The Most Telling Stats Of 2017 – Part 1
The Most Telling Stats Of 2017 – Part 1
Continuing our Season In Review series, ATPWorldTour.com looks at the most intriguing statistics of the year. In part one of our two-part series, we look at champions by age, country and more.
Every week on the ATP World Tour, players have one goal — winning the title. So inevitably, besides their year-end Emirates ATP Ranking, one of the most important statistics a player can excel in is titles won. While he was the 17th seed at the first event he won this year (Australian Open), Roger Federer won seven titles to rocket up the rankings back to No. 2 in the world.
The Swiss was one of three players to capture at least five titles in 2017, with World No. 1 Rafael Nadal winning six and rapid-riser Alexander Zverev taking home five.
Grigor Dimitrov earned the biggest title of his career in his debut at the Nitto ATP Finals, and was second on the ATP World Tour with four hard-court victories in 2017.
ATP World Tour Title Leaders, 2017
| Player | Clay | Grass | Hard | Total |
| Roger Federer | 0 | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| Rafael Nadal | 4 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| Alexander Zverev | 2 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| Grigor Dimitrov | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Jo-Wilfried Tsonga | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| Lucas Pouille | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Jack Sock | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
One of the most striking things when looking at the ATP World Tour Titles leaderboard is that after Roger Federer (36) and Rafael Nadal (31) comes Alexander Zverev, who was just 125 days old when Federer entered the Emirates ATP Rankings on 22 September 1997. But that isn’t the only fun fact about the age of this year’s title winners:
– 15 per cent of the tour-level titles won in 2017 were captured by players aged 35 or older, with Roger Federer accounting for seven of those wins.
– Outside of Alexander Zverev (5), just two titles were won by players who were younger than 23.
– ATP World Tour titlists in 2017 ranged from age 19 to 36.
– The oldest final (67) was 21 years older than the youngest final (46).
ATP World Tour Finals By Age
| Youngest Finals | Oldest Finals |
| 1. Munich — Alexander Zverev (20) d. Guido Pella (26) | 1. ‘s-Hertogenbosch — Gilles Muller (34) d. Ivo Karlovic (38) |
| 2. Cincinnati — Grigor Dimitrov (26) d. Nick Kyrgios (22) | 2. Quito — Victor Estrella Burgos (36) d. Paolo Lorenzi (35) |
| 3. Rio de Janeiro — Dominic Thiem (23) d. Pablo Carreno Busta | 3. Shanghai — Roger Federer (36) d. Rafael Nadal (31) |
Perhaps with Nadal’s resurgence to the top of the Emirates ATP Rankings, it was no surprise that Spain led all countries in titles won with 11. But the United States — led by Jack Sock, who raised three trophies — was right behind with nine.
Federer not only led the ATP World Tour in titles in 2017, but he claimed more trophies (7) than all but four countries.
Singles Titles By Country
1. Spain (11)
2. United States (9)
3. Switzerland (8)
4. France, Germany (7)
5. Bulgaria (4)
6. Argentina, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Luxembourg, Serbia (2)
All-Countrymen Finals
Marseille: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga d. Lucas Pouille (FRA)
Indian Wells: Roger Federer d. Stan Wawrinka (SUI)
Monte-Carlo: Rafael Nadal d. Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP)
Atlanta: John Isner d. Ryan Harrison (USA)
Vienna: Lucas Pouille d. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA)
Top 10 Finals:
Doha: Novak Djokovic (2) d. Andy Murray (1)
Indian Wells: Roger Federer (10) d. Stan Wawrinka (3)
Miami: Roger Federer (6) d. Rafael Nadal (7)
Istanbul: Marin Cilic (8) d. Milos Raonic (6)
Madrid: Rafael Nadal (5) d. Dominic Thiem (9)
Roland Garros: Rafael Nadal (4) d. Stan Wawrinka (3)
Wimbledon: Roger Federer (5) d. Marin Cilic (6)
Montreal: Alexander Zverev (8) d. Roger Federer (3)
Shanghai: Roger Federer (2) d. Rafael Nadal (1)
London: Grigor Dimitrov (6) d. David Goffin (8)
First-Time ATP World Tour Champions
| Gilles Muller | 33 y.o. | Sydney | Andrey Rublev | 19 y.o. | Umag |
| Ryan Harrison | 24 y.o. | Memphis | Damir Dzumhur | 25 y.o. | St. Petersburg |
| Borna Coric | 20 y.o. | Marrakech | Peter Gojowczyk | 28 y.o. | Metz |
| Yuichi Sugita | 28 y.o. | Antalya |
Gilles Muller’s maiden title was past due, so it was no surprise that Luxembourg’s star player broke through in 2017. The tricky left-hander held three championship points against Ivo Karlovic at the Dell Technologies Hall of Fame Open in Newport in 2016, but could not convert.
This year, however, he would not let slip another opportunity, going on to win two titles. The first came early in the year in Sydney, and the second on grass in ‘s-Hertogenbosch.
2017 ATP World Tour Titlists By Age (Titles in 2017)
| Youngest Champions | Oldest Champions |
| 1. Andrey Rublev (1) — Umag (19 years, 9 months) | 1. Victor Estrella Burgos (1) — Quito (36 years, 6 months) |
| 2. Alexander Zverev (5) — Montpellier (19 years, 10 months) | 2. Roger Federer (7) — Basel (36 years, 3 months) |
| 3. Borna Coric (1) — Marrakech (20 years, 5 months) | 3. Feliciano Lopez (1) — London/Queen’s Club (35 years, 9 months) |
| 4. Lucas Pouille (2) — Budapest (23 years, 2 months) | 4. David Ferrer (1) — Bastad (35 years, 4 months) |
| 5. Dominic Thiem (1) — Rio de Janeiro (23 years, 5 months) | 5. Gilles Muller (2) — ‘S-Hertogenbosch (34 years, 1 month) |
Match Points Saved By Eventual Champion
| Player | Tournament | Opponent | Round | Match Points Saved |
| Novak Djokovic | Doha | Fernando Verdasco | SF | 5 |
| Gilles Muller | Sydney | Alexandr Dolgopolov | 1R | 1 |
| Victor Estrella Burgos | Quito | Ivo Karlovic, Paolo Lorenzi | 2R, F | 3, 1 |
| Andy Murray | Dubai | Philipp Kohlschreiber | QF | 7 |
| Roger Federer | Miami | Tomas Berdych | QF | 2 |
| Borna Coric | Marrakech | Philipp Kohlschreiber | F | 5 |
| Lucas Pouille | Budapest | Jiri Vesely | 2R | 2 |
| Lucas Pouille | Stuttgart | Jan-Lennard Struff | 2R | 1 |
| Feliciano Lopez | London/Queen’s Club | Tomas Berdych, Marin Cilic | QF, F | 1, 1 |
| David Ferrer | Bastad | Henri Laaksonen | QF | 2 |
| Alexander Zverev | Montreal | Richard Gasquet | 2R | 3 |
| Rafael Nadal | Beijing | Lucas Pouille | 1R | 4 |
However crazy this may sound, if 12 points went differently in 2017, there would be 12 different titlists on the ATP World Tour. That is because an impressive 12 players saved match point(s) in a tournament before going on to win the event.
Three of those players — Victor Estrella Burgos (1), Borna Coric (5) and Feliciano Lopez (1) — saved match point(s) in the final. And while Estrella Burgos and Lopez also saved match point(s) earlier in the tournament in a different match, Coric perhaps came closest to elimination, saving five match points before defeating ATP World Tour veteran Philipp Kohlschreiber in Marrakech.
Both Federer (Miami) and Zverev (Montreal) saved match points before going on to win an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event. But Zverev needed to survive a 49-shot rally against Richard Gasquet in one of the most gripping points of the season.
Check ATPWorldTour.com on Sunday for the second part of the series.