Alexander Zverev was made to work, but the German earned his first victory at the Nitto ATP Finals. Making his debut in London, Zverev overcame a stern test from Marin Cilic 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, moving to the top of Group Boris Becker alongside Roger Federer. "I felt a little bit nervous coming out for the first time here. I think that's normal for anyone that is playing here for the first time," Zverev admitted. "I'm very happy to get my first win in this group." The World No. 3 rallied from a break down in the deciding set to overcome Cilic, extending his FedEx ATP Head2Head lead to 4-1. He has won four straight encounters since dropping their first meeting...
Jack Sock’s confidence is understandably riding high coming off his biggest career title in Paris to qualify for his Nitto ATP Finals debut. But staring down a 0-3 deficit in his FedExATP Head2Head series with Roger Federer coming into their opening round-robin clash on Sunday, it stands to reason he would have a few shock tactics up his sleeve to try throwing off the No. 2 seed. With Federer comfortably edging his way towards the opening set with a break in hand, Sock looked to have blown a game point for 3-4 when his attempted half volley propped up for a routine Federer putaway. Stranded at net and feeling the point was all but lost, the American turned his back...
The O2 has not been the best venue for Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert the last two seasons, with the Frenchmen holding a 1-5 record in their first two Nitto ATP Finals appearances. But Herbert and Mahut got off to a good start in their third season finale, saving one match point to defeat Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau, 1-6, 7-6(7), 10-8. Double faults proved costly for the Dutch-Romanian pairing, who looked the stronger duo for much of the match. At 7/7 in the second-set tie-break, Tecau hit a double fault to allow Herbert to serve out the set, which he did when Mahut put away a sitting return with a backhand volley. [ALSO LIKE] In the Match Tie-break, Rojer...
Watch this FedEx Nitto ATP Finals player profile on Alexander Zverev, the youngest player in the field, who is appearing at the year-end finale for the first time.
Hit them before they can hit you. The match lasted an hour and a half, but Roger Federer was well on his way to winning it before a ball had been struck. Federer defeated Jack Sock 6-4, 7-6(4) in their opening round match at the Nitto ATP Finals on Sunday in no small part to winning the toss and electing to receive. The decision went against Federer’s normal front-running tactics of serving first and letting his opponent chase him. This time around, Federer was on the hunt to immediately break and instantly unsettle his American opponent. Six points later, his goal was accomplished and Sock played the rest of the match in Federer’s rear-view mirror. Federer’s early strategy of playing...