ATP World Tour Finals: Juan Martin del Potro keeps SF fight alive

By Ashley Williams

LONDON, England (TheSportsNEXT) November 9, 2012: World number seven Juan Martin del Potro of Argentine kept the ATP World Tour Finals Semi-Finals fight alive on Thursday when he defeated world number nine Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia by 6-0 6-4 in 71 minutes at The O2 Arena in London.

Juan Martin del Potro, who has won one of his two matches at the ATP World Tour Finals, will have to beat world number two Roger Federer of Switzerland in his final round-robin match of the tournament on Saturday to make sure he joins the Swiss into Semi-Finals of the event.

World number give David Ferrer of Spain had defeated Juan Martin del Potro and now the Argentinean is in a must-win position and he would take inspiration from his victory over Roger Federer last month in final of the Basel Open 2012 last month.

Juan Martin del Potro looked completely a different player on Thursday when compared with his previous outing at the ATP World Tour Finals against David Ferrer as he never gave any window of opportunity to Janko Tipsarevic who has already crashed out of the tournament after facing two defeats in as many matches.

The big Argentinean, who is sixth seeded at the ATP World Tour Finals where he ended as runner-up in 2009, smashed six aces and clinched 84 percent of his first serve points as he turned the Group B alive.

The Saturday’s matches will decide who is going to join Roger Federer into semi-finals of the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals. David Ferrer and Juan Martin del Potro both have got realistic chance of making it into the last-four stage where the Spaniard is better placed as he is going to face the weakest opponent in the tournament in shape of Janko Tipsarevic while the Argentinean has his work cut out against the legendary Roger Federer.

Talking about his first victory at the current tournament, Juan Martin del Potro told ATP, "I'm glad to beat Janko tonight. I play much better than my first match here. A win in two sets gives me a chance to go to the next match. I know if I want to beat Roger, I should play much better than today and my first match."

With this victory, Juan Martin del Potro has surged to 4-0 lifetime record against Janko Tipsarevic and won his 64^th match of the year as against 16 defeats. He has also won four titles this season.

Janko Tipsarevic told ATP about what went wrong for him against del Potro, “I wouldn't really blame my loss on the sickness. I am generally feeling fine. The problem was that I was sick and I didn't play a lot of tennis lately. I feel sorry that I don't play my best tennis here in London, which is probably the best event of the year. But I fought hard to be in a position to come to this event. I'll just do my best for one more match.”

Juan Martin del Potro had some support in the crowd at The O2 Arena where his fellow countryman footballer Sergio Aguero was there to buck him up. Following the match, Juan Martin del Potro and Sergio Aguero, who represented Manchester City in the English Premier League, exchanged some shots at The O2 Arena court.

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David Ferrer edges del Potro out at ATP World Tour Finals

By Ashley Williams

LONDON, England (TheSportsNEXT) November 7, 2012: World number five David Ferrer of Spain continued his rich run of form at O2 Arena in London on Tuesday to edge out world number seven Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina in a three-set thriller at the ATP World Tour Finals 2012.

David Ferrer, who is bidding to win his eighth ATP title this season, looked in tremendous form as he continued compiling a career-best 2012 season.

The fourth seeded Spanish player extended his winning streak to 11 matches as he saw off the sixth seeded Argentinean by 6-3 3-6 6-4 to rise to second place in Group B below Roger Federer who recorded an impressive victory over Janko Tipsarevic.

David Ferrer and Juan Martin del Potro both are former runner-ups at the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals where David Ferrer lost final in 2007 but this year the Spaniard is looking ominously good to challenge the very best in the business as he has entered into this tournament with back-to-back title victories in Valencia Open 500 and Paris Masters.

Talking about his first match of the ATP World Tour Finals, David Ferrer told ATP, “It was a really tough match, [it] was very close [and] we had very good rallies. I'm very happy with my game. Maybe this year, I am playing more aggressive with my shots. I am going to the net more to finish the points.”

Juan Martin del Potro told ATP, “David is playing so well. He won two tournaments in a row and he's playing with a lot of confidence. David was better in the important moments, like at the end of the match. He broke my serve by playing really well. He never missed a return in the last game. So he took his chances in the match. I think that was the key.

David Ferrer, who is featuring in the ATP World Tour Finals for fourth time, looked in no mood of playing it soft as he enjoyed the court conditions and put his opponent under tremendous pressure in the first set eventually winning it in 40 minutes.

On the other hand, Juan Martin del Potro looked faulty of the two as he committed 17 unforced errors, out of which seven came off his forehand, while David Ferror ran across the court with more energy and had ample replies to ferocious shots of his Argentinean opponent.

This was David Ferrer’s 30^th hard-court match victory this season as the 30-year-old Spaniard improved to a 73-14 record. He next faces world number two Roger Federer and he said, “I have lost 12 times, so I will try to do my best. I think I will have to play very aggressively all the time.”

Juan Martin del Potro will play Janko Tipsarevic in his next match and he vowed to better his game when he said, “I will try to play better than today. It is going to be difficult match because Janko is a dangerous player. He moves so fast and he play very, very solid on the baseline. So it's going to be difficult for me.”

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Who will win ATP World Tour Finals?

By Jawad Hussain

Top 8 Players in ATP Tour Rankings at River Thames Bridge

KARACHI, Pakistan (TheSportsNEXT) November 4, 2012: Some of the greatest tennis rivals were divided into two groups of four at draws of the ATP World Tour Finals 2012 which begins in O2 Arena of London from November 5.

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Top eight players in the ATP Tour Rankings including world number one Novak Djokovic of Serbia, Roger Federer of Switzerland, Andy Murray of Great Britain, David Ferrer of Spain, Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic, Juan Martin del Potro of Argentine, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, and Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia will fight it out for the year-ending ATP World Tour Finals during the course of eight days.

The major absentee in the tournament is the former world number one Spanish player Rafael Nadal who has been out of action in the past few months due to an injury which has paved the way for Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia in the top eight players in the ATP world.

These top eight players have been divided into two pools of four players where Group A has Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Tomas Berdych, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga while Group B has Roger Federer, Juan Martin del Potro, David Ferrer, and Janko Tipsarevic.

GROUP A

Novak Djokovic (Serbia)

Andy Murray (Great Britain)

Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic)

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France)

GROUP B

Roger Federer (Switzerland)

David Ferrer (Spain)

Juan Martin del Potro (Argentine)

Janko Tipsarevic (Serbia)

The ATP World Tour Finals is one of the best tournaments in the ATP Tour as it gives all of the eight players good bit of time and chance to stay in the hunt, unlike all other tournaments which are based on the knockout matches.

The season-ending ATP World Tour Finals has Barclays as the leading sponsor and the organizers announced the draws on Saturday in London where they pitted some of the best tennis players against each other.

Kirsty Gallacher at
ATP World Tour Finals Preview

As per the draws, Roger Federer and Juan Martin del Potro are the two likely qualifiers from Group B while Group A may see Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic going through to the semi-finals stage.

However, the four players from the bottom half are capable of pulling out a major upset on any given day which makes the tournament even more mouth-watering.

David Ferrer is in prime touch these days and has already qualified into the final of the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris along with Jerzy Janowicz while Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Tomas Berdych, and Janko Tisparevic have also done good in the recent tournaments so it makes the ATP World Tour Finals all more intriguing.

Out of the total 12 round-robin matches there are some matches which will be widely followed across the world by tennis fans which will have Roger Federer vs Juan Martin del Potro and Andy Murray vs Novak Djokovic on top of the list.

Novak Djokovic has already secured the world number one position for the current season for a second successive year and would look to take revenge of his defeats in finals of the London 2012 and US Open where the British Andy Murray secured his maiden titles. On the other hand, Andy Murray would be looking to regain his dominance over the Serb which he broke with Shanghai Rolex Masters title and the two players are pretty much evenly poised in their career head-to-head records where Djokovic has a slim advantage over Murray with 9-7 record.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga may have tasted defeat to the hands of David Ferrer in semi-final of the BNP Paribas Masters the other day but has a good past record at the ATP World Tour Finals where he ended as runner-up last year.

Roger Federer has been a star at the ATP World Tour Finals winning the year-ending title six times, i.e. in 2003 with victory over Andre Agassi, in 2004 with win over Lleyton Hewitt, in 2006 with win over James Blake, in 2007 with triumph over David Ferrer, in 2010 with victory over Rafael Nadal, and in 2011 when he defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. He will be up against Juan Martin del Potro who he has defeated 13 times in 16 meetings between the two.

Juan Martin del Potro is playing the ATP World Tour Finals for the first time since 2009 when he ended as runner-up and his presence at The O2 Arena this year will make a huge difference.

The tournament which starts Monday will have Andy Murray vs Tomas Berdych and Novak Djokovic vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on the opening day.

The ATP World Tour Finals will have in store for the tennis fans the Roger Federer vs Janko Tipsarevic and David Ferrer vs Juan Martin del Potro on Tuesday.

ATP World Tour Finals 2012 Schedule

Monday, 5 November 2012  Andy Murray vs Tomas Berdych   1:45pm

Monday, 5 November 2012   Novak Djokovic vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga  7:45pm

Tuesday, 6 November 2012   Roger Federer vs Janko Tipsarevic 1:45pm

Tuesday, 6 November 2012 Juan Martin del Potro vs David Ferrer   7:45pm

What’s your take? Tell us in comments who do you see winning the ATP World Tour Finals.

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Juan Martin del Potro qualifies for ATP World Tour Finals

By Alexia Krause

Juan Martin del Potro enters quarterfinals in Basel

BASEL, Switzerland (TheSportsNEXT) October 26, 2012: Juan Martin del Potro of Argentine defeated Brian Baker of United States by 7-5 6-1 to storm his way into quarterfinals of the Swiss Indoors Basel on Thursday, which also gave him qualification into the season-ending prestigious event of ATP World Tour Finals.

Juan Martin del Potro became the sixth player to qualify into the ATP World Tour Finals, joining Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, David Ferrer, and Tomas Berdych with Rafael Nadal out of the tournament due to a left knee injury.

The prestigious ATP World Tour Finals will be played at the O2 Arena in London from November 5-12, 2012 where eight top players in the ATP Tour Rankings will try their talent to achieve the pinnacles. The eight players will be divided into two groups where each player will play three matches before semi-finals and final.

Del Potro, who was seeded second in the Basel event, was delighted to be part of the ATP elite but at the same time he also felt for Rafael Nadal who has been kept out of the tennis action since June.

Speaking to reporters after his victory, Juan Martin del Potro talked about Rafael Nadal as he said, “I'm sad for Rafa, he's really trying in his comeback. But it's not easy after such a long time away. I had the same feeling with my wrist. We miss Rafa a lot on the Tour. He is one of the best players in history, he will come back strong. I'm sure it will be very soon. He will be ready to win a big event again, I know that he can play better than me when he makes his comeback, I wish all the best to him."

This is the third time in his career that the big-serving Argentinean ace will feature in the ATP World Tour Finals where his best performance came in 2009 when he lost it in the final.

The Year 2012 has been quite a fruitful one for Del Potro as he won three ATP Tour titles this season at the Open 12 in Marseille, the Estoril Open, and the Erste Bank Open in Vienna last week.

Del Potro told reporters, “For me it’s a gift for my effort during the year. Being in that tournament means a lot. It’s only eight players fighting for one tournament. It’s the best eight players of the year, so it’s very important to me. I’m so glad to be there once again. I will be fighting against the big names in London and maybe I’ll have a chance to make another final.”

Confirming Juan Martin del Potro as the sixth player for the ATP World Tour Finals, ATP Executive Chairman and President, Brad Drewett said, “We’re delighted to welcome Juan Martin back to the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals where he made such a big impact back in 2009 by reaching the final. He has one of the biggest games on tour and is an exciting addition to what will be a fantastic player field in London.”

With two berths still up for grabs at the ATP World Tour Finals, there are four players in the race including Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Janko Tipsarevic, Richard Gasquet and Nicolas Almagro.

Following are the other second round results at the Swiss Indoors Basel.

Mikhail Youzhny (Russia) beat Matthew Ebden (Australia) 6-3, 6-1

Benoit Paire (France) beat Lukasz Kubot (Poland) 6-4, 6-4

Paul-Henri Mathieu (France) beat Nikolay Davydenko (Russia) 6-3, 6-7 (2/7), 6-4

Barclays ATP World Tour Finals - The Contenders

Pos.  Name   YTD Points    Playing

1.  N. Djokovic (SRB) 11,410    Paris, London

2.  R. Federer (SUI)   9,255     Basel, Paris, London

3.  A. Murray (GBR)   7,510 Paris, London

4. R. Nadal (ESP) (withdrawn) 6,840     withdrawn (knee)

5.  D. Ferrer (ESP) 4,780    Valencia, Paris, London

6. T. Berdych (CZE)   4,225     Paris, London

7.  J. M. del Potro (ARG)    3,740    Basel, Paris, London

8. J. Tsonga (FRA)    3,310 Valencia, Paris

9. J. Tipsarevic (SRB)    2,810 Valencia, Paris

10.     N. Almagro (ESP) 2,425     Valencia, Paris

11. R. Gasquet (FRA)  2,415 Basel, Paris

12. J. Monaco (ARG)  2,340     Valencia, Paris

13.     M. Raonic (CAN)   2,290     Valencia, Paris

14.     J. Isner (USA)   2,205     Valencia, Paris

15.     M. Cilic (CRO)   2,200     Valencia, Paris

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Djokovic catches up on Federer in ATP Rankings

By Ashley Williams

Novak Djokovic scored 1,000 ATP rankings points with Shanghai Masters triumph.

LONDON, England (TheSportsNEXT) October 15, 2012: Novak Djokovic scored 1,000 ranking points with the Shanghai Masters title Sunday which took him just 195 points below world number one Roger Federer in the latest ATP Rankings published on Monday.

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Roger Federer, who lost to Andy Murray in the semis, has 12,165 points as he is now number one for a total of 300 weeks.

Djokovic is 195 points away with three championships yet to be decided in 2012 ATP calendar.

Novak Djokovic defeated Andy Murray in three sets by 5-7 7-6 (13-11) 6-3 in final of the Shanghai Rolex Masters which spanned for over three hours on Sunday which showed him in great form and shape to challenge Roger Federer on top of the ATP Tour Rankings.

As per the ATP rules, the Masters tournament has worth of 1,000 rankings points and with three Masters left this season there are a maximum of 3,000 rankings points up for grab and with Roger Federer enjoying a pretty slim lead of 195 points over Novak Djokovic, the battle has just heated up tremendously right towards the end of the season.

Roger Federer could have had a bigger lead on his Serbian opponent had he defeated Olympic and US Open title holder Andy Murray in Semi-Final of the Shanghai Rolex Masters.

Interestingly, all the three ATP Masters events will have Roger Federer as the defending champion after the Swiss tennis maestro revved up his game right at the end of the last year to came back into contention.

Andy Murray trails Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic as world number three while out-of-action Rafael Nadal is ranked fourth. All of these four players have qualified for the World Tour Finals and David Ferrer also joined them as fifth qualifier on Monday, which means the battle for the top spot will get to the wire. It also means that the battle will also have some means left for the players down the rankings as well.

As per the latest ATP Tour Rankings released Monday, the only change in the Top 10 was Tomas Berdych who improved his position by a place as he moved to sixth from seventh after losing to Novak Djokovic in the Shanghai Semi-Finals. He has replaced Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at sixth and has a slender 30 points lead over the Frenchman.

There are three ATP tournaments this week where four top 10 players are in the draws. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Tomas Berdych will be seen in action in Stockholm in Sweden while Juan Martin del Potro and Janko Tipsarevic will be vying for the laurels at Vienna, Austria.

Tomas Berdych, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Juan Martin del Potro are the leaders for the last three invitations to the World Tour Finals.

Following are the latest ATP Tour Rankings.

01-Roger Federer              12,165

02-Novak Djokovic            11,970

03-Andy Murray                 7,690

04-Rafael Nadal                6,995

05-David Ferrer                 5,360

06-Tomas Berdych             4,840

07-Jo-Wilfried Tsonga        4,810

08-Juan Martin del Potro     3,670

09-Janko Tipsarevic           3,265

10-Juan Monaco                2,775

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Battle for ATP World Number One Heats Up

By Ali Ahmed

Can Roger Federer equal Pete Sampras record of ending season as World Number 1 for six years?

KARACHI, Pakistan (TheSportsNEXT) October 16, 2012: World number two Novak Djokovic of Serbia won Shanghai Masters in big time on Sunday to get closer to world number one Roger Federer.

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Serbian tennis ace won his fifth title of the year in Shanghai this weekend and now he has won three ATP Masters titles this season.

Novak Djokovic who had a phenomenal last year was able to win only one Grand Slam this year and thus lost his number one ranking to Roger Federer in Wimbledon where the Swiss tennis maestro got the better of him in semi-final.

On the other hand, world number one Roger Federer added another feather to his crown by staying world number one for over 300 weeks and became only male player to do this and is still far ahead with this record because he is followed by Rafael Nadal who could get hold of number one position for 102 weeks thus far.

Roger Federer has been enjoying number one spot and can add another feat by finishing the year as best male tennis player for the sixth time in his ATP career. If he is able to do that he will equalize Pete Sampras’s record who achieved it from 1993 till 1998.

But at the same time Swiss player is struggling to retain his top ranking after getting defeated by Andy Murray in the Shanghai Masters last week.

After 2003 this is the year where no player is dominating so far and Grand Slams shared by four different players, In 2003, Andre Agassi, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Roger Federer, and Andy Roddick had won the Grand Slam titles and this year Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, and Andy Murray have got their hands on the Grand Slam titles. Interestingly, ATP Masters titles this year have been shared by Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

But Rafael Nadal couldn’t increase his winning tally after a shock defeat in Wimbledon because of injury and still couldn’t return to the court and now Andy Murray is 4,400 points away from world number one Roger Federer. Failing to win the ATP Masters is one of the biggest reasons for Andy Murray’s massive points-difference with the number one.

So, the battle for world number one is still on for Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

Conditions are quite tough for Roger Federer because he has to defend his all three scheduled tournaments.

Last year, Roger finished the season with an astonishing run, claiming the Basel, Paris Masters and ATP World Tour Finals titles. Djokovic and Murray will be the part for all these three events this year so Federer will have to be at his very best to repeat the feat.

So Defending 3,000 points will be quite tough for Swiss maestro but don’t forget Roger has won 20 Titles in Indoor Stadium and boasts a very impressive record in Basel and ATP World Tour Finals where he has won five and six titles respectively but surprisingly he won Paris Masters only once.

Novak Djokovic couldn’t make into any of the finals of these tournaments last year but managed to win Basel and Paris Master in 2009 and ATP world Tour Finals in 2008 and showed fabulous performance in last two weeks.

So the race will virtually be on till second week of November this year.

Will Novak Djokovic finish the year with number one rank for second consecutive time or will it be Roger Federer who will equalize Pete’s feat to finish the year with number one rank for sixth year?

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