Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic are locked in a high-stakes battle for the coveted year-end No. 1 Emirates ATP Ranking at this week’s Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. Murray, who rose to World No. 1 for the first time in his career on 7 November after winning the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris, is hoping to become just the 17th man in history (since 1973) to finish a season at No. 1. Djokovic is looking to finish No. 1 for the third consecutive year and for the fifth time overall. The last time a World No. 2 dethroned the incumbent World No. 1 at the season finale to claim the prestigious year-end No. 1 title was back in 2001, when Lleyton...
Who will come out on top as Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic do battle at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals for the year-end top spot in the Emirates ATP Rankings?
Fans at The O2 help us raise awareness for the launch of the Super 8, a partnership between the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals and Unicef. Photo: Red Photographic
Don’t miss your first serve against Novak Djokovic. The Serbian started slow, but stormed home to defeat Dominic Thiem 6-7(10), 6-0, 6-2 in his opening-round match at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals on Sunday afternoon. Djokovic was not in top gear, and relied heavily on winning the second serve battle to find separation from his up-and-coming opponent. When Thiem made a first serve during the three-set match, he won 67 per cent (43/64) of the points. Problems immediately developed when he didn’t. Thiem won 54 per cent of his second serve points in 2016 leading into the ATP Finals, making him 14th-best on the ATP World Tour in this category. But against Djokovic, that was chopped all the way...
Novak Djokovic needed three sets to defeat Dominic Thiem on Sunday at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, but doesn’t believe he could have done much to change that. The World No. 2 was full of praise for the Austrian after their match and said the rising star more than did himself justice in his debut at The O2. “Dominic definitely seemed very impressive considering it was his debut in the [Barclays ATP] World Tour Finals,” said Djokovic. “It didn't seem like he was overwhelmed by the stage or occasion. He came out firing and playing great tennis. Got to give him credit for that. He was obviously very pumped up to get to the court and give his best.”...