Henri Kontinen and John Peers have marked their team debut at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals by finishing Group Fleming/McEnroe undefeated, following a 6-7(5), 6-4, 10-4 victory over Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut on Friday. The win for semi-finalists Kontinen/Peers also guaranteed the season-ending No. 1 Emirates ATP Doubles Team Ranking for Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares. Mahut, looking to become the first Frenchman to finish the campaign No. 1 in singles or doubles, required one victory in London to be crowned the individual No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings, but the top seeds exit at the round-robin stage following three defeats. Therefore, Soares can become No. 1 should the Brazilian and Murray lift the Barclays ATP...
Milos Raonic qualified for the semi-finals of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, at The O2 in London, in second place from Group Ivan Lendl on Thursday night. The fourth seed ended the campaign of eighth seed and first-time qualifier Dominic Thiem 7-6(5), 6-3 to win their second meeting of the season (also Cincinnati), and improved to a 2-1 record in round-robin play. Both players started in confident fashion – with Raonic hitting 10 winners and losing just two of his service points through his first three service games. There were no break points through to the tie-break. Raonic opened up a 2/0 lead, then lost four straight points as Thiem exploited the Canadian’s weaker backhand wing. But Raonic recovered,...
Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares have clinched a Barclays ATP World Tour Finals semi-finals berth and boosted their chances of finishing as year-end No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Team Rankings after the second seeds defeated Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo 6-3, 3-6, 10-6 on Thursday at The O2 arena. Murray/Soares completed their Group Edberg/Jarryd campaign with a maximum three victories and can still overtake Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut as the World No. 1 pairing, depending on the outcome of the Frenchmen's final round-robin match on Friday. Herbert/Mahut, who will not qualify for the final four, must prevail in their final Group Fleming/McEnroe contest with Henri Kontinen and John Peers, otherwise the prestigious year-end top spot is in...
Novak Djokovic firmly kept the pressure on Andy Murray in the battle for year-end No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings on Thursday. The Serbian dominated David Goffin during their Barclays ATP World Tour Finals round-robin match, beating the Belgian 6-1, 6-2 in 70 minutes. Djokovic, the second seed in London, improved to 3-0 in Group Ivan Lendl and clinched his fifth consecutive semi-final appearance in London. The four-time defending champion now awaits the second-place finisher in Group John McEnroe, which could be Murray, Stan Wawrinka or Kei Nishikori. Wawrinka and Murray face off on Friday afternoon, and Nishikori will meet Cilic during Friday's evening session. “I'm very glad that my game is going in the right direction. Today I felt...
Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan have booked a semi-finals spot at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals following a 6-4, 6-4 triumph over Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi on Thursday. The Bryans’ straight-sets win over Huey/Mirnyi means that Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares will also qualify from the Group Edberg/Jarryd if they win seven games (or eight if one set goes to a tie-break) against Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo tonight. Final positions within the group will be determined by the match score tonight. Four-time season-finale champions Bryan/Bryan held a 2-0 record in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series against Huey/Mirnyi and got off to the perfect start at The O2 arena. Mike Bryan deflected a piercing backhand return winner to launch a...