Tennis News

ATP Announces 2021-2022 Player Council

The ATP has announced the 2021-2022 ATP Player Council, as voted by ATP player members.

A number of existing player members were re-elected for an additional term on the Council, including Felix Auger-Aliassime, Roger Federer, John Millman, Rafael Nadal, Kevin Anderson, Andy Murray and Bruno Soares.

In addition, Gilles Simon returns to the Council having served previous terms, while newcomers Pablo Andujar and Marcus Daniell will serve their first term.

Members elected to serve on the ATP Player Council through June 2022 are:

• 1-50 Singles: Felix Auger-Aliassime, Roger Federer, John Millman, Rafael Nadal
• 51-100 Singles: Pablo Andujar, Gilles Simon
• 1-100 Doubles: Marcus Daniell, Bruno Soares
• At-Large: Kevin Anderson, Andy Murray
• Alumni Representative: Colin Dowdeswell
• Coach Representative: Daniel Vallverdu

The new ATP Player Council will have its first meeting in the new year, where the President and Vice President will be elected.

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How The Big Three Have Set Themselves Apart The Past 30 Years

Three G.O.A.T.S. are better than one.

Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have elevated our sport — and each other — to rarefied levels over the past two decades. Are we doing their stellar careers a disservice by trying to pick one from the pack to anoint as superior to the other two?

Does the “Greatest Of All Time” tag have to be singular? Not according to the numbers.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of the “Big Three” provides a new metric to compare their prodigious body of work: points won in their careers. Statistics in tennis were first recorded in 1991, so the following analysis compares all players from the past 30 years. Instead of ranking players one ahead of another, this breakdown groups them together in four distinct levels based on different tiers of percentage of points won.

It must be noted that the distinguished careers of players like Bjorn Borg, Roy Emerson, Rod Laver and others are not included because statistics were not recorded during their playing days, while players such as Ivan Lendl and Michael Chang have only part of their illustrious careers included from 1991 onwards.

Level 1 = 54%+ Points Won
Only three players in the past 30 years have averaged winning north of 54 per cent of all points they played. If you guessed a Spaniard, a Serbian and a Swiss, you would be dead right.

Rafael Nadal – 54.55% (96,208/176,360)

Novak Djokovic – 54.40% (92,938/170,841)

Roger Federer – 54.17% (126,548/233,608)

The Big Three all exist less than half a percentage point away from each other. Instead of looking at the minuscule gap between each one, try evaluating their performance as a group.
There is not one man standing on top of the mountain. There are three.

Read More Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers Stories

Level 2 = 53%+ Points Won
These four players have had exemplary careers and are right on the heels of the Big Three:

Pete Sampras – 53.51% (72,318/135,143)

Andre Agassi – 53.40% (72,750/136,240)

Andy Murray – 53.17% (72,316/135,997)

Andy Roddick – 53.07% (63,770/120,153)

It’s interesting to see that Sampras and Agassi, who battled each other 34 times, ended up with only about a tenth of a percentage point separating them. Andy Murray is still working on his legacy in 2021, while former No. 1 Andy Roddick joins this elite group of players.

Level 3 = 52.5%+ Points Won
Fifteen players land in the 52 per cent points won range, so it’s split into two halves, with this group winning 52.5% to 52.9%:

Stefan Edberg – 52.79% (38,065/72,105)

Richard Krajicek – 52.57% (52,513/99,891)

Jim Courier – 52.57% (47,242/89,873)

Michael Chang – 52.52% (64,652/123,090)

Juan Martin del Potro – 52.51% (47,835/91,090)

This grouping of players features two former No. 1-ranked players in Stefan Edberg and Jim Courier, with Juan Martin del Potro the only active player who still has an opportunity to improve his metrics.

Level 4 = 52.0%+ Points Won
This grouping of 10 players won between 52.0 per cent and 52.49 per cent of points in their outstanding careers:

Michael Stich – 52.46% (36,685/69,926)

Ivan Lendl – 52.46% (20,765/39,583)

Milos Raonic – 52.35% (43,186/82,491)

Lleyton Hewitt – 52.34% (70,937/135,533)

Boris Becker – 52.33% (37,851/72,327)

Guillermo Coria – 52.33% (26,153/49,975)

Thomas Muster – 52.30% (48,513/92,764)

Tomas Berdych – 52.19% (75,246/144,165)

David Ferrer – 52.16% (87,036/166,877)

Robin Soderling – 52.04% (37,075/71,245)

The former No. 1-ranked players in this grouping include Ivan Lendl, Lleyton Hewitt, Boris Becker, and Thomas Muster.

The next level down — players who have won between 51 and 52 per cent of their points — features 53 players. Overall, there are 178 players who won more points than they have lost in their careers from 1991-2020. Each of the four levels above are overflowing with talent, charisma and trophies from the biggest tournaments our sport has to offer.

This type of analysis lends itself to appreciate the ongoing careers of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic in unison as a whole greater than its parts. It’s an opportunity to step back and appreciate their momentous careers together rather than trying to cherry-pick a metric to push one ahead of the other two. After all, they all owe a debt of gratitude to each other for continually raising the bar.

The mountain is high. While everyone is looking up, only Federer, Nadal and Djokovic are looking down.

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Why Pospisil Is 'Grateful' To Earn Comeback Player Of The Year

One year on from undergoing back surgery to repair a herniated disk, Canadian Vasek Pospisil was named Comeback Player of the Year in the 2020 ATP Awards.

“It really means a lot to me, so I just want to give a big thank you to all my fellow ATP players on the Tour who voted for me to win this award and also a big thanks to my team that really did a great job,” Pospisil said. “My ranking plummeted and I had surgery, so [I am] very grateful to be here and hoping to have a great year next year.”

“I’m very grateful to be here & hoping to have a great year next year.”@VasekPospisil | #ATPAwards pic.twitter.com/t6Gq4ZWjs2

— ATP Tour (@atptour) December 21, 2020

Pospisil climbed more spots in the FedEx ATP Rankings this year than any other player in the Top 100. The 30-year-old jumped 88 spots to No. 61 to continue his push back towards his career-high of No. 25, which he reached in 2014.

The Canadian made his first ATP Tour final since 2014 at the Open Sud de France in Montpellier, and he backed it up with a run to the Sofia Open championship match. Those were the second and third ATP Tour finals of his career. Pospisil also reached the fourth round of the US Open, defeating back-to-back Top 20 players – Roberto Bautista Agut (No. 11) and countryman Milos Raonic (No. 18) – along the way to earn his best Grand Slam result since making the 2015 Wimbledon quarter-finals. 

The other players nominated in this category were Kevin Anderson, Andrey Kuznetsov and Raonic.

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Roger Federer Withdraws From The Australian Open

Roger Federer has withdrawn from the 2021 Australian Open, the tournament confirmed in a press release Monday.

The Swiss last competed at this year’s Australian Open. He earned his 100th tournament win in the third round and reached the semi-finals, in which he lost against Novak Djokovic. Federer has since had two right knee surgeries.

The six-time champion has played the Australian Open main draw every year since his debut in 2000. Tournament Director Craig Tiley wished Federer well.

“In the end, Roger ran out of time to get himself ready for the rigours of a Grand Slam and he’s very disappointed he won’t be coming to Melbourne in 2021,” Tiley said in a press release. “The Australian Open has always held a special place in his heart – remember it was Roger who first called the AO the ‘Happy Slam’.

“We wish him all the best as he prepares for his comeback later in the year and look forward to seeing him in Melbourne in 2022.”

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Australian Open: Roger Federer to miss the 2021 tournament

Six-time champion Roger Federer will miss the Australian Open for the first time in his career as he continues his recovery from knee surgery.

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Murray, Kokkinakis Headline Australian Open Wild Cards

Andy Murray has received a wild card into the 2021 Australian Open, the tournament announced Monday. The five-time finalist will compete at Melbourne Park for the 14th time.

“We welcome Andy back to Melbourne with open arms,” Tournament Director Craig Tiley said in a press release. “As a five-time finalist he has been an integral part of so many amazing matches and storylines in the recent history of the Australian Open.”

Murray is tied for fifth in the Open Era with 48 Australian Open match wins (Agassi and Lendl also have 48). The 33-year-old is set to compete at the season’s first Grand Slam for the first time since 2019. After losing an emotional, thrilling five-setter against Roberto Bautista Agut in the first round that year, Murray underwent hip surgery.

Most Australian Open Wins (Open Era)

The former World No. 1 is one of seven players to receive a main draw wild card for the tournament, which will be held from 8-21 February. The Aussies who have been awarded a main draw wild card are Alex Bolt, Thanasi Kokkinakis, Christopher O’Connell, Marc Polmans and Aleksandar Vucic. Indian Sumit Nagal was given the tournament’s Asia-Pacific wild card.

Kokkinakis has struggled with injury, but he has produced sensational tennis when healthy, including a win against Roger Federer at the 2018 Miami Open presented by Itau. The 24-year-old first cracked the Top 100 of the FedEx ATP Rankings aged 19 in 2015.

Bolt, a 27-year-old lefty, has played some of his best tennis at the Australian Open. In 2019, he reached the third round. Last year, Bolt pushed eventual finalist Dominic Thiem to five sets in the second round.

Qualifying wild cards have been awarded to Aussies Rinky Hijikata, Jason Kubler, Blake Mott, Max Purcell, Akira Santillan, Tristan Schoolkate and Dane Sweeny, as well as Frenchman Harold Mayot.

There is still one main draw wild card and one qualifying wild card to be confirmed. Men’s qualifying for the 2021 Australian Open will be played from 10-13 January in Doha.

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Andy Murray awarded wildcard for February's delayed Australian Open

Andy Murray gets a wildcard for February’s Australian Open, two years after what looked like his final appearance.

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How Sinner Is Soaring Behind His Return

The youngest player in the Top 100 posted the eighth-best return metrics on the ATP Tour this season. The hype is real for nineteen-year-old Italian Jannik Sinner.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of eight players aged 21-and-under identifies Sinner as the peak performer on the Infosys Serve and Return LEADERBOARDS in 2020 thanks to his efforts on the return. Both leaderboards aggregate multiple serve and return metrics to come up with a singular rating. Emil Ruusuvuori, aged 21, did not have enough match data this season to qualify for the leaderboards.

View ATP Stats LEADERBOARDS

Return LEADERBOARD
Sinner led the group in posting the best rating on the Return LEADERBOARD at No. 8. He did particularly well this season with first-serve return points won, claiming 32.5 per cent of them. That winning percentage was seventh-best among all qualifying players on Tour this season.

Sinner finished 2020 by capturing his first ATP Tour title in Sofia. He started the year at No. 78 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, went 19-11, and finished the year at World No. 37.

The only other 21-and-under player to have a Return Rating in the leading 20 players on Tour was 21-year-old Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who came in 11th place. His best return performance was finishing sixth-best in first-serve return points won at 32.6 per cent, just ahead of Sinner. Davidovich Fokina finished 13-10 on the year, moving from World No. 85 to year-end No. 52. Season highlights for the Spaniard included a trip to the fourth round at the US Open and the semi-finals of Cologne-2.

21-And-Under Players: Return LEADERBOARD Rating

Serve LEADERBOARD
What’s interesting is that the average placement for the eight 21-and-under players in the Return Rating category was 35th, which was considerably better than the average of their Serve Ratings, which put them in 48th.

Felix Auger-Aliassime, a 20-year-old Canadian, led the group with the best Serve Rating at No. 20. He reached three ATP Tour finals in 2020, posting a 23-19 record. Fellow Canadian Denis Shapovalov was second in the group with a Return Rating ranking 26th-best. Shapovalov reached the quarter-finals of the US Open and the semi-finals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia this season.

21-And-Under Players: Serve LEADERBOARD Rating

The future looks extremely bright for these rising stars, who are already mixing it with the best in our game as they continue to march up the FedEx ATP Rankings.

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Andy Murray Receives Delray Beach Wild Card

Former World No. 1 Andy Murray will compete in the 2021 Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com as a wild card, the tournament announced Saturday. The 33-year-old will be the 11th former World No. 1 to play in the event’s history.

“I am looking forward to starting the 2021 season in Delray Beach.” Murray said in a press release. “This event will be a good test for me and I’m excited to be back playing on the Tour.”

Murray is set to make his tournament debut in the evening session on 8 January.

This ATP 250 is played on hard court, a surface on which Murray has long enjoyed success. The 46-time tour-level titlist has lifted 34 of his trophies on hard courts, including his past eight triumphs.

The World No. 122, who is still working his way back to top form following 2019 hip surgery, last won a title in the United States at the 2013 Miami Open presented by Itau. He showed signs of good form after the ATP Tour’s return this August, when he upset Alexander Zverev at the Western & Southern Open.

Murray will be joined in the Delray Beach field by former World No. 3 Milos Raonic and four former champions: Kei Nishikori (2008), Sam Querrey (2016), Frances Tiafoe (2018) and Reilly Opelka (2020). No. 1 American John Isner and Chilean star Cristian Garin are also entered.

The Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com is typically played in February, but it is now in Week One alongside the Antalya Open due to COVID-19. The main draw will be played from 7-13 January.

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The Numbers Game: 2020 ATP Challenger Tour

Karatsev Tops Wins Leaderboard
Aslan Karatsev was nearly unstoppable on the Challenger circuit in 2020. The Russian amassed a tour-leading 27 match wins in just eight tournaments this year, concluding his breakout campaign with a 27-6 record. Francisco Cerundolo and Dmitry Popko finished tied for second with 23 victories apiece, while France’s Arthur Rinderknech ended his impressive season with 22 wins.

Meanwhile, Carlos Alcaraz was the most consistent performer, boasting a 83.3 win percentage (min. 19 matches played). The Spanish teen took full advantage of his opportunities, claiming 20 of 24 matches played in 2020. Karatsev was the only other player with at least 80 per cent matches won (81.8).

Since returing from the COVID-19 shutdown, only two players posted 20 wins or more. Cerundolo led the ATP Challenger Tour with a 22-6 record following the restart on 17 August. Alcaraz finished a close second with 20 victories.

Alcaraz, Cerundolo Claim Most Titles
Alcaraz and Cerundolo were the only players to lift three trophies in 2020. The Spaniard entered the history books with his title treble, capturing his maiden crown in Trieste, Italy, and following that with back-to-back victories on home soil in Barcelona and Alicante. The 17-year-old became the youngest to ever win titles in consecutive weeks and the second-youngest (Gasquet) to triumph on at least three occasions prior to his 18th birthday.

Cerundolo’s three victories also came on clay courts. The Argentine celebrated his maiden moment with a title in Split, Croatia in October and added a second crown in Guayaquil, Ecuador one month later. In the final week of the season, the 22-year-old would conclude his campaign in style with a victory in Campinas, Brazil.

Jurij Rodionov, J.J. Wolf, Arthur Rinderknech and Steve Johnson dominated the early months of the season, all winning a pair of titles before the COVID-19 shutdown. Taro Daniel, Marc-Andrea Huesler, Ilya Ivashka and Aslan Karatsev also lifted multiple trophies in 2020.

Teen Titans
Four different teenagers accounted for a total of six Challenger titles this year, with Alcaraz the lone player with multiple crowns (Trieste, Italy and Barcelona & Alicante, Spain). At 17 years and 3 months, he joined Felix Auger-Aliassime and Alexander Zverev as the youngest champions since 2010.

At the age of 18, Lorenzo Musetti won his maiden title in Forli, Italy, carrying the momentum from a Round of 16 finish at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Rome. He would dominate on the clay of Forli, becoming the youngest to defeat four Top 100 players in one week since 2000.

Brandon Nakashima and Tomas Machac were the other teenage winners in 2020. Nakashima became the youngest American titlist since Frances Tiafoe in 2017, while Machac’s victory marked the first time a Czech teen had lifted a Challenger trophy since Jiri Vesely in 2013.

Biggest Movers To Top 150
Seven of the Top 8 movers to the year-end Top 150 won Challenger titles in 2020. Alcaraz jumped 350 spots to a year-end position of No. 141 in the FedEx ATP Rankings. Musetti leapt 233 places to No. 128 and Daniel Altmaier soared 191 spots to No. 130.

Title Leaders By Country
Players from 22 countries won titles this year. Mohamed Safwat became the first from Egypt to lift a trophy since 1996, while Cem Ilkel was the first from Turkey to do so since 2016.

The United States boasted a tour-leading 11 titles from nine different players, followed by Spain (7) and Germany (5). It marked the third time in four years that the American contingent has led the tour in titles.

First-Time Winners
The shortened season did not stop 14 players from celebrating their maiden moments in the spotlight on the ATP Challenger Tour. Prior to the COVID-19 shutdown, it was Machac, Rinderknech, Ilkel, Safwat, Thai-Son Kwiatkowski and Roman Safiullin crashing the party. They would be followed by Alcaraz, Musetti, Nakashima, Cerundolo, Meligeni, Sebastian Korda and Spaniards Carlos Taberner and Bernabe Zapata Miralles.

Alcaraz became the youngest first-time winner since a 16-year-old Felix Auger-Aliassime in 2017, while 29-year-old Safwat is the oldest first-time winner since Spain’s Sergio Gutierrez-Ferrol in 2018.

Alcaraz’s Achievements
-Youngest champion from Spain since Rafael Nadal in 2003.
-Second-youngest to win three titles. Only a 16-year-old Richard Gasquet was younger.
-One of five players to win three titles before 18th birthday, joining Gasquet, Auger-Aliassime, Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin del Potro.
-Youngest ever to win titles in consecutive weeks.
-The clutch factor: 9-0 in tie-breaks in 2020 and 11-3 in deciding sets since the restart.

Fast Facts

• Ulises Blanch pulled off the stunner of the year in the first week of the season. At No. 419 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, he became the lowest-ranked winner in 2020, lifting his second Challenger trophy in Ann Arbor.
• This year, one player saved a match point in a Challenger final. Thiago Monteiro survived a thriller in Punta del Este, Uruguay, turning aside three championship points to defeat Marco Cecchinato.
• A total of nine #NextGenATP stars (born 1999 or later) won titles. In addition to teens Alcaraz, Musetti, Nakashima and Machac, it was 20-year-olds Sebastian Korda and Jurij Rodionov lifting trophies.
• The ATP Challenger Tour featured two champions aged 35 and older in 2020. Philipp Kohlschreiber (36) won in the opening week of the season in Canberra, while Stan Wawrinka (35) kicked off the restart with a title in Prague.
• Andrey Golubev led the doubles circuit with six titles – three with Aleksandr Nedovyesov and three with Ariel Behar. Behar and Gonzalo Escobar, meanwhile, had the most success of any duo. The Uruguayan-Ecuadorian team won titles in Newport Beach and Istanbul, reached two more finals in Aix-en-Provence and Parma and posted a 14-1 record together.
• Qualifiers claimed one title, with Alcaraz winning seven matches in nine days in Trieste. He became the first player born in 2003 to lift a trophy.
• Two players successfully defended titles: Thiago Monteiro on the clay of Punta del Este, Uruguay and J.J. Wolf on the indoor hard courts of Columbus, USA.
• One unseeded wild card won a title: Musetti on home soil in Forli, Italy.
• Marc-Andrea Huesler was the only player to win titles on multiple surfaces. The Swiss prevailed on the clay of Sibiu, Romania, before taking the title on the carpet courts of Ismaning, Germany.
• Longest final: The longest final registered at two hours and 51 minutes, with Monteiro beating Cecchinato 7-6(3), 6-7(6), 7-5 in Punta del Este.
• Shortest completed final: The shortest final registered at just 58 minutes, with Thai-Son Kwiatkowski downing Daniel Elahi Galan 6-4, 6-1 in Newport Beach, USA.
• Two Top 40 players entered a Challenger in 2020. World No. 34 Taylor Fritz reached the third round in Newport Beach, while 17th-ranked Wawrinka won the title in Prague. The Swiss is the highest-ranked champion since No. 14 Ivan Ljubicic in Zagreb 2005.
• A total of seven players made their Top 100 debut in the FedEx ATP Rankings in 2020. Dennis Novak did so in January and was followed by Attila Balazs and Gianluca Mager in February. Emil Ruusuvuori, Marcos Giron, Federico Coria and Pedro Martinez entered the club following the restart.
• Kohlschreiber’s victory in Canberra came 14 years and one month after his most recent Challenger crown (Reunion Island 2005). It is the fourth-longest gap between titles on the circuit.
• Paolo Lorenzi finished the season with 418 career match wins on the ATP Challenger Tour. He is currently just five victories behind Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo for the all-time lead.

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