Turin Braced for a Star-Studded Sporting November Beyond the Football

The shadows of Italian football giants loom large over Turin, but this wonderful city has more than just calcio on its sporting calendar.

Some of the biggest names on the planet are in Piedmont this month, with rugby and tennis stars taking a share of the spotlight away from Juventus and Torino.

Juve’s home, the Allianz Stadium, is the venue for the first of Italy’s three Nations Championship matches when South Africa arrive on November 7. The Azzurri also play in Genoa and Udine.

The Springboks, four-time world champions, including the last two editions of the tournament, won 32-14 at the same venue 12 months ago. Top of the Southern Hemisphere pool, they have lost just once in 19 meetings with Italy and arrive in Turin as firm favourites to return to winning ways after losing to Australia at the end of September.

A week later, from November 15-22, Turin will host the ATP Finals for the sixth consecutive year. World No 2 Jannik Sinner has been denied a run at a third straight victory in this event as he is sidelined with a knee injury, meaning Roma fan Flavio Cobolli, the world’s sixth-ranked player, will be flying the home flag.

Cobolli will be joined at the Inalpi Arena by Alexander Zverev, Carlos Alcaraz, Ben Shelton and Daniil Medvedev, while Novak Djokovic is hoping to qualify at the Paris Masters.

Torino fans will know the Inalpi Arena as it sits next to the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino. The 16,000-seat arena was built for the 2006 Winter Olympics and hosted ice hockey at the Games. It is also used for basketball and volleyball, while huge artists such as Madonna, U2, Bob Dylan and Rihanna have performed concerts there.

Of course, in Turin, there’s always the football. Il Toro are at home twice this month, taking on Lecce on November 7 and high-flying Lazio on November 28.

Juve also have a couple of home games to look forward to, with Venezia arriving at the Allianz Stadium on Serie A duty on November 22 before Cypriot outfit Omonoia provide the opposition in the Europa League four days later. With 36 league titles and 15 Coppa Italia victories, they are by far the country’s most successful club.

Tickets for Italy vs South Africa and the ATP Finals were still available in the first week of November, while our club pages have all the information on how to get tickets for Juventus and Torino.