Tennis News

Scouting Report: 10 Things To Watch At The Nitto ATP Finals

The Nitto ATP Finals is set to begin, with the eight best singles players and doubles teams in the world competing at The O2 in London for the final time before the event moves to Turin, Italy next year.

Five-time champion Novak Djokovic leads Group Tokyo 1970 and World No. 2 Rafael Nadal tops Group London 2020 for the event’s 50th Anniversary edition. ATPTour.com looks at 10 things to watch during the season finale.

Listen To The Latest ATP Podcast:

1) Year-End No. 1 Djokovic Chasing Another Record: Djokovic will be honoured on Sunday for his record-tying sixth year-end No. 1 finish in the FedEx ATP Rankings, tying Pete Sampras’ mark. The Serbian will then turn his attention to reaching another record: Roger Federer’s six Nitto ATP Finals trophies. Djokovic has triumphed at the season finale five times, lifting the trophy in 2008 in Shanghai and from 2012-15 in London. The top seed owns a 36-14 at the tournament.

2) Nadal’s Title Pursuit: Will Nadal break through and capture his first Nitto ATP Finals title? The Spaniard has qualified for the event a record 16 times, and he reached the championship match in 2010 and 2013. The 34-year-old is bidding to become the oldest champion in tournament history. The lefty is on a 69-match winning streak when he takes the first set, dating back to Acapulco in 2019.

3) Another Run For Thiem? Last year at The O2, Dominic Thiem defeated Federer and Novak Djokovic in group play en route to reaching the championship match at the season finale. This year, he won his first Grand Slam title at the US Open. Will this be the year the 27-year-old emerges victorious at the Nitto ATP Finals? Thiem is making an Austrian record fifth singles appearance (2016-20) and his streak of five consecutive appearances in the event is the longest active streak.

4) Medvedev’s Magic: Daniil Medvedev made his Nitto ATP Finals debut last year at The O2, going 0-3 in group play. This year, however, the 24-year-old arrives in London with much more momentum. He claimed his third Masters 1000 title last week at the Rolex Paris Masters. Three players who have made winless debuts at the season finale have gone on to capture the title: Djokovic, Michael Stich and Stefan Edberg. Medvedev is the first Russian to compete in this event in consecutive seasons since Davydenko, who played it five straight years from 2005-09.

5) Zverev Former Champ: Alexander Zverev is one of three former tournament champions in the field. In 2018, he won the biggest title of his career at The O2. The third German Nitto ATP Finals champion is the only player to earn wins against Djokovic, Federer and Nadal at the season finale. He is only the third player to beat the ‘Big Three’ at a single tournament (Nalbandian in Madrid, Murray in Toronto). Zverev recently won back-to-back titles in Cologne and reached the Paris final. He also made his first major championship match at the US Open.

6) Tsitsipas Soaring: One year ago, Stefanos Tsitsipas became the first Next Gen ATP Finals titlist to lift the Nitto ATP Finals trophy. He was also the tournament’s youngest champion since 20-year-old Lleyton Hewitt in 2001. The Greek star will now try to become the first player to defend this title since Djokovic four-peated from 2012-15. Tsitsipas reached his second Grand Slam semi-final at Roland Garros, where he pushed Djokovic to five sets.

Read Media Day Features
What Nadal Hopes To Change In London
Thiem: ‘Maybe I’m Even More Comfortable On A Hard Court’
Medvedev Finds His Mojo: ‘I’m In My Best Shape’
Zverev: ‘Everybody’s Looking Forward To Playing Novak’

7) Schwartzman Shining: The last player to qualify for this year’s season finale was Diego Schwartzman, who accomplished the feat during the Rolex Paris Masters. The Argentine, who is making his tournament debut, is the first South American to compete in the event since Juan Martin del Potro in 2013. According to Infosys ATP Scores & Stats, Schwartzman ranks second on the ATP Tour in return games won this year (36.38%). He only trails the top player in that category, Rafael Nadal, by one-hundredth of a percentage point (36.39%).

8) Red-Hot Rublev: Perhaps nobody in London will be as confident as Andrey Rublev, who leads the ATP Tour in titles (5) and wins (40). Rublev and Medvedev are the second Russian duo to compete in the tournament in the same year, joining Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Marat Safin (2000). Rublev, who played in the Next Gen ATP Finals twice, can become the third consecutive #NextGenATP alum (Zverev, Tsitsipas) to win the Nitto ATP Finals. 

9) First-Time Doubles Team Champion: There will be a first-time doubles champion at this year’s Nitto ATP Finals. However, two players in the field have previously triumphed at The O2: John Peers (who is playing with Michael Venus) and Marcel Granollers (who is competing with Horacio Zeballos). The top seeds are Mate Pavic and Bruno Soares, who claimed their first Grand Slam title as a team at the US Open.

10) Farewell, London: This is the 12th and final edition of the Nitto ATP Finals being held at The O2. The only other city that has had the event for a longer period was New York City, which hosted the tournament at Madison Square Garden from 1977-89. There have been seven different singles winners in London, three of whom (Djokovic, Zverev and Tsitsipas) are in this year’s field. Next Year, the tournament moves to Turin.

– Research contributed by Joshua Rey.

Source link

First-Time Winner Spotlight: Jannik Sinner

19-year-old Jannik Sinner arrived at the Sofia Open unseeded, but by no means under the radar after a breakthrough season made last year’s Next Gen ATP Finals champion one to watch in 2020.

The youngest ATP Tour titlist since 2008 captured his maiden trophy after a hard-fought week in Bulgaria, coming back from a set down to third-seeded Alex de Minaur in the quarter-finals – a rematch of their 2019 Milan final. Sinner backed it up with a straight sets win over fifth-seeded Adrian Mannarino in the final four, before ending the week with a statement 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(3) victory over Vasek Pospisil to claim the title.

Already the youngest player in the Top 100 of the FedEx ATP Rankings, Sinner’s victory will boost him to a new career-high of No. 37 on Monday – but Sinner said that’s just the beginning.

ATPTour.com caught up with the Italian after his victory to talk about his week in Sofia, why he left behind the skis and slopes, and the key figures who helped him on his way to his first ATP Tour crown.

What does it mean to you to win your first ATP Tour title?
Well, it means a lot. It’s a great result for me, with a lot of work behind it. I guess it’s something special for me, like winning last year [at the Next Gen ATP Finals] in Milan and now winning here in almost the same week as last year. Winning my first title here is a great feeling.

Just 12 months ago, you captured the Next Gen ATP Finals trophy as the No. 95 player in the FedEx ATP Rankings. Now you are inside the Top 50 and an ATP Tour titlist. How happy are you with your progress over the past 12 months to reach this point?
It’s a great progress of hard work. I have a great team behind me. I’m very excited about this result because sometimes you need them; obviously you’re working hard, so sometimes a result [like this] is good and great to see. 

I mean, it’s a great progress, but there’s still a lot of work to do. We will see in a few years where I am, but I think right now I’m very happy about the title this win. 

You ended 2019 with back-to-back trophies in Milan and at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Ortisei. You are ending 2020 with your first ATP Tour title. How much motivation did your finish to 2019 give you when you were preparing for this season and will this win today give you an extra boost of confidence when you start training for 2021?
Obviously the confidence is good when you play tournament after tournament. Now the season is finished, so it’s a little bit different. I’m trying to play better next year in Australia, this year I didn’t play that well there. But it was a little bit different for me because it was my first year in Australia and everything. Next year I will go there with a little bit more confidence, obviously, knowing a little bit more what to expect. 

During the ATP Tour suspension, you created the Sinner Pizza Challenge to raise funds for Italian medical supplies and you also donated to Cesvi, to aid medical emergencies in Bergamo. How important is it for you to use your platform and position to help those in need back home?
Well I think at the moment, it’s more important to be healthy and to try to see the world a little bit better. I mean, now with the virus the situation is difficult for everyone, and I wanted to help because Bergamo was in a very bad situation. It was…. it was just insane. And I just wanted to help, even if it’s not a lot. But you know, making [the doctors, nurses and first responders] feel a little bit like we wanted to help them. For me, basically it was very important, not only for me and my family but for everyone in Bergamo to stay healthy. 

I think it was a nice and different way to do it. It was my idea along with my management team Starwing Sports. I think it was nice to help them, and obviously the more money there is, the more I wanted to help. So I think it was nice from our side. 

Could you take a moment to acknowledge some of the key figures in your life and career who have helped you to reach this milestone?
Well, I think first of all, my family who always helped me and gave me the confidence to actually change my life when I was 13-and-a-half, 14 years old. I was going away from home, leaving other sports and leaving behind other huge friends, which I unfortunately can’t see them that much anymore even now. And there everything started, with a team behind you. Riccardo was always there, and starting from all different coaches who wanted to help you. If I name all the coaches, it’s going to be really long. But I think the main person was Riccardo helping me. 

Now I have a fixed team behind me with Claudio Zimaglia, my physio, Dalibor Sirola is my fitness coach, and then I have Riccardo, [my second coach] Andrea Volpini, and here this week we had Cristian Brandi [another Piatti coach]. So you know, a great team. Everyone is a little bit different, which I like. Being always with the same kind of person is tough as well. I think it’s nice to have them, and I feel a little bit lucky as well.

As a child you were a champion skier. Can you tell us about your skiing success and how you came to the decision to leave that sport behind and pursue a career in tennis? 
Well, I was skiing because in our part of Italy, skiing is the first sport you actually do. I started to win in that sport quite early; I felt great on my skis and I always wanted to ski every day. Tennis was like my third sport, because the second one was playing football. I always liked to play in a group with everybody, but at some point I decided to put that away because I noticed that I always wanted to make the decisions, and sometimes that doesn’t work when you play on a team. 

And skiing, I always won quite a lot in skiing actually, but at some point I decided to play tennis because it’s more like ‘playing’. Skiing is just, you’re going downhill in one and a half minutes as fast as possible, and if you make one mistake you’re out. In tennis, if you make one mistake, you can still play like two and a half hours with no problem. So that was the main reason.

At the end of the season, you have more time to celebrate winning a title than usual. How will you celebrate this tournament victory?
First of all, I hope to come home safely! And then we’ll see. I mean, if I’m lucky I want to go home and see my parents for a little bit, but I’m not sure if that’s going to work or not because of the virus and the ‘red zones’. 

Maybe I will take two days off and see. I think we’re going to start working quite early for the off-season, which I’m really looking forward to because it’s hard work for next year already. I want to do that and I want to improve, and we will see how well it goes next season.

Source link

Nitto ATP Finals To Feature Electronic Line-Calling & Video Review For First Time

This month’s Nitto ATP Finals will feature Electronic Line-Calling and Video Review for the first time in tournament history, when the world’s best players compete at The O2 in London from 15-22 November.

The lines will be called electronically by Hawkeye Live — there won’t be line judges this year — and a chair umpire will oversee the action. Players will be able to request Video Review for suspected not-ups, foul shots, touches and other reviewable calls.

“Innovation and technology have always played a central part in the success of Nitto ATP Finals, and we’re pleased to be incorporating Electronic Line Calling and Video Review in our 12th and final year in London. And for different reasons, this year also provided the right opportunity for us to use it due to the challenges we’re facing with COVID-19,” ATP Chief Tour Officer Ross Hutchins said. “We believe it’s the right time to use and because of the restrictions that are in place in London, and specifically to tennis with interaction between players and officials.”

“We’re proud of how this event has set the benchmark in recent years in terms of the presentation of the sport, particularly in a dynamic indoor environment, and that continues to be our goal as we make enhancements year on year.”

The inclusion of Electronic Line-Calling and Video Review at the season finale does not necessarily mean that the future of tennis officiating will go down a more technological route, but, to date, Electronic Line-Calling and Video Review have proven effective and been well-received by the players and fans alike.

“I think that when you look at what it actually does bring, it’s able to give a fairer outcome and enhance the integrity of the game. It’s also dynamic and keeps up the pace of play,” Hutchins said. “Why would we not look at embracing new technology, which can bring that value to the sport and ultimately ensures optimal accuracy of officiating for the players?”

The ATP has continued to innovate in recent years, creating two new tournaments — the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan and the ATP Cup in Australia — and ushering in technological innovations at both.

There is one difference between Video Review at the Nitto ATP Finals and the ATP Cup, where it was used in January. Since there will be no line judges at The O2 due to COVID-19 protocols and Electronic Line-Calling will be in use, Video Review cannot challenge whether a ball is in or out.

“We’ve seen the technology works. We’ve used it successfully at the ATP Cup in 2020, as well as at the Next Gen ATP Finals for the past couple of years, and we look forward to seeing it integrated into our crown jewel event in London,” Hutchins said.

There have also been off-court advances in the data and analytics fields to support coaching products, and new reports to help players and their teams improve their performance. These include detailed match analysis for coaches as well as platforms like the Infosys Second Screen.

“We worked with Infosys last year off the court with the coaches’ platform. I think it’s good to show that it’s not just all about on-court innovation; we also do a lot of things off court,” Hutchins said.

Source link

Light It Up: Why The Nitto ATP Finals Still Shines Bright

Light It Up: Why The Nitto ATP Finals Still Shines Bright

Source link

Preview: Rublev Ready To Rumble Against Nadal

With his shaggy, rock-star hair that nearly obscures his vision, Andrey Rublev doesn’t look like a boxer. But he trains and fights like one.

His father, Andrey Sr., was a boxer in the Soviet Union and the younger Rublev dabbled in the sport in his youth and still frequently trains in a boxing gym. But the more his father exposed him to boxing, the more he realized that he preferred tennis, a sport with many similarities to boxing but one very notable bonus. “Nobody is going to punch you in the face on a tennis court,” Rublev said earlier this year.

In his opening match Sunday evening at the Nitto ATP Finals, Rublev will strike blows with racquets, not gloves, but he’ll be in for a street fight nevertheless against Rafael Nadal, who gives away points about as willingly as a Pit bull relinquishes a juicy bone.

Ranked No. 8 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, the 23-year-old Russian would appear to be an underdog against Nadal, a tennis goliath who recently notched his 1,000th career win at the Rolex Paris Masters. Rublev does the sign of the cross when he wins, but he has much more than just a prayer of making it out of Group London 2020.

He charges into the event with a burst of momentum after racking up a 40-8 record on the Tour this season with five titles, including wins in Doha, Adelaide, Hamburg, St. Petersburg, and Vienna. He’s 3-3 this season when facing Top 10 opponents, including wins against Dominic Thiem and Stefanos Tsitsipas, both of whom will tangle with him in Group London 2020.

Nadal and Rublev have squared off just once before—a three set demolition derby for the Mallorcan at the US Open in 2017. But Rublev version 2020 isn’t the same product as Rublev 2017, and indoor courts are Nadal’s least favourite stomping grounds. The brawny Spanish southpaw has never won the Nitto ATP Finals and has taken just two career titles indoors. He was asked about why he has struggled at times under the lights at media day on Friday.

“We can find excuses or reasons but, at the end of the day, the numbers are the numbers,” said Nadal, 34. “I think I played less indoors than on the other surfaces, without a doubt… The indoor surfaces have not been the ideal surfaces for my tennis game since the beginning of my career.”

But before you cue the sad violin music for poor Rafa, consider the fact that the Manacor native has qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals a record sixteen consecutive seasons. Still, he has a surprisingly pedestrian — by his insane standards — 18-14 career record at the tournament. Last year, he beat Daniil Medvedev and eventual champ Stefanos Tsitsipas in thrilling three-setters, but a poor showing in his 6-2, 6-4 loss to Alexander Zverev in his opening match doomed his chances to advance to the final four.

Nadal has made it to the final of the ATP Tour’s season finale twice, losing to Roger Federer in 2010 and to Novak Djokovic in 2013. But the Spaniard is bullish on his recent indoor form. He made it to the semi-finals indoors in Paris this month, where he lost a close match to Zverev. And last year, he led Spain to a Davis Cup win indoors over Canada.

”I think I am able to play a little better in the past couple of years indoors than I did at the beginning of my tennis career, without a doubt, but [these are] the numbers,” said Nadal. “I can’t say something different. I hope to change that this week.”

Rublev, who’ll be playing in the event for the first time, lives in Moscow, where his parents own a restaurant. Dominic Thiem suggested on media day that the lack of fans at The O2 might take some pressure off of Rublev and Schwartzman, the event’s debutants. But Rubles, as Brad Gilbert and others call him, begged to differ.

“Of course, I am feeling nervous,” he admitted on Friday. “It is my first time. You are with all the best players here and of course, you feel nervous. This is a normal thing because we are all humans… This is the moment we are playing for and we are working for.”

Rublev grew up revering both Nadal and Federer, so facing one of his idols at The O2, even without fans, will be a huge occasion for him.

“[Nadal] is one of the best players in the history of tennis, so I have nothing to lose,” he said. “I’ll go there to enjoy. All the pressure will be on him and in the end, we will see what is going to happen.”

Nadal may not have excelled at this tournament in the past, after all, he’s a beast who prefers the great outdoors, but this year has been like no other. Rafa played 65 matches in 2019 but just 30 so far this year, so his body should be fresher than usual. And can anyone doubt that a superstitious, some would say obsessive-compulsive man like Nadal isn’t extra motivated to place the one big trophy that’s eluded him in his museum in Manacor? In any case, it’ll be a fight featuring youth and momentum versus tenacity and experience.

Source link

Pavic/Soares Lead Eight-Team Tilt For Year-End No. 1 At Nitto ATP Finals

In one of the most thrilling finishes to an ATP Tour doubles season, all eight teams mathematically have a shot at finishing 2020 at year-end No. 1 in the FedEx ATP Doubles Team Rankings with strong performances at the Nitto ATP Finals.

Mate Pavic and Bruno Soares (3,385 points) currently lead the battle on the eve of the Nitto ATP Finals, which is being held at The O2 in London, with a slender 35-point advantage over second-placed Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury (3,350). Roland Garros titlists Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies are in third position on 2,910 points.

“It’s pretty special to come into the event in this position,” Soares told ATPTour.com on Saturday. “You don’t need any extra motivation to play this tournament, but for us it’s a good feeling. Because of a shortened season this year, it brings an extra edge to London and right now we’re ahead of the pack, but we need to perform and finish strong.

“We’ve had a great couple of months after the break and it’s been pretty awesome for us. Every match will be a 50/50 here, and when you go onto court there is a lot experience [in every team], so it should be really interesting.”

Pavic and Soares captured the US Open crown (d. Koolhof/Mektic) in September and also reached finals at Roland Garros (l. to Krawietz/Mies) and Rolex Paris Masters (l. to Auger-Aliassime/Hurkacz).

Ram, who partnered Salisbury to the Australian Open crown in January, told ATPTour.com, “It was one of our goals at the beginning of the year to win a Grand Slam and also win this tournament, which would mean we’d be in contention for year-end No. 1. It’s been a strange year, and we’ve missed a big portion of it, but it’s a big motivating factor in this event.”

Potentially, the final doubles match of the 2020 season on 22 November, could come down to a clash for year-end No. 1. It last happened on 16 November 2008, when Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic beat Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan 7-6(3), 6-2 to win the season finale, when the event was held in Shanghai, China.

Four years ago, Andy Murray memorably won a winner-takes-all 2016 singles title match at The O2 in London against Novak Djokovic to claim the Nitto ATP Finals crown and also year-end No. 1 in the FedEx ATP Rankings.

The Nitto ATP Finals, which is celebrating its 50-year anniversary, has long been a showcase for world-class doubles, playing in front of crowds of 17,500 spectators at The O2 in London. Two hundred points are available for a round-robin match win, 400 points for a semi-final victory and 500 points for the title. Should a team go undefeated across five matches, they will earn 1,500 points.

“It’s an extra special event for the doubles guys, playing every match on this incredible court,” Salisbury told ATPTour.com. “Having the best eight teams in the world makes it special being here.”

“It’s the biggest showcase for doubles of the year,” said Soares. “It’s more than a tennis tournament, it’s a show with one court. Very different from the five or six courts in use at other tournaments. Everyone is paying close attention to matches.”

Source link

Preview: Thiem, Tsitsipas Prepared For Another London Thriller

The first time Stefanos Tsitsipas took the court against Dominic Thiem at The O2, he was an 18-year-old kid who had yet to grow out his now signature haircut or grow into his lanky body. He had been invited to the 2016 Nitto ATP Finals as a sparring partner by virtue of his junior No. 1 ranking. Last year, they faced each other again in the final of the tournament, a barnburner won by the Greek in a third set tie-break.

As Thiem sailed a forehand wide on match point, Stefanos dropped his racquet, sank to his knees and put his head down against the court as if to bless it, as jubilant Greek fans waved their country’s blue and white flag in the stands. It was an emotional moment for a guy who as a boy would wake his parents up in the middle of the night to tell them he wanted to be a tennis player when he grew up. The riveting match was a coming-out party for Tsitsipas and the start of what looks like one of tennis’ next great rivalries.

It’s fitting that the next chapter in their tennis saga will take place on the same court Sunday, as the tournament’s opening singles act. “We [have] known each other for a long time,” said Tsitsipas, 22, on Friday. “We are good friends, on and off the court. He has contributed a lot to my success, and he has inspired me in many ways.”

2020 has been a breakthrough season for Thiem, who won his first major at the US Open in September. Tsitsipas has also been sensational at times, but it was also a bit of an up and down season for him on balance. Obstacles of varying shapes and sizes have gotten in the way of his tennis at times, including a big lug of a Labrador retriever named Bruno who refused to get off his practice court in the Hamptons this summer, as he chronicled on his YouTube channel, which has gone quiet in recent months.

The Greek heartthrob has also run into a dry patch on the court of late, losing in his first match at the Rolex Paris Masters in a third set tie-break, and in the second round to Grigor Dimitrov at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna. But Stefanos is still a solid 28-12 this season, compared to 22-7 for Thiem. The Greek man Fabio Fognini calls the “Jesus Christ of tennis” took Novak Djokovic to a fifth set in the Roland Garros semi-finals, won an ATP 250 title in Marseille, and was a finalist in Hamburg and Dubai.

Aside from his triumph in New York, Thiem also took Djokovic to a fifth set in the final of the Australian Open. The Austrian said he’ll need to be sharp on Sunday to have any chance of advancing.

“In most of the other tournaments you at least have a little bit of time to get in shape, to get used to the conditions [and] everything,” said Thiem, 27, who is ranked No. 3. “But here it starts 100 per cent from the first point. It’s only matches between Top 10 players. This year all eight players are in good form, everybody is healthy as well because the season was not too long.”

Hopefully Thiem is correct on the health front, but Stefanos still has a nagging leg injury he’s dealing with.

“I’m happy that I’m able to move more freely and [be] less conscious of my pain,” said Tsitsipas, who is ranked No. 6 in the FedEx ATP Rankings. “So it’s a positive feedback, and a positive thing to have, [because] this injury kind of mentally drained me. I was not quite sure if it’s the right thing to do, to keep playing, but I proved that the mind can do anything if you set yourself a goal and you want to pursue it. Right now, I’m feeling way, way better than I did in Vienna. I hope my leg stays the same.”

Thiem leads their ATP Head2Head series 4-3, but Tsitsipas won the only match contested indoors, last year at The O2. The Greek, a self-described loner who nonetheless feeds off of supportive crowds, won’t have his spirited countrymen in the stands to support him this time, so he’ll need to summon his own motivation.
He said Friday that he’ll miss the fans, but was happy to be back at The O2 and in such great company. “We elevate tennis, all of us,” said Tsitsipas, who picked up his first Ranking point and a $172 check to show for it, at a Futures event in Greece at 15. “I think we’re going for a good show.”

For his part, the Austrian agreed, hinting that tennis fans are in for another wonderfully unpredictable week of tennis.

“I think it only depends on the day this year,” Thiem said. “The guy who has the better day is going to win and the guy who has the most good days is going to end up winning the tournament.”

Source link

Sinner The Winner: Jannik Clinches Maiden ATP Tour Title In Sofia

Jannik Sinner ended his breakthrough 2020 ATP Tour season with a milestone victory on Saturday, as he defeated Vasek Pospisil 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(3) to capture his maiden ATP Tour trophy at the Sofia Open.

Sinner withstood 14 aces and won 75 per cent of his first-serve points (45/60) to become the youngest man to capture an ATP Tour title in more than 12 years. The last player to have lifted a tour-level trophy at a younger age was Kei Nishikori. The Japanese earned his maiden ATP Tour title as an 18-year-old at the 2008 Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com.

The Italian also became the sixth player this year to lift his maiden tour-level title. He joined fellow 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals contenders Ugo Humbert, Casper Ruud and Miomir Kecmanovic in the club. #NextGenATP Brazilian Thiago Seyboth Wild and John Millman also captured their first trophies this season.

2020 First-Time Champions

Just one year ago, then-World No. 95 Sinner stunned the field at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan to claim the title. The 19-year-old has used that success as a springboard in 2020 to crack the Top 50 in the FedEx ATP Rankings and strengthen his position as the youngest player in the Top 100.

Sinner’s title run in Sofia completes a memorable 2020 campaign. The 6’2” right-hander claimed three Top 10 wins in 2020 and finished the year with a 19-11 record. As a result of his title run in the Bulgarian capital, Sinner will crack the Top 40 of the FedEx ATP Rankings for the first time on Monday at No. 37.

Pospisil was also attempting to capture his first ATP Tour crown. The 30-year-old, who also finished as a runner-up at the Open Sud de France in February, ends his season with a 16-10 record.

Sinner attacked Pospisil’s backhand with deep returns and dictated rallies with his forehand to earn an early service break. The Italian served well under pressure and claimed the first set with his fourth ace of the match.

The 19-year-old increased his lead with an immediate break in the opening game of the second set, but his advantage did not last long. Sinner committed a series of errors, most notably on his forehand, to drop two of his next three services games and hand Pospisil a 4-2 lead. The Canadian served with confidence and levelled the match with his third love service hold of the set.

In a tight final set, Sinner continued to play with aggression on his return. That tactic paid dividends in the final-set tie-break as he claimed two mini-breaks and the trophy by extracting errors with deep backhand returns.

Sinner received 250 FedEx ATP Ranking points and collected €24,880 in prize money. Pospisil claimed 150 points and earned €19,795.

Source link

ATP Finals 2020: Rafael Nadal & Novak Djokovic head field in London farewell

Eight of the world’s best men’s players will close a fragmented 2020 season by battling to be champion at the last ATP Finals event in London before it moves to Turin.

Source link

Twitch Takes: Monfils & Murray Preview The Nitto ATP Finals

Have you ever wished you could be a fly on the wall to listen to the world’s best players discuss their peers? Gael Monfils and Andy Murray are making that a reality.

The two stars took to Twitch on Friday to preview the Nitto ATP Finals, analysing the field and providing their thoughts on each players’ game. They reveal memories of their past meetings and keep the conversation fun, too.

WATCH MONFILS & MURRAY’S TWITCH PREVIEW

“You’re very well dressed, Gael,” Murray immediately said.

“You know why? It’s because of you,” Monfils responded.

“I feel very under-dressed myself, to be honest. But next time… I’ll put something special on for you,” Murray said, cracking a laugh.

Come and Join @andy_murray and myself tomorrow at 8PM (7PM GMT) on https://t.co/Tk1TNA4qYm We will do a preview of the Nitto ATP Finals to be held in London from Sunday onwards. #NittoATPFinals 1/2 pic.twitter.com/ucD5kT632s

— Gael Monfils (@Gael_Monfils) November 12, 2020

Monfils and Murray will continue these Twitch streams beginning Monday to recap each day’s results at the season finale.

“It’s cool for us to share [our] opinions because people don’t really know our views on Tour,” Monfils said. “I think it’s great for us players to sometimes have a chat like that.”

Source link