Novak Djokovic kicks off the ATP World Tour Finals on Sunday afternoon when he takes on the final qualifier Dominic Thiem.…
Also competing on Sunday at the ATP World Tour Finals in London are two players who have had injury problems blight the end…
| ATP World Tour Finals |
|---|
| Venue: O2 Arena, London Date: 13-20 November |
| Coverage: Live coverage on BBC Two, BBC Radio 5 live sports extra & BBC Sport website, tablets, mobiles and app. |
Novak Djokovic can take the first step towards regaining the world number one ranking when he opens his title defence at the ATP World Tour Finals on Sunday.
The Serb, 29, plays Austria’s Dominic Thiem in the first of the singles matches at 14:00 GMT (live on BBC Two).
Djokovic could reclaim the top ranking from Britain’s Andy Murray with another successful week at London’s O2 Arena.
“It’s one of the things that we’re all fighting for here, let’s see where it takes us,” Djokovic told BBC Sport.
“Being number one in the world, in a season like this, is of course the pinnacle of the sport next to winning a Grand Slam.”
The top eight singles players and doubles teams are divided into two groups of four at the ATP World Tour Finals, with the top two from each group progressing to the semi-finals.
Briton Jamie Murray and Brazil’s Bruno Soares take on Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi in the evening session at 18:00, followed by Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic against Gael Monfils.
For the first time since the season-ending finale moved to London in 2009, neither Roger Federer nor Rafael Nadal will be present as both ended their seasons early to recover from injuries.
| ATP World Tour Finals group stage | |
|---|---|
| John McEnroe Group | Ivan Lendl Group |
| 1. Andy Murray (GB) | 2. Novak Djokovic (Ser) |
| 3. Stan Wawrinka (Swi) | 4. Milos Raonic (Can) |
| 5. Kei Nishikori (Jpn) | 6. Gael Monfils (Fra) |
| 7. Marin Cilic (Cro) | 8. Dominic Thiem (Aut) |
Djokovic held all four Grand Slam titles when he won the French Open in June, but a slump in form followed, opening the door for Murray to end his 122-week stay at number one last Monday.
“Completing the career Grand Slam was of course very satisfying but it took a lot out of me emotionally,” said Djokovic.
“All in all it was a great season, I’m happy about it, and I’m here in London trying to finish the season in the best possible way.”
Djokovic spoke of “private issues” after he lost in the third round of Wimbledon, broke down in tears after a first-round loss at the Olympics and has had wrist and elbow injuries.
He now needs to win at least two group matches and claim a fifth successive title at the O2 Arena to ensure he ends 2016 at the top of the rankings.
“Andy deserves to be where he is,” said Djokovic.
“If you look at his results in the last 10 months he’s been very, very consistent, playing finals in more or less each tournament he took part in.
“You’ve got to give him credit for that and I’m sure he’s motivated to finish off this year with a title in London.”
After a weeks break, the ATP’s elite gather in London for their season ending event. The World Tour Finals will see …
Swiss voted as winner of Fans’ Favourite & Sportsmanship Awards
Roger Federer added to his record haul of ATP World Tour Awards presented by Moët & Chandon, adding two more trophies in 2016 to take his tally to 33 since 2003.
The 35-year-old was selected by fans as the ATPWorldTour.com Fans’ Favourite presented by Moët & Chandon for a 14th straight year and by fellow players as winner of the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award for a 12th time.
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Federer shared a special video message during the Awards ceremony at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals Official Launch Party presented by Moët & Chandon, held Thursday evening at the Cutty Sark in London.
“I just wanted to thank all the fans who have voted for me for ATP Fans’ Favourite,” he said. “This is probably the toughest year I’ve had on tour by far with the injuries and the only 7-10 tournaments I was able to play this year. This award this year means the most to me by virtue of the tough year that I’ve had, so thank you to everybody for coming out to vote for me.”
The 35-year-old Swiss received 56 per cent of all votes cast by fans. Andy Murray finished second, followed by Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Kei Nishikori. For the player-voted Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award category, he beat out fellow nominees Murray, Nadal and Stan Wawrinka, extending his reign to six straight years. He also won the award six straight years from 2004-09.
“The Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award voted by the players is fantastic,” he said. “I really appreciate it. I try to be a good sport on the court and then of course that players think I’m a good role model or a good guy to play against, that’s really cool, but there’s a lot of other good guys out there who do exactly the same, if not better, so thank you to those guys as well.”
Federer has also won ATP World Tour No. 1 presented by Emirates five times (2004-07, 2009) and the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award twice (2006, 2013). This year’s ATP World Tour No. 1 has yet to be decided, with Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic battling this coming week at The O2 for the year-end honours. The Swiss stated that he would be paying close attention to the season finale, where he is a six-time champion.
“I’ll be following the [Barclays ATP] World Tour Finals on TV as close as possible because I think it’s one of the best tournaments we have on tour,” he said. “I think it’s going to be really, really exciting.”
Watch the world’s top eight tennis stars, including Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic take on the ‘mannequin challenge’ before the 2016 ATP World Tour finals.
Britain’s Andy Murray wants to end the season “on a high note” as world number one ahead of the ATP World Tour Finals in London.
Argentine previously won this ATP World Tour Award in 2011
For the second time, players voted Juan Martin del Potro as the Comeback Player of the Year in the ATP World Tour Award presented by Moët & Chandon following a successful return from wrist injury. The 28-year-old Argentine is the third player after Sergi Bruguera and Tommy Haas to win this category twice.
He sent a video message from his native Tandil to accept his award during Thursday night’s ceremony at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals Official Launch in London.
“Thank you very much for this award… I want to thank my fellow players for choosing me,” he said. “It was a very special year to me. I didn’t expect the result that I had, and I’m so happy to share this award with you.”
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Del Potro was previously voted by his peers as the Comeback Player of the Year in 2011. He finished back in the Top 10 in 2013, only to be sidelined again – this time by a left wrist injury requiring multiple surgeries. Outside the Top 1000 of the Emirates ATP Rankings early in 2016, del Potro made his return in February with a semi-final effort at the Delray Beach Open and rose to No. 38 by November with a 30-match win effort.
Among his season highlights, del Potro beat then-No. 1 Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal en route to a silver medal at the Rio Olympics, made the quarter-finals of the US Open and won his first tour-level title since 2014 at the If Stockholm Open, securing his return to the Top 50. Julien Benneteau, Ivo Karlovic and Florian Mayer were also nominated in this category.
American twins extend record reign in doubles category
Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan received their trophies as ATPWorldTour.com Fans’ Favourite presented by Moët & Chandon during the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals Official Launch on Thursday night in London.
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“It means a lot to be named the Fan Favourite,” said Mike Bryan. “One of the reasons why we love playing the game is to play in front of these fans around the world, and we really appreciate the support. We want to thank them for voting for us. It’s going to be fun to step out on the court at The O2 and finish the year strong in front of a hopefully packed house out there.”
The 38-year-old American twins, who will be going for their fifth season finale title this coming week at The O2 in London, received 25 per cent of votes cast to extend their record reign in this category to 12 straight years. Jamie Murray & Bruno Soares finished second in the voting, followed by Spaniards Feliciano Lopez & Marc Lopez, Frenchmen Pierre-Hugues Herbert & Nicolas Mahut and the Canadian-American duo of Vasek Pospisil & Jack Sock.