Tennis: ATP finals: Fedal’s free reign?

The ATP finals will take place from 12. till 19. The meeting will take place in London on 1 November. Besides the four Grand Slam tournaments, the unofficial World Championship is the highlight of the ATP Tour. The best eight players of the past year will compete against each other. This year, Alexander Zverev is also a German.

Basically, the top eight in the ATP ranking are qualified for the finals. In addition, there are two reserveists who would move up in the event of an injury. If a winner of a Grand Slam tournament lands between rank eight and 20 this year, he or she will also have a secure starting position. But then the worst placed player had to give way.

In the individual competition, the eight players are divided into two groups of four participants each. After all players have competed in three group matches, the first two players qualify for the semi-finals, with the winners of each group competing against the runners-up of the other group. The two semi-final winners will meet in the final.

So far, exactly seven players have qualified for the final tournament in London. These include the two winners of the four Grand Slam tournaments, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Alexander Zverev, Dominic Thiem, Marin Cilic, Grigor Dimitrov and David Goffin are among the world’s top eight. Pablo Carreno Busta has the best chances of winning the last available place. Currently, Sam Querrey and Kevin Anderson are the two reservists.

Stan Wawrinka, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray are not among the top players. All four of them ended their seasons prematurely because of injury problems. The world number one Nadal is also anxious for a place in the finals. The Spaniard has already dropped out of the ATP tournament in Paris due to knee problems.

In August, Juan Martin del Potro looked as if he would miss the ATP finals in London. Then followed a race with 20-4 victories and suddenly Delpo was in the middle of it again in the Race to London.

At the ATP Masters in Paris, the Argentinean John Isner had to admit defeat and has no chance to reach the finals. Isner, for his part, can fix his first participation in the finals by winning the Masters in the City of Love.

As a rule, the groups will be drawn at the opening gala on Friday before the tournament.

The tournament winner will receive 1.7 million euros in prize money. The entrance fee alone is 191,000 euros. As a finalist, a player receives 585,000 euros. In addition, a win in the group stage is worth 191,000 euros each.

In doubles, the amounts are significantly lower. Both of them will receive 94,000 euros for participation. There is 36.00 Euro per win and the winning duo can look forward to more than 284,000 Euro. The loser’s doubles in the final can comfort themselves with 96,000 euros.

Bad luck for Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic. The Austrian/Croatian duo is actually ranked eighth in the ranking. The double Harrison/Venus was victorious at the French Open, so it has a secure place on the grid. Marach/Pavic and the double Klaasen/Ram are only reservists.

Henri Continents

John Peers

Rajeev Ram

Raven Klaasen