Tennis News

Doubles At The Nitto ATP Finals: Fleming, Woodforde Share Best Memories

The Nitto ATP Finals, which celebrates its 50-year anniversary in 2020, has witnessed world-class tennis, changes in format and location, but the tournament’s prestige remains just the same. NittoATPFinals.com spoke to two former doubles titlists, seven-time champion Peter Fleming and two-time winner Mark Woodforde, who both left an indelible mark on the sport.

Alongside John McEnroe, Fleming dominated the doubles tournament when it was held at Madison Square Garden in New York. The pair claimed seven consecutive titles at the event from 1978 to 1984 and dropped just one set in 14 matches.

For Fleming, who grew up just an hour’s drive away from the venue in New Jersey, and McEnroe, a proud New Yorker, playing at Madison Square Garden gave them the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of their idols. Both players grew up as fans of the New York Knicks and New York Rangers, who play their home games at the iconic Manhattan venue.

“It was really exciting because Madison Square Garden was the mecca of sports that I loved growing up,” said Fleming. “The New York Knicks were a huge favourite, as they were with everybody in the New York area because in the late 60s, early 70s when I was in high school, they were world champions. They were such a charismatic team and such an iconic team. I remember my Dad taking me to the Garden to watch [Ken] Rosewall versus [Rod] Laver and Arthur Ashe and the rest playing when I was a little kid, so it just had such huge emotion. To go there seven years and not lose was a thrill.”

When Fleming and McEnroe dominated the tournament in New York, they played just two matches each year. The tournament was contested as a regular knockout event, with four teams starting the tournament in the semi-finals. The tournament expanded to six teams for their final three title runs, but the pair received a quarter-final bye on each occasion.

That format meant that Fleming and McEnroe had no time to find their form or adapt to conditions. They needed to be ready from the first match against one of their five biggest rivals.

“In a normal tournament, you might play an unseeded pair that would allow you to ease your way into the draw and into your form,” said Fleming. “In this case, you had to get started right away.”

The Port Washington Tennis Academy graduates played together on the ATP Tour for the final time at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in March 1987. Just three years later, McEnroe played a pivotal role in the formation of another legendary doubles pair in the history of the Nitto ATP Finals.

After seven tour-level appearances alongside Woodforde between 1988 and 1990, which included a title run at the 1989 US Open, McEnroe sat down with the Aussie to explain why they would no longer be playing together and shared his advice for the future.

“He recommended that I keep playing doubles as often as possible. He listed four or five points,” said Woodforde. “[John said], ‘I think you should play with an Australian. I think you should pair up with a right-hander. I think you should pair up with someone younger and I think you should pair up with someone that has a passion to be a real tennis player.’

“John and I understood that because we spoke the same language. A real tennis player meant someone who played singles and doubles each week and didn’t specialise in singles or doubles. As he was saying these categories, I had some names in my head but as he kept going down the list, my list kept getting smaller. It was almost like, ‘Well, Todd Woodbridge’. Later that year, I asked Todd whether he was interested in playing… Thankfully he said yes.”

Between 1991 and 1999, Woodforde and Woodbridge, known as ‘The Woodies’, made nine consecutive appearances at the Nitto ATP Finals. Unlike Fleming and McEnroe, the Aussies played the tournament at a range of venues during a period when the Nitto ATP Finals singles and doubles competitions were played in different locations (1986-2001).

“[The Nitto ATP Finals] was always on our list. [It was] an achievement that we would equate to finishing No. 1 or holding onto the No. 1 spot as long as possible… It was an achievement to actually participate in the year-ending finals,” said Woodforde.

Woodforde’s most cherished memory of competing at the tournament came in his second appearance in Johannesburg in 1992. Just one year after falling to John Fitzgerald and Anders Jarryd in the semi-finals, the Woodies earned an opportunity for revenge in the 1992 championship match.

Woodforde and Woodbridge led the final by two sets, before the defending champions turned the match in their favour and forced a deciding set. But the Woodies were handed an unexpected opportunity to regroup, as Fitzgerald and Jarryd halted their own momentum by leaving the court for a bathroom break.

“We were playing one of the all-time great doubles teams in the final of the year-end championships. It was big for us,” said Woodforde. “They won the fourth set and Todd and I started to get a little jittery and a little panicked that we had blew this two-set lead… We looked across and Fitzgerald and Jarryd went for a bathroom break.

”That took a lot longer than a normal change of ends at the end of a set… We jumped on that fact, that they didn’t want to keep the momentum going, get stuck into a fifth [set] and see if they could get an early break. It allowed us this extra time to breathe and relax. It brought us together.”

To win the tournament for the first time was a huge moment for the pair, but it also represented a shift in power. Woodforde and Woodbridge ended the year as the No. 1 team in the FedEx ATP Doubles Team Rankings and Woodforde also finished a season at No. 1 in the individual FedEx ATP Doubles Rankings for the first time.

“There was pride at winning the championship, but importantly [we did it] by beating a pair that we held high on a pedestal,” said Woodforde. “It was almost like the baton had been passed over from Fitzgerald, who had really been Australia’s leading doubles player for a number of years.

“I don’t know if you could say that he passed it over, because we took it. We wanted to take it and run with it ourselves. It was just a massive victory for us. For me, knowing that we finished as the year-end No. 1 team for the first time in our careers and, individually, I hit No. 1 on the Rankings. You can imagine the celebrations that took place that night in Johannesburg.”

Woodforde, who also won the 1996 edition of the event with Woodbridge in Hartford, has been impressed by the evolution of the event in recent years. The singles and doubles competitions came back together in 2003 and the doubles tournament has enjoyed strong support at its most recent home: The O2 in London.

Since 2009, more than 2.8 million fans have visited the tournament in South East London. The 17,500-seat stadium has provided doubles players with the opportunity to showcase their skills in front of packed crowds and a global TV audience. Each session at The O2 is comprised of one doubles and one singles match, allowing fans to enjoy both forms of the game with one ticket.

“I have been at The O2 and I do look at it with pride,” said Woodforde. “The fact that they are playing the year-end finals under one roof. I am jealous of it… I think it was an important, key move by the leaders of the Tour to separate the singles and doubles [events between 1986 and 2001], but now I am really pleased for doubles that it is back. The umbilical cord has been placed back in the relationship between singles and doubles… It helps the singles event and I think it gives the doubles players the opportunity to play in some major stadiums and major market areas like London. It has been such a success at The O2.”

Even for Fleming, who played at his ‘mecca of sports’, the tournament’s successful run at Madison Square Garden cannot compare to The O2. In one of the most recognised venues in entertainment, doubles has been a consistent hit with crowds at the London venue.

”When we were playing doubles, the crowds were nothing like the are at The O2 now. What has transpired for the Nitto ATP Finals at The O2 is nothing short of miraculous and I would kill to have played in years past with the crowds they have had,” said Fleming. “The end of the doubles matches have been virtually sold out. They have played in front of packed houses, almost 18,000 people at The O2. What a thrill that would have been.”

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ATP Finals 2020: Dominic Thiem takes revenge on Stefanos Tsitsipas with opening win

Watch the best shots as Dominic Thiem takes revenge on Stefanos Tsitsipas by beating last year’s champion 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 6-3 at the ATP Finals in London.

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Djokovic Honoured With Year-End No. 1 Trophy

Novak Djokovic was honoured on Sunday afternoon at the Nitto ATP Finals, receiving his ATP Tour No. 1 trophy from ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi for finishing as the year-end No. 1 in the FedEx ATP Rankings for a record-equalling sixth time.

The Serbian finishes as World No. 1 for the sixth time in the past 10 years (also 2011-12, ‘14-15 and ‘18), draws level with his childhood hero, American Pete Sampras, who ended six straight years at the pinnacle of men’s professional tennis between 1993 and 1998.

“I’m very happy,” Djokovic told ATPTour.com on Sunday at The O2 in London. “It’s been a strange year for all of us with a six months’ gap for all of us. We restarted the season in August, and I continued where I left off before lockdown and had a terrific run. I’m very pleased with the way things went.

“I have to say a huge thank you to my team for supporting me in the hard time and trusting me. This is the crown for all achievements in the year and it’s unreal that I’ve managed to finish the year at No. 1 for a sixth time.

“Obviously I am super proud of it, but I have mixed emotions because of what is going on in the world. I can’t be ignorant to that, although I have achieved one of the biggest goals in sport. I feel for many people in the world going through hardship and my heart goes out to them.”

The 33-year-old Serbian has enjoyed a stellar season, capturing four titles and compiling a 39-3 match record. Djokovic lifted an eighth Australian Open trophy (d. Thiem) in January, two ATP Masters 1000s at the Western & Southern Open (d. Raonic) and the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome (d. Schwartzman), plus the ATP 500-level Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships (d. Tsitsipas).

He competes this week in Group Tokyo 1970 alongside Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev and Diego Schwartzman at the Nitto ATP Finals in London.

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Koolhof/Mektic Earn Opening Win In London

Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mektic opened their Nitto ATP Finals campaign on Sunday with a 6-7(3), 7-6(4), 10-7 victory against Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies.

The fifth seeds won the final five points of the match to improve to 21-12 this year after two hours and three minutes. Koolhof and Mektic, who are making their team debut at the Nitto ATP Finals, move to 1-0 in Group Mike Bryan.

“In doubles, it always comes down to one or two points,” said Koolhof. “I think we actually played a pretty good match. We were up a break in both sets… The [Match Tie-break] was a rollercoaster. We were up and then we were 5/7 down. In the end, we managed to turn it around.”

The US Open finalists extended their ATP Head2Head series lead against Krawietz and Mies to 3-1. All four meetings between the pairs have taken place this season. Koolhof and Mektic also defeated their Germans at the Adelaide International in January and the Hamburg European Open in September.

Koolhof and Mektic put their opponents under regular pressure on serve and earned the first break of the match at 4-3, as Koolhof attacked well with his forehand. But Krawietz and Mies responded immediately. Koolhof committed double faults in crucial moments to drop serve in the next game and hand the Germans an early lead in the tie-break. Mies extended that advantage by attacking Koolhof’s second serve and struck an overhead winner to clinch the set.

After trading breaks early in the second set, Koolhof and Mektic ripped return winners in the second-set tie-break and converted their first set point with an ace to level the match. In the Match Tie-break, Koolhof returned with aggression to recover from a mini-break down. The fifth seeds clinched victory when Mies failed to control a backhand return.

”It was definitely a close one,” said Mektic. “I think through the entire match we felt like we were a little bit the better team. We were a little bit unfortunate in the first set… We kept saying to ourselves that we were good, we played good and [to] just keep digging. In the end, it paid off.”

Did You Know?
All eight teams competing at this year’s Nitto ATP Finals are in contention to finish as the year-end No. 1 team in the FedEx ATP Doubles Team Rankings.

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Why Murray Said Monfils Was ‘On Fire’ During Twitch Nitto ATP Finals Preview

Gael Monfils is teaming up with Andy Murray all week long on Twitch to chat about the action at the Nitto ATP Finals, and their preview episode dropped on the Frenchman’s popular livestreaming channel full of draw analysis, hot tennis takes and of course, lots of banter. 

“Can I just say, before we talk about this, your English is on fire! What happened there?” an impressed Murray teased Monfils early on in the broadcast. 

“Now I feel the pressure!” Monfils laughed, giving “all credit” to girlfriend and WTA player Elina Svitolina for his rapidly expanding vocabulary. (He poked Murray back later in the show after the Brit told a fan “merci”, joking, “Whoa, that French!”)

Monfils and Murray reflected on their own experiences at the season-ending event, with both the singles and doubles field officially set ahead of this year’s edition. Murray revealed an interesting tidbit about how players prepare for the event: beyond the on-court tactics, there’s even a strategy to the practices. 

“One of the things we all do, because we know the groups a little bit in advance, we always practise with the players that are in the opposite groups,” Murray explained, in response to a fan question. “So for example all of the players in Novak’s group, they won’t be practising with each other. They’ll be practising with the players in the other group, so as to not give any of our tactics away or so our opponents don’t see how we’re playing. That’s one of the things that always happens.”

Murray lifted the Nitto ATP Finals trophy in 2016, and he had some words of advice for players gearing up for this year’s 50th edition in London.

“It is difficult to go into an event and play against the best players in the world from the very first match, so the preparation is ultra important for this one,” he said. “Because if you’re not feeling good and you haven’t prepared properly, you will get found out… If you’re not well-prepared physically and mentally, you’re likely to lose your first match.”

The pair also gave their breakdown of Group Tokyo 1970, lead by Novak Djokovic alongside Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev and Diego Schwartzman, and Group London 2020, headed up by Rafael Nadal with Dominic Thiem, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev.

“I mean, at the end those guys played the best for sure during the season, but I also feel like they all deserve [to be there], even down to the last spot,” said Monfils, who made his own Nitto ATP Finals appearance in 2016. 

Monfils and Murray were getting ready to analyse the doubles field – which had just been set with the qualification of Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Jurgen Meltzer in Sofia that same morning – but Murray just wasn’t up for it.

“The doubles is a little bit of a sore subject for me,” he admitted with a wry smile, as it was in fact Jamie Murray and partner Neal Skupski who were edged out by Roger-Vasselin and Melzer. “It meant my brother couldn’t qualify for London, so I’m a bit upset to talk about that now, to be honest with you.”

“Let’s just move on, I don’t want to upset you,” Monfils responded with a laugh. 

Monfils and Murray will continue these daily Twitch streams on the Frenchman’s channel beginning Monday to recap all the results at the season finale.

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Former World No. 1 Bjorkman Previews The London Doubles Field

Jonas Bjorkman won the Nitto ATP Finals title twice in doubles, accomplishing the feat 12 years apart (1994 and 2006). The Swede competed in doubles at the season finale eight times and also played in the singles field in 1997, when he defeated Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Michael Chang en route to the semi-finals. 

The former doubles World No. 1 will be analysing this year’s Nitto ATP Finals action for Eurosport. But before the action begins on Sunday, he spoke to ATPTour.com about what to expect from each of the eight doubles teams competing in London.

Mate Pavic and Bruno Soares
“The Brazilian boys are the consistent guys. [In this case it’s Bruno]. He’s relaxed, you know what to expect. You always know they’re going to make a lot of balls and their partner is going to be more up and down, maybe not as consistent. But when they play well, that’s a tough team to beat. You’ve got the lefty-righty, which is a great combination as well. They’re playing with a lot of experience. They’ve now won Grand Slams together and with different partners.”

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Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury
“I definitely think it has helped a lot that they have one guy who is a little bit older, so you’ve got the experience and you have the young guy coming up. They’ve both been focussing on doubles the past couple of years… Ram has been around a long time and played good singles as well, so he knows what it takes. Both of them are kind of flashy. They’re a little bit streaky, but they’ve also been showing some good consistency the past two years since they started playing together. It seems like they’ve been finding each other nicely… They’ve just been getting better and better and they’re definitely a team I like to watch to see how they’re playing.”

Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies
“What’s amazing is that they disappeared a little bit after they won Roland Garros last year. They had a few good results, but you couldn’t see the consistency… Then [they won] won back-to-back [Roland Garros titles], which is an amazing accomplishment. It will be interesting to see how they adjust to the future after winning the French Open again.”

“I think winning now, they will probably take the next step forward and be a little bit more consistent and be a contender to win more big tournaments in the future… The ones who have won the big ones [this year] obviously have a little bit more confidence just out of that and going in to play the [Nitto] ATP Finals is the biggest achievement with a full year. They won a Slam, so they really deserve to be in the top eight and I think they can be one of those outsiders who are really dangerous for every team out there.”

Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos
“You’d probably expect them to play better on the slow surfaces, but at the same time… neither one of them plays a typical clay-court game for being a Spaniard and South American. In a way, I’m not surprised that they do well on the hard courts. They’ve been around a long time. They’ve proven their all-around game, which they needed to play well in singles. They’re two really nice guys. It’s great to see that they’re doing well in doubles as well.”

Nikola Mektic and Wesley Koolhof
“I had the opportunity to follow Mektic quite a lot on the way up, because he’s good friends with Marin Cilic. When I coached Marin, Mektic was around and they even played together, because he needed Marin in that way to get into tournaments. He’s a hard worker like all the Croatians. He knows what it takes and has a good fighting spirit on the court. He’s just been getting better and better each year and has had some really good results. As a team, it seems they’ve just connected really well… They have adjusted well to play with different partners [in the past], which is always a strength. The better you are at adjusting to play with different players, the better doubles player you are. It’s a good combo and they were really close to going all the way to win Slams this year, so I think they’ve got a chance to do really well.”

John Peers and Michael Venus
“It’s a good combo. They are two guys who know how to play doubles. They come from countries that have great tradition, especially Peers with the Australian tradition of how to play doubles. We’ve had so many great champions from Down Under. Venus I’d say came as a little bit of a surprise, but after he came up quickly and progressed, he’s been very consistent to stay up near the top [of the sport] and has done that really, really well the past couple of years. That’s a team that maybe needs a little bit of confidence to play well, but when they play their best tennis they definitely have a shot to beat everyone.”

Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo
“I would say it’s a great combination. You’ve got Lukasz, who is playing very aggressive. He’s hitting the ball extremely hard. He goes for it all the time. Then you have Melo who is a tricky player with his great touch. He has a huge advantage at the net with his height. I think it’s a good mix. He probably plays his returns a bit softer to get Kubot involved and the same with Melo at the net. He wants to get involved as much as he can. It’s a tough team to beat, especially when Kubot is on fire.”

Jurgen Melzer and Edouard Roger-Vasselin
“Two old guys who I know very well and I hope they don’t get offended by being the old guys! It almost felt like they were going to retire, but they have come back strong and I think maybe with family life you change a little bit of the mentality. You play a little bit more relaxed, maybe you can enjoy the tennis a bit more and the results are coming. I think it’s a good way to finish for Jurgen [who announced he is retiring after the 2021 Australian Open]. He had a great career. These two guys both played singles and doubles as well, not only doubles. They are very solid in both departments.”

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

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

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