Down Under Action Continues: After a busy opening week of the 2017 season with nine of the Top 10 in action, 10 of the Top 30 (as of 2 January Emirates ATP Rankings) are playing this week, with No. 8 Dominic Thiem the top seed in Sydney and Chennai champion Roberto Bautista Agut leading the field in Auckland. Apia International Sydney (Sydney, Australia): The youngest player in the Top 10 of the Emirates ATP Rankings, 23-year-old Thiem, is the top seed and making his second straight appearance in Sydney. The other seeds are: No. 2 Pablo Cuevas, No. 3/two-time reigning champion Viktor Troicki, No. 4 Pablo Carreno Busta, No. 5 Philipp Kohlschreiber, No. 6 Gilles Muller, No. 7 Martin Klizan...
Rafael Nadal is eager to commence his 2017 ATP World Tour season against Alexandr Dolgopolov Tuesday night in Brisbane. Such is the strength of the Brisbane International field, which features five Top 10 players, that fifth-seed Nadal does not enjoy the first-round bye afforded to Milos Raonic, Stan Wawrinka, Kei Nishikori and Dominic Thiem. After flying in in the early hours of Monday morning, Nadal had his first practice session under lights Monday evening, watched by hundreds of fans who took every vantage point to get an up-close look at the former World No. 1. This is the first time that the Spaniard will be competing in Australia in the first week of the season. [ALSO LIKE] “For me to...
Top 10 Stars in Action: The opening week of the 2017 ATP World Tour season features three tournaments with nine of the Top 10 players in the Emirates ATP Rankings leading the way. This is the third year in a row at least four of the Top 5 and seven of the Top 10 are playing in the opening week of the season: Brisbane: (3) Raonic, (4) Wawrinka, (5) Nishikori, (8) Thiem, (9) Nadal; Doha: (1) Murray, (2) Djokovic, (10) Berdych; Chennai: (6) Cilic. #NextGen Watch: There are four #NextGen players in action (not including qualifiers): Chennai: Borna Coric, Daniil Medvedev; Brisbane: (WC) Elias Ymer; Doha: Karen Khachanov. January Title Leaders: In the past seven years, a Top 10 player has...
Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic officially launched the 2017 ATP World Tour season on Sunday ahead of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha. Murray and Djokovic played a game of mini-tennis and posed for photos on a specially-constructed elevated court in front of the Museum of Islamic Art, with the backdrop of the Doha skyline. “It was amazing with an amazing view,” said Murray. “We are very lucky to go to some of the nicest places in the world and it’s a good way to start the year. Novak and I have played many big matches over the years, competing for the sport’s biggest prizes and hopefully it will be the same this year.” “It is great to start off...
There will be fireworks on and off the court this week in Doha, as the calendar flips to the New Year at the star-studded Qatar ExxonMobil Open. With the 2017 ATP World Tour season set to commence, familiar foes Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic are poised to pick up where they left off to conclude 2016. Djokovic, who was dethroned as year-end No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings by Murray at the ATP Finals, will be seeking revenge in the Qatari capital. The longtime rivals could face off in the final, which would be their first encounter at an ATP World Tour 250 event. With only 630 points separating them atop the Emirates ATP Rankings, the battle for No....