Scouting Report: 8 Key Things About The 2019 Nitto ATP Finals

Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer lead the elite eight at the 2019 Nitto ATP Finals, the 50th edition of the year-end championship, from 10-17 November at The O2 in London.The field also includes defending champion Alexander Zverev, four-time qualifier Dominic Thiem and debutants Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Matteo Berrettini.

Here are eight key things to know about the 2019 Nitto ATP Finals:

1) The Nitto ATP Finals is the 50th edition of the year-end championship on the ATP Tour, which began in Tokyo in 1970. This is the 11th year the tournament has been held in London. The 10-year attendance total at The O2 is 2,561,084. The only city to host the season finale longer is New York, which held the Masters for 13 years from 1977-1989.

2) For the first time in tournament history eight Europeans from eight different countries are represented. Overall eight different countries are represented at the Nitto ATP Finals for the fourth consecutive year.

3) There are three former champions in the field, led by last year’s winner Alexander Zverev, record six-time titleholder Roger Federer and five-time trophy winner Novak Djokovic. The last time there were three former year-end champions in the draw was 2000 Lisbon with Pete Sampras (1991, ’94, ’96-97, ’99), Alex Corretja (1998) and Andre Agassi (1990). 

4) There have been four different winners the past four years with Zverev, Grigor Dimitrov (2017), Andy Murray (2016) and Djokovic (2015). The last time this occurred was from 1998-2001 with Alex Corretja (1998), Sampras (1999), Gustavo Kuerten (2000) and Lleyton Hewitt (2001).

5) This is the first time since 2009 there are four players 23 & under in the Nitto ATP Finals with Stefanos Tsitsipas (21), Zverev (22), Matteo Berrettini (23) and Daniil Medvedev (23). There are three first-time participants: Tsitsipas, who won last year’s Next Gen ATP Finals; Medvedev, who was a Milan semi-finalist in 2017, and Berrettini, who is the first Italian to qualify for the year-end Finals since Corrado Barazzutti in 1978. In 2009, the foursome was del Potro (21), Djokovic (22), Murray (22) and Nadal (23).

6) This is also the first time since 2003 the Top 5 players in the ATP Rankings all have won at least four ATP Tour level titles during the season with Djokovic (5), Dominic Thiem (5), Federer (4), Medvedev (4) and Nadal (4).

7) The Big 3 of Nadal, Djokovic and Federer are among the Top 3 seeds together in the year-end championship for the fourth time (2007, 2009-10). They were also in the Top 3 coming into the tournament on three other occasions (2008, 2014, 2018) but Nadal withdrew.

8) No. 1 Scenarios: Djokovic must reach the final for a chance to be year-end No. 1. Here is a look:
= 2 RR Wins + SF Win + Nadal earns 0 RR wins.
= 3 RR Wins + SF Win + Nadal only earns 0-1 RR wins.
= 1 RR Win + SF Win + Final Win + Nadal only earns 0-2 RR wins.
= 2 RR Wins + SF Win + Final Win + Nadal does not reach final with 3-4 wins.
= 3 RR Wins + SF Win + Final Win + Nadal does not reach final with 4 wins.