nick of time to outclass Austrian Dominic Thiem 6-2, 6-3, on Tuesday, and maintain his hopes of reaching the last four at the ATP Finals.
American twins Bob and Mike Bryan underlined their status as the best doubles pair in the world as they claimed the ATP Tour Finals title for the fourth time on Sunday.
Chess great Magnus Carlsen is launching a world Freestyle Chess tour as the variant of the game, also known as Chess960, is gaining in popularity, the world number one announced on Friday.
Rafael Nadal once again hit out at the crammed ATP calendar and blamed the "poor" scheduling for his decision not to defend his Barcelona Open title this week.
The early exit from Chennai Open cost Somdev Devvarman 35 places as the wiry Indian dropped to 161 in the latest ATP singles ranking issued on Monday.
Zverev has consistently denied all the allegations.
Sweden's Robin Soderling will replace Andy Roddick in the ATP World Tour finals after the American pulled out with a knee injury on Tuesday.
A resurgent Yuki Bhambri won the first ever ATP Challenger singles title of his career after scoring a facile straight-set win over Israeli fourth seed Amir Weintraub in Fergana, Uzbekistan on Sunday.
The organisers of the men's tour will unveil a partnership deal with a pharmaceutical giant on Tuesday to provide approved nutritional supplements to players next season.\n
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