Kei Nishikori produced a devastating service display against Stan Wawrinka on Monday at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. The fifth-seeded Japanese star lost just 11 of his service points in a 6-2, 6-3 victory over 67 minutes to start off his Group John McEnroe campaign in style. Nishikori, who is competing at The O2 in London for the third straight year, beat Wawrinka for the third time in seven meetings for his 58th match win of the season. This week, he’ll be hoping to improve on his 2014 debut semi-final run. “I felt very comfortable out there,” said Nishikori. “I started very well, [right] from the first game. I saw that he wasn't playing his best and he was...
Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram caused an upset on Monday at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals when they defeated Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut, who are vying to become the year-end No. 1 pair in the Emirates ATP Doubles Team Rankings. Klaasen and Ram won 7-5, 6-4 in 83 minutes in a Group Fleming/McEnroe round-robin encounter, which avenged their loss to Herbert and Mahut in this year’s final of the Miami Open presented by Itau. Had Herbert and Mahut won the match, then Mahut would have become the first Frenchman in the 40-year history of the Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings to finish as the year-end individual No. 1. Herbert and Mahut are now just 375 points ahead of Jamie...
Second seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares made the most of their debut as a pairing on Sunday in the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, recording a competitive 6-4, 7-5 win in the Edberg/Jarryd group over eighth seeds Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi. “We’re happy to win. Can't do better than getting through your first match,” said Murray. “I think we played well and came through a couple of tough moments. It felt good out there. We got a great reception and good support.” Little separated both teams in the early stages of the match. Murray saved four break points in the opening game, then played a crucial role in his team breaking Mirnyi to take an early 3-1 lead....
Novak Djokovic was forced to work hard on Sunday for his Group Ivan Lendl match win at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. The second seed overcame eighth seed Dominic Thiem, a first-time qualifier, 6-7(10), 6-0, 6-2, in the pair’s fourth meeting. “Even though I lost the first set, I thought I didn't do too many things wrong. It was just the very high quality of his game that prevailed in the first set,” said Djokovic. “I started swinging more freely in the second set. He started making more errors, which I used. I was on top of his second serves, putting a lot of pressure. I thought I played very well in the second set especially, but the third...
Third seeds Bob and Mike Bryan, the four-time former titlists at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals beat sixth seeds Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo 7-6(3), 6-0 in 65 minutes on Sunday in the Group Edberg/Jarryd opener. The Bryans were unable to convert four break point opportunities – on Dodig’s serve in the first game, and Melo’s first service game at 1-1 – in the 43-minute first set. Aggressive and deep returning on Dodig’s serve in the 22-minute second set ensured the first break for a 2-0 lead. The pressure continued to mount on the Croatian-Brazilian team as the American twins hit their spots on serve to guarantee routine service holds. The Bryans have a 36-20 match record at the...