Men’s tennis was at the heart of celebrations last night as ATP Media and the ATP picked up two awards at the inaugural Leaders Sports Awards in London.  ATP Media’s live-streaming platform, Tennis TV won the On Screen Experience category and Next Gen ATP Finals won the Innovation category for the ATP.

The new Leaders Sports Awards recognizes companies shaping the future of sports around the world and the submissions are judged by some of the top executives and experts in the industry. 

As the awards have an international focus, both submissions overcame stiff competition and were up against some of the biggest names in sport globally.

Tennis TV streams 2000 tennis matches a year live and on demand and more than 1000 hours of classic ATP World Tour matches to subscribers globally. Targeting the  avid tennis fan, the product is available to users across streaming devices, smartphones and tablets as well as on desktop and laptops. Its bold design delivers a consistent user experience across devices, whatever the size of the screen.

ATP Media’s ambition was to deliver the best possible product for tennis, making virtually every ATP match available, and setting a new benchmark for OTT sports services, whilst providing the potential of a complementary product for its global broadcast partners.  The product was re-launched ready for the 2017 season and has continued to innovate and evolve since then, launching across more devices, and connecting with more fans globally.

Stuart Watts, COO of ATP Media said, “We are delighted for Tennis TV to be recognised by such esteemed peers in our industry.  We are tremendously proud of the efforts our team have put in over the last few years to get Tennis TV to this point – not only for its re-launch in 2017 but since then in continuing to improve the service we deliver to tennis fans around the world”.

The inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan took place in November 2017 with a fundamental mission to trial rule changes and innovation in a high profile real tournament environment. The tournament, organised by the ATP in partnership with the Italian Tennis Federation and the Italian National Olympic Committee, championed innovation throughout with the objective of not only promoting the next generation of players, but also targeting the next generation of fans.  

The tournament took place under an innovative fast-paced and cutting-edge TV-friendly format, while at the same time showcasing various technological advances in the sport, including a world-first use of Hawk Eye Live.  The progressive tournament also led to a pioneering new global partnership agreement between ATP, ATP Media and Amazon Prime Video.

Chris Kermode, ATP Executive Chairman & President, said: “We’re very proud of what we achieved in year one of the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan in 2017, and it’s particularly rewarding to see our bold vision for the event recognised with this award  in what was an extremely competitive category. The Next Gen ATP Finals have provided us with an unprecedented platform not only to promote the future stars of the sport but to also trial various innovations, and we look forward to another successful event this coming November.” 

Alexander Zverev moved one step closer to qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals on Wednesday by winning his opening match at the Rolex Shanghai Masters. The fourth-seeded German knocked out in-form Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia 7-5, 6-4 in just over 90 minutes at the Qi Zhong Stadium.

“I played all right,” said Zverev. “I played a solid match. I did everything that I needed to win. Focused a lot, focused on my game. As you can probably hear in my voice, I’m a little sick right now, so feeling a little bit low energy, but I hope it will get better over the next few days.”

Zverev, the next in line to qualify for November’s season finale, improved to 47-15 on the season – second only to Dominic Thiem (48) for most tour-level match wins in 2018. He must reach at least the Shanghai semi-finals in order to join Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Juan Martin del Potro and Roger Federer at The O2 in London from 11-18 November. Buy Your London Tickets

After an early exchange of service breaks, Zverev saved three break points at 3-4 and completed the 50-minute opener with an ace, to end a run of three straight games. The 21-year-old broke clear in the third game of the second set against Basilashvili, last week’s China Open titlist (d. Del Potro).

Zverev, who is through to the Shanghai third round for the third consecutive year, lifted his third ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown earlier this year at the Mutua Madrid Open (d. Thiem), becoming the first player to win a clay-court title without being broken since the ATP started keeping stats in 1991. He also retained silverware at the BMW Open by FWU (d. Kohlschreiber) and the Citi Open, beating Australia’s Alex de Minaur, his next opponent.

When asked about De Minaur, Zverev said, “He’s had a fantastic year. He’s nearly Top 30 and obviously playing great tennis, as well. I played him twice this year. Once was a very tough match in Davis Cup, which went to a very long five sets [and] the other one was in the Washington final where I played great. Obviously, it’s not going to be an easy match, especially on this surface. I’m looking forward to it.”

De Minaur, a fellow #NextGenATP star, advanced to the third round of a Masters 1000 for the first time in beating France’s Benoit Paire 6-4, 6-3 in 90 minutes. The two-time ATP World Tour finalist, now 26-24 on the year, is a contender to qualify for the 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan from 6-10 November. Buy Your Milan Tickets

Novak Djokovic controls his own destiny this week when it comes to the World No. 2 ranking. But an early loss by the Serbian in Shanghai would open the door for Roger Federer and Juan Martin del Potro to be No. 2 in the ATP Rankings on 15 October. Federer will remain No. 2 if he wins his third Rolex Shanghai Masters title and Djokovic does not reach the final. Del Potro will achieve a career-high No. 2 if he claims the Shanghai title and Djokovic does not advance to the semi-finals. In all other scenarios, Djokovic is assured a return to the Top 2 for the first time since June 2017. 

View FedEx ATP Head2Head for the following match-ups at the Rolex Shanghai Masters and vote for the players you think will win!
Federer v Medvedev | Del Potro v Gasquet | Zverev v Basilashvili

Federer begins his campaign on Wednesday against red-hot Russian Daniil Medvedev, who on Sunday captured his third career title at the ATP World Tour 500 event in Tokyo. Medvedev is 37-20 overall and 32-11 on hard courts in 2018, yet he’s seeking his first Top 10 win of the season against Federer. Del Potro is the only player on tour with more hard-court wins than Medvedev in 2018. The Argentine, who is 35-8 on hard courts this season, opens against Richard Gasquet.

Djokovic, Federer, Del Potro and World No. 1 Rafael Nadal will return to The O2 in London 11-18 November for the Nitto ATP Finals. Four spots remain and the next man in line to qualify is 21-year-old German Alexander Zverev. Already a three-time ATP World Tour Masters 1000 champion, Zverev faces a tough test when he opens play on Wednesday against Beijing champion Nikoloz Basilashvili. Also among the Nitto ATP Finals contenders are Kevin Anderson and Kei Nishikori, who compete for the first time this week against qualifier Mikhail Kukushkin and wild card Yibing Wu respectively.

Novak Djokovic’s remarkable late-season surge towards the year-end No. 1 ATP Ranking has the potential to rewrite more than 46 years of ATP Rankings history. Should the Serb chase down current World No. 1 Rafael Nadal to finish atop the year-end rankings for a fifth time, Djokovic would set several new rankings marks.

• No. 22 to No. 1: Djokovic fell to a low of No. 22 on 21 May – his lowest ranking since he was No. 22 as a 19-year-old in the week of 2 October 2006. No player has ever clawed back to year-end No. 1 in the same season from that low. The biggest climb to date was undertaken by Andre Agassi in 1999, when he rose from No. 14 on May 3.
• Sluggish Start: Djokovic began 2018 with a 5-5 match record (also 6-6). The worst start a year-end No. 1 had in his first 10 matches of a season was Gustavo Kuerten’s 6-4 mark in 2000.
• Pre-Wimbledon Titles: Djokovic would become the first player to finish a season No. 1 without winning a title before Wimbledon. John McEnroe (1982) won only one title prior to the grass-court major before finishing No. 1.

How bad does Novak want No. 1? “I am really glad that I put myself in a position to compete for No. 1 of the world,” he said this week in Shanghai. “And maybe four, five months ago, that was looking a little bit far from reach, but with the recent results, I put myself in a pretty decent position to fight for No. 1, year-end No. 1.”

Djokovic ended his 2017 season in late July due to an elbow injury. He returned in 2018 to play the Australian Open but soon after underwent right elbow surgery, which kept him sidelined until the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami. Looking a shadow of his former self, he lost his opening matches to World No. 109 Taro Daniel and World No. 49 Benoit Paire.

His first significant result was a run to the Rome semi-finals (l. Nadal) and the Roland Garros quarter-finals, although his loss in Paris to then-World No. 72 Marco Cecchinato had many fans thinking that Djokovic was still well below top form.

He mused about skipping the grass season but after dismissing those thoughts he reached the Queen’s final (l. Cilic) before winning his fourth Wimbledon title, beating Nadal 10-8 in the fifth over two days in the semis in one of the matches of the season before beating Kevin Anderson in the final.

In August he became the first singles player to complete the set of all nine ATP World Tour Masters 1000s by winning Cincinnati in his sixth appearance in the final. Then came the dramatic US Open. Djokovic wilted in oppressively hot and humid conditions in the early stages of his first-round match with World No. 41 Marton Fucsovics and a major upset looked a strong possibility when the players split the first two sets.

But after rallying to beat the Hungarian and then Tennys Sandgren in the second round in four sets, he won 15 straight sets to take the title, beating 2009 champion Juan Martin del Potro in the final.

Should Djokovic win his fourth Shanghai title, on Monday he will move to 155 points of Nadal in the ATP Rankings, which counts points earned in the past 52 weeks. (In the ATP Race To London, which measures only points earned in 2018, Djokovic will trail Nadal by just 35 points.)

That would set up a high-stakes battle when Djokovic and Nadal are next scheduled to face off at the Rolex Paris Masters, beginning 29 October, in the final week of the regular season.

And there is every chance that the year-end No. 1 ATP Ranking will be decided in the final week of the year at the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held 11-18 November in London.

Did You Know?
Pete Sampras owns the record for most year-end No. 1 finishes. The American finished World No. 1 for six consecutive seasons from 1993-98. The ATP Rankings were established in 1973.

– Joshua Rey and Graham Edgar contributed to this story

Some weeks, your serve gets white hot.

Daniil Medvedev is not ranked in the top 50 on the Infosys ATP Stats Serve LEADERBOARD over the past 52 weeks. In fact, his Return Rating of No. 40 eclipses his Serve Rating of No. 55.

No matter.

The 22-year-old Russian served his way to the biggest title of his career last week in winning the ATP 500 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships 2018. Medvedev came through qualifying to win seven matches, only dropping one set along the way. In his past three matches, against No. 20 Milos Raonic, No. 31 Denis Shapovalov and No. 12 Kei Nishikori, Medvedev didn’t drop serve – holding 29 consecutive times.

See Who’s Leading The Infosys ATP Stats Serve LEADERBOARD

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of Medvedev’s five main draw matches uncovers five keys to why his serve was “on” in the Orient. 

1. Win The First Point
Medvedev used the scoreboard as a secondary weapon against his opponents, as he surged ahead 15/0 in 78 per cent (38/49) of his service games. He won 36 of 38 service games when leading 15/0 and nine of 11 when trailing 0/15.

Winning the opening point of your service game typically “sets the weather” for the rest of it. We play a sport of getting ahead, which then creates pressure for the returner to do a little more than normal to break.

2. Close The Door
The 6’6” Russian surged to a 30/0 lead 28 times during the tournament, and never once let his opponent back into the game to break him. In 2018, Medvedev has led 30/0 in 252 service games, but was broken seven times from that commanding position. There was no letting the opponents back into the contest in Tokyo.

Watch Highlights: Medvedev Upsets Nishikori To Win Tokyo Title

3. Win Three In A Row
This statistic requires a double-take! Medvedev raced to a 40/0 lead in almost half (24/49) of all service games he played in the main draw in Tokyo. As a comparison, Medvedev has only led 40/0 in 27 per cent (173/640) of his service games in 2018, and 26 per cent (155/595) in 2017.

4. The 4x Factor
In Tokyo last week, Medvedev hit four times as many aces as he committed double faults – with 32 aces and only eight double faults. That is an outstanding ratio. In 2018, he has hit 359 aces and 202 double faults, for a 1.8 ratio of aces to double faults.

5. Second-Serve Prowess
In the 2018 season, Roger Federer leads the tour with second-serve points won at 60 per cent. Medvedev was from another world in Tokyo in this specific metric, winning a jaw-dropping 65 per cent (72/111) of second-serve points in his five main draw matches. For the 2018 season, Medvedev is averaging only winning 51 per cent (882/1722) of his second serves.

Medvedev is in action Wednesday at the Rolex Shanghai Masters against Federer in the featured night match. Another opportunity to serve up more success.