Henri Kontinen and John Peers have surged into a first final at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals courtesy of a 7-6(2), 6-4 victory against Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan on Saturday. It was their ninth straight match win, which includes their first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown at the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris. Bob Bryan was forced to fend off three break points during a quick-fire opening set but the server dictated play as neither pairing could seize the initiative. A tie-break was required and Kontinen’s sublime stop volley along with Peers’ backhand return winner established the perfect start. The fifth seeds struck a series of aggressive returns and claimed the first set over the four-time former champions. Kontinen/Peers prevailed...
Kei Nishikori will meet Novak Djokovic, bidding to capture a sixth title at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, on Saturday in the semi-finals. It will be the pair’s sixth meeting in 2016 and their 13th FedEx ATP Head2Head clash overall (Djokovic leads 10-2). Nishikori completed Group John McEnroe with a 1-2 record, having lost to Marin Cilic, who finishes the season at a year-end No. 6 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. The 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory was Cilic’s first win in his sixth match at the season finale (also 2014), at The O2 in London. “I just tried to focus today's match,” said Nishikori. “Unfortunately, it was a tough loss. But hope I can play better tomorrow. I will...
Seventh seeds Raven Klaasen/Rajeev Ram are making the most of their debut at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. The pairing advanced to the semi-finals with a tight 6-3, 7-6(8) win over fourth seeds Feliciano Lopez/Marc Lopez. With the win, Klaasen/Ram clinched second place in Group Fleming/McEnroe. Joining Klaasen/Ram in the final four are fifth seeds Henri Kontinen/John Peers, who finished first in Group Fleming/McEnroe with a 3-0 record. Klaasen/Ram will face second seeds Jamie Murray/Bruno Soares in the semi-finals, who clinched the year-end No. 1 Emirates ATP Doubles Team Ranking on Friday. Kontinen/Peers take on third seeds Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan in the other semi-final. The importance of the occasion produced some understandably tense moments for both Klaasen/Ram and Lopez/Lopez...
Seventh seeds Raven Klaasen/Rajeev Ram are making the most of their debut at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. The pairing advanced to the semi-finals with a tight 6-3, 7-6(8) win over fourth seeds Feliciano Lopez/Marc Lopez. With the win, Klaasen/Ram clinched second place in Group Fleming/McEnroe. Joining Klaasen/Ram in the final four are fifth seeds Henri Kontinen/John Peers, who finished first in Group Fleming/McEnroe with a 3-0 record. Klaasen/Ram will face second seeds Jamie Murray/Bruno Soares in the semi-finals, who clinched the year-end No. 1 Emirates ATP Doubles Team Ranking on Friday. Kontinen/Peers take on third seeds Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan in the other semi-final. The importance of the occasion produced some understandably tense moments for both Klaasen/Ram and Lopez/Lopez...
The battle for year-end No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings will come down to the final weekend of the season. World No. 1 Andy Murray made sure of that on Friday by dismissing third seed Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 6-2 in his final Group John McEnroe match. “I weathered the early storm a little bit. Stan came out hitting the ball huge. He was hitting a lot of winners, a lot of aces,” said Murray. “But once I got through the early part of the match, I started to create chances in most of his service games. I served very well myself, got a lot of free points with my serve. That allowed me to also dictate a lot of...