Throughout my 16-year career, I've played in hundreds of tennis stadiums. I've slid on the grass on Centre Court at the All-England Club. I've gazed at the Mediterranean Sea from the red clay of the Monte-Carlo Country Club. In Indian Wells, I've lost track of time staring at the Palm Desert mountains while in town for the BNP Paribas Open. But nowhere, including the many indoor tournaments we play annually, prepared me for playing at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. To put it simply, everything is different at The O2. Let's start with the lights. For about 10 months of the year, we play our matches outside. Sometimes the sun blocks your vision of your ball toss. Other days,...
Fourth seeds Feliciano Lopez/Marc Lopez produced an inspired performance on Wednesday at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, scoring their first win in Group Fleming/McEnroe in a marathon match over top seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert/Nicolas Mahut, 7-5, 5-7, 10-8. The victory by Lopez/Lopez means that fifth seeds Henri Kontinen/John Peers have qualified for the semi-finals. The Finnish-Australian pair were winners earlier in the day over seventh seeds Raven Klaasen/Rajeev Ram. Herbert/Mahut have also been eliminated from contention to qualify for the semi-finals. This means that second seeds Jamie Murray/Bruno Soares are in total control over whether they can finish 2016 as the year-end No. 1 doubles team. Herbert/Mahut and Lopez/Lopez traded comfortable service holds throughout most of the opening set. The...
Henri Kontinen and John Peers look more and more like the doubles team to beat this week at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London. The fifth seeds improved to 2-0 on Wednesday, advancing past Raven Klaasen/Rajeev Ram 6-3, 6-4 in 64 minutes. Kontinen/Peers saved all three break points against the South African/American pairing and remained perfect on serve at the season finale, having held all 20 service games during their two round-robin matches at The O2. The Finnish/Australian team has now won its past seven matches, dating back to its maiden ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title run earlier this month at the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris. The remainder of the week could be promising as well....
Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo ignited their title challenge at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi on Tuesday. Both partnerships lost their opening Edberg/Jarryd Group contests but the 2014 runners-up enhanced their chances of a semi-final place courtesy of a strong serving display at the O2 arena. In the first set at 2-1 ATP World Tour veteran Mirnyi, a two-time champion at the season finale, was the first to succumb on serve as Dodig/Melo sent across some rocket returns. Croatian Dodig served for the opener at 5-4 but on a deuce ‘deciding point’ Huey whipped a forehand passing shot onto the tramline to draw level. However Dodig/Melo, playing in...
Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares have boosted their chances of ending the season as the No. 1 pair in the Emirates ATP Doubles Team Rankings after dispatching the Bryan Brothers 6-3, 6-4 to in their second round-robin match at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. Murray/Soares are on the brink of securing a semi-final place at the O2 arena, where they are locked in a battle with Frenchmen Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut for year-end No. 1 honours. Last year the partnership of John Peer’s and Murray surrendered five match points facing the Americans as they exited the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. “I thought about it (last year’s match) in the changeover in the last game,” admitted Murray. “A...