Fans attending the Nitto ATP Finals on Sunday will be treated with a historic moment as the day session gets underway. The season finale in London is set to open with a clash between second seed Roger Federer and debutante Jack Sock, marking a record 15th tournament appearance for the Swiss. Federer saw his streak of 14 consecutive appearances snapped last year due to injury, but the six-time champion will be eager to make an emphatic statement to conclude a dominant 2017 campaign. Looking to neutralise Sock's power game, Federer will take confidence from a 3-0 FedEx ATP Head2Head mark against the American. He did not drop a set in those three encounters, most recently prevailing 6-1, 7-6(4) in this...
From innovations to the #NextGenATP stars putting on a show all week in Milan, the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals has been a resounding success. But the tournament is not over quite yet, and a lot is at stake on Saturday. Only one man can walk away with the ATP World Tour title — for Hyeon Chung, it would be his first, and Andrey Rublev, his second (Umag). It will be the second time the pair meets this week alone. On Wednesday, Chung won 4-0, 4-1, 4-3(1) in the second match in Group A play. The 21-year-old South Korean comes into the final with a 4-0 record in the event after beating Daniil Medvedev in a five-set classic in the semi-finals,...
Fear does not come into the equation for Rafael Nadal. Having arrived in London for the Nitto ATP Finals, the Spaniard admitted he would not even allow a resurgent Roger Federer, nipping at his heels for a return to No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, to play on his mind in the latter part of 2017. Having achieved so much already, reassuming top spot was a bonus, an unexpected reward for a season that has bagged titles in Monte-Carlo, Barcelona, Madrid, Roland Garros, Flushing Meadows and Beijing. The Spaniard begins his season-ending campaign with one less pressure hanging over his head. Federer can nip at his heels all he wants. The year-end Emirates ATP No. 1 Ranking belongs to...
After an exciting three days of round-robin play, two players have made themselves the favourites heading into knockout play at the Next Gen ATP Finals. But anything could happen in the semi-finals, with four players attempting to earn their spot in Saturday’s final. Hyeon Chung and Borna Coric, who both who won their respective groups with a 3-0 round-robin record, will look to continue their excellent form as their group’s second-place finishers, Andrey Rublev and Daniil Medvedev, push for an upset. The South Korean and Croatian both won nine of 12 sets and almost the same amount of games (Coric-43, Chung-41). Both players won five-set matches on Thursday to close out group play. Fourth-seeded Coric won Group B and will...