Novak Djokovic beats Andy Murray in ATP World Tour Finals

By Ashley Williams

LONDON, England (TheSportsNEXT) November 7, 2012: World number one Novak Djokovic of Serbia lived up to the expectations on Wednesday when he outlasted world number three Andy Murray of Great Britain by 4-6 6-3 7-5 in the Group A match of the ATP World Tour Finals at a packed O2 Arena.

The season-ending ATP World Tour Finals has the world’s top eight players in the ATP Rankings but this year Rafael Nadal of Spain, the world number four, is not part of the tournament owing to an injury which paved the way for Janko Tipsarevic at the London event.

Novak Djokovic found it difficult to cope with the aggression of Andy Murray in the initial part of the match as the British world number three as the local lad took the first set by 6-4.

However, Novak Djokovic stormed back into the contention in second set and claimed it by 6-3.

The third set went to the wire where both players tried their best to overcome each other but it was Novak Djokovic who repeated US Open final victory in London as he clinched the penultimate set by 7-5 after pendulum kept swinging both ways in the final moments of the match.

After this victory, Novak Djokovic, the 2008 champion, is now 2-0 in Group A play at the ATP World Tour Finals and is on course to end the 2012 with yet another title as number one player in the world.

It was one of the most-anticipated matches of the ATP World Tour Finals where finalists of Sony Open Tennis, US Open, and Shanghai Rolex Masters revived the rivalry which is touching new highs as both players looked under pressure for the best part of the match.

Novak Djokovic committed 40 unforced errors but Andy Murray had 44 unforced errors btu the Serb pounced on the point scoring chances as he won 22 of his 30 points at the net in an aggressive fashion as the high quality encounter was relished by an attendance of 17,651 at the O2 Arena.

Novak Djokovic told ATP after his victory, “It was another great match, another great performance from both of us. I hope that people who watched it agree with my opinion? I didn't expect anything less other than a tough match that went down the wire and was decided on the last point. The good thing about this format, it gives you a day to recover. I'm going to need that day tomorrow. I will just try to take it easy, work on some things a little bit on the practice. Then, of course, get on the court and try to win. It was really important obviously for me to win this match today, as it was for Andy. I will try to focus and win every match that I play on”.

The world number one Novak Djokovic will be up against Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic in his final match of the round-robin league on Friday which will decide the other qualifier from Group A.

Andy Murray told reporters, “The last two minutes of the match probably is what decided it. He broke from 15/40, and then I had 15/40 next game and didn't break … I had a chance in the third set. You would hope that one game wouldn't decide the outcome of a whole match."

Djokovic said, “It was important for me after dropping a first set to stay mentally tough and believe that I could get my opportunities, and when they were presented to try to step in and use them. I don't think I played bad in the first set. It was him playing really well, serving extremely well. He lost only [a] couple of points on his first serve throughout the whole set and then he made some unforced errors. He allowed me to get back to the match. Then I think it was quite even up to the last point."

On Tuesday, Djokovic received two 2012 ATP World Tour Awards presented by Moët & Chandon. ATP Executive Chairman and President Brad Drewett presented ATP World Tour No. 1 and Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year awards in a special on-court ceremony.

Andy Murray has now won one out of his two matches of the ATP World Tour Finals 2012 thus far and his chances for last-four qualification will depend largely on his performance against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Friday. Tomas Berdych also stands a good chance of qualification but he will have to defeat Novak Djokovic to get there.

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Andy Murray beats Tomas Berdych in ATP World Tour Finals opener

By Ashley Williams

LONDON, England (TheSportsNEXT) November 5, 2012: World number three Andy Murray of Great Britain started his ATP World Tour Finals campaign off to a valiant start on Monday when he defeated Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic in a three-set encounter at O2 Arena in London.

Andy Murray won the first set by 6-3 but his Czech opponent came back strongly in the second set winning it by the identical margin.

However, Andy Murray recomposed himself and clinched third set by 6-4.

In the other match of the World ATP Tour Finals on Monday, world number one Novak Djokovic of Serbia is up against world number eight Jo-Wiflried Tsonga of France.

ATP world Tour Finals is the only ATP event played in a round-robin format where eight players contest for the laurels in two different groups. 

However, under the rules, the player who is ranked number eight in the ATP Champion's Race world rankings does not have a guaranteed spot. 

If a player who wins one of the year's Grand Slam events finishes the year ranked outside the top eight but still within the top 20, he would have been included in the event instead of the eighth-ranked player. 

If two players outside the top eight won Grand Slam events, the higher placed player in the world rankings would take the final spot in the Tennis Masters Cup.

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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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Murray, Roddick to play exhibition match on Miami white court

By Luther Jefferson

MIAMI, Florida, United States (TheSportsNEXT) October 19, 2012: Olympic and US Open champion Andy Murray of Great Britain and retired Andy Roddick of United States will an exhibition match on white court in Miami next month.

Apart from Andy Murray and Andy Roddick, 2003 French Open title winner Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain, Nicolas Almagro of Spain, Aljandro Falla of Colombia, and America’s top ranked tennis player John Isner will also take part in the inaugural edition of the Miami Cup.

Andy Roddick, who announced his retirement from international tennis at the US Open 2012 in August, is playing a series of farewell events across the United States.

The inaugural Miami Cup will be held at Crandon Park, which is home to the annual Masters Series, Sony Ericsson Open and the stadium court will be transformed from its purple and green color system to white with red lines, painted within blue surrounds.

The game of tennis is going through a phase of experimentation these days and earlier this year Madrid Masters was played on blue clay for the first time but some of the players disdained the move.

The first edition of Miami Cup will be held from November 30 through December 2, 2012.

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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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Novak Djokovic wins Shanghai Masters title

By Liu Shiwen

Novak Djokovic takes revenge of US Open final defeat

SHANGHAI, China (TheSportsNEXT) October 14, 2012: Novak Djokovic of Serbia took revenge of his US Open final defeat to the hands of Olympic champion Andy Murray of Great Britain in great fashion on Sunday when he dethroned him from Shanghai Masters title.

Novak Djokovic came from behind to stun the Olympic gold medalist Andy Murray as the British tennis ace won the opening set by 7-5.

Djokovic clawed his way back in the second set by winning it with 7-6 (13-11) before completing the victory by claiming the third set by 6-3.

The match went to the wire, as expected, where Andy Murray, who won the US Open 2012 title by defeating Novak Djokovic in the final, failed to make use of five match points.

It all started with a promise for Andy Murray as he looked the better player of the two right from the start and won the initial set by 7-5 and ghosts of Flushing Meadows started haunting Djokovic’s mind as he came close to record back-to-back defeats against the British tennis player.

In front of the packed house in Shanghai, Andy Murray looked good to win the second set but failed to pounce on any of the five match points with Novak Djokovic keeping his cool in the times where it mattered the most and won the second set after a long tie-break of 13-11.

The world No 3 now had things under his control and the momentum was also favoring him amid claps from the local fans as he registered a rather easy victory in the third set to complete the title victory in about three hours and 21 minutes.

It was the first defeat ever for US Open champion Andy Murray, who has won Shanghai Masters title twice. He has played a total of 13 matches in Shanghai thus far.

It is important to mention here that Andy Murray had defeated Novak Djokovic in an epic five-set thriller to clinch the US Open crown last month.

Murray came into the Shanghai Masters final oozing with confidence after his classic victory over world number one Roger Federer on Saturday.

For Novak Djokovic, the comeback was mammoth as Andy Murray was serving for the match at 0-30 leading 5-4 in the third set but the Serb showed great resilience and rose from 3-1 down in the tie-break to eventually win it by 13-11. He also saved two match points at 8-7 and 10-9 in the second set tie-breaker.

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