Federer Wins Final Thriller In 2011 London Finale Classic Moment
Federer Wins Final Thriller In 2011 London Finale Classic Moment
Nov202016
Fifth seeds beat Klaasen/Ram to prevail in London
Henri Kontinen and John Peers finished their debut season with the perfect ending on Sunday in London. The pairing won the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals doubles title during their team debut, beating fellow first-timers Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram 2-6, 6-1, 10-8 at The O2.
“To be honest, it probably actually hasn’t sunk in. It will hopefully sink in tomorrow once I get a flight back home,” said Peers. “When I start to think what we’ve achieved probably in the last month, it’s been a great thing for both of us.
“It just feels really good to know all the hard work we kept putting in time and time again, even if we felt good or bad, that it’s all starting to pay off, and we can contest for the big tournaments all the time.”
Watch Kontinen/Peers Interview
Kontinen, of Finland, and Peers, of Australia, finish the season on a 10-match win streak, dating back to their first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title at the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris earlier this month. They also finish 2016 with five ATP World Tour titles, including crowns in Brisbane, Munich and Hamburg.
“I’ve known from the start that we could beat any team in the world,” said Kontinen. “To do it on a consistent basis has been obviously a big plus. But to be contesting for these titles, I don’t think either one of us is surprised about that.”
Seventh seeds Klaasen/Ram were going for their biggest team title, and the South African and American started strong. They broke twice in the first set and erased all three break points faced to breeze through the 30-minute opener.
Before Sunday, Kontinen/Peers had been broken only twice all tournament, having gone 41/43 on serve during their 4-0 match start. But they rebounded in the second set, breaking Ram to love to lead 2-0. They broke again when Klaasen guided a forehand volley wide and would soon even the match.
Klaasen/Ram regrouped in time for the Match Tie-break, and the teams were tied at 8/8 when Klaasen stepped to the line for a second serve. Kontinen took advantage of the softer offering, though, slapping a backhand that Ram couldn’t handle at the net. On the next point, Peers struck a service winner down the T for their biggest title to date.
Kontinen/Peers will receive 1,500 Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings points and split $455,000 in prize money. Klaasen/Ram will receive 800 Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings points and split $245,000.
Britain’s Andy Murray beat five-time champion Novak Djokovic to win his first ATP World Tour Finals title and end 2016 as the world number one.
With the year-end top ranking on the line, Murray won the much-anticipated final 6-3 6-4 at London’s O2 Arena.
“I’m very happy to win and to be world number one is very special,” said the Scot. “It’s very special playing against Novak in a match like this.”
Murray, 29, extended his career-best winning run to 24 matches.
The victory also ends Djokovic’s four-year run of success at the tournament and the Serb’s bid to equal Roger Federer’s record of six titles.
Murray, who had won 10 of the pair’s previous 34 encounters, added: “We’ve played Grand Slam finals and in the Olympics before, but I am very happy to win.
“It is something I never expected,” he said, his win capping off a weekend that also saw brother Jamie Murray and partner Bruno Soares crowned world number one doubles pair.
A capacity crowd of 17,000 packed into the O2 Arena to witness a match that felt more like a heavyweight championship boxing bout than a tennis match, and it was Murray who rose to the occasion.
“Andy is definitely number one in the world,” said Djokovic. “He deserved to win. He is the best player.
“In the decisive moments, I wasn’t able to come back. I played better late in the match but it wasn’t enough.”
Murray went into the match having played over three hours more than Djokovic during the course of the week, but in the end it was his big-match sharpness that prevailed.
He played with far greater purpose than Djokovic, who made 30 unforced errors in an unusually erratic performance.
Murray’s experience of winning matches day in, day out through the second half of the year shone through, in contrast to the more tentative Djokovic we have seen since he won the French Open.
The Briton did open the match with a double fault, and another three points later, but he pressed for the break at 3-3 after Djokovic sent an easy smash wildly long and wide.
The breakthrough game two games later when Murray fired a forehand into the corner for a 5-3 lead, and the set followed after 46 minutes.
Murray simply grew stronger and Djokovic more error-prone as the second set unfolded, two breaks giving him a seemingly impregnable 4-1 lead, before the champion fought back.
Djokovic recovered one break and raced through a service game to cut the deficit to 4-3, but Murray steadied the ship with a solid service hold to move within a game of victory.
When he beat Djokovic to win Wimbledon in 2013, Murray had to come through a tortuous 14-minute final game, and there was more tension this time.
The crowd were gripped as two match points passed before Djokovic finally succumbed on the third to give up his title – and the mantle of best player in the world.
Andrew Castle, BBC Sport tennis commentator
This achievement, to put in perspective, is bigger than any grand slam. It takes an awful lot of work.
I didn’t think it was possible today. Murray only had 24 hours to recover after a really taxing match. The first five games were important for Murray to establish himself and when he got the break, he took it. That is when the belief round here grew.
You knew Djokovic wouldn’t go away without a fight but Murray found a way to get over the line.
Novak Djokovic plays “one of the worst overheads of all time” and a “nightmare” volley as he loses the ATP World Tour final to Andy Murray.
The ATP World Tour welcomes back old friends to the English capital
Former players from the 1980s involved in the season-ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals were welcomed to The O2, venue of the season finale in London this week. Stefan Edberg, the 1989 champion, and former World No. 1 Mats Wilander took part in this week’s celebrations, while those working on-site: five-time former titlist Ivan Lendl, who reached nine straight year-end finals, and three-time winners John McEnroe and Boris Becker, were also honoured.
More than 30 players, who featured in the year-end singles and doubles championships from the 1980s, travelled to the English capital as part of The Finals Club, an initiative established in 2015 that welcomes some of the game’s former greats from the past 45 years return to the season-ending tournament, where they will be able to reconnect with the sport, their peers, as well as the world’s best players of today.
Those accepting the ATP World Tour’s invitation this year also included Pieter Aldrich, Darren Cahill, Sergio Casal, Pat Cash, Michael Chang, Marty Davis, Steve Denton, Kelly Evernden, John Fitzgerald, Ken Flach, John Fitzgerald, Peter Fleming, Brad Gilbert, Andres Gomez, Heinz Gunthardt, Jakob Hlasek, Anders Jarryd, Carlos Kirmayr, Johan Kriek, Patrick McEnroe, Peter McNamara, Paul McNamee, Cassio Motta, Joakim Nystrom, Hans Simonsson, Tomas Smid, Henrik Sundstrom, Balazs Taroczy and Danie Visser.
Read: Lendl Reflects On 1980s Masters Tennis, Helping Murray
Read: Top 10 New York Season Finale Matches (1977-1989)
Watch & Read: The Greatest Final Ever?: Becker v Lendl, 1988
The group took a boat ride from the London Eye to The O2, then enjoyed a Moët & Chandon toast and were welcomed by Chris Kermode, the ATP Executive Chairman and President. Having been presented with personalised Moët & Chandon bottles, the former players enjoyed a sumptuous lunch, prior to taking their seats courtside for the 2016 singles and doubles title matches at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.
While players from the 1990s and 2000s will be celebrated in future years, The Finals Club this year has been highlighted by the renaming of Groups A and B for both the singles and doubles in honour of players that made an indelible mark on the tournament in the 1980s. In singles, Group A was named after McEnroe and Group B after Lendl. The doubles groups were named Fleming/McEnroe and Edberg/Jarryd, after Fleming and John McEnroe – the 1978-84 doubles titlists – and Edberg and Jarryd, who won the year-end championships in 1985 and 1986.
Andy Murray says it is a “very special day” after beating Novak Djokovic to end 2016 as the world number one.
Watch the best five shots as an “extraordinary” Andy Murray beats Novak Djokovic to win his first ATP World Tour Finals title.
Henri Kontinen and John Peers beat Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram in a match tie-break to win the ATP World Tour doubles final in London.
Finn Kontinen and Australian Peers came back from losing the first set to take victory 2-6 6-1 10-8.
They broke Klaasen’s serve with the tie-break at 8-8 before securing the title on the next point.
It was their fifth title of 2016, in their first appearance together at the finals.
Murray Route To The Finals: Group Stage 1st (3-0) d. Marin Cilic 63 62 d. Kei Nishikori 67 64 64 d. Stanislas Wawrinka…