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Federer loses to Nishikori in ATP Finals opener

  • Posted: Nov 11, 2018
ATP Finals
Venue: O2 Arena, London Dates: 11-18 November
Coverage: Follow live coverage across BBC TV, radio, the BBC Sport website & mobile app. Live text commentary available on selected matches.

Roger Federer paid for his errors as he lost to Japan’s Kei Nishikori in his opening group match at the ATP Finals.

The Swiss, chasing a 100th career title at the season-ending event, lost 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 to the world number nine.

The normally unflappable Federer showed uncharacteristic frustration, while a calm Nishikori sealed victory when the Swiss hit a wild forehand.

World number one Novak Djokovic opens his campaign against John Isner at the O2 Arena in London on Monday.

More to follow.

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Novak Begins Record-Tying Quest In London Against Isner

  • Posted: Nov 11, 2018

Novak Begins Record-Tying Quest In London Against Isner

Can Djokovic again withstand the serving prowess of Isner?

After an epic comeback year, there remains one more record for Novak Djokovic to chase in the final week of the 2018 ATP World Tour season. The Serb seeks a sixth title at the world’s biggest indoor tennis tournament to tie the mark Roger Federer set back in 2011, when he most recently claimed the crown.

Novak’s quest begins Monday night against tournament danger man John Isner, the 6’ 10” American who can take the racquet out a player’s hand with arguably the best serve in the game. But Djokovic has shown an ability to put racquet on ball against Isner like few others and has won their past five meetings, including the most recent three without dropping a set.

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Isner, who has two wins against the Serb in 10 meetings, the last of which was in Cincinnati in 2013, knows the difficulty of the challenge ahead. “I’m up against it for sure. Novak has won this event five times. He’s the player to beat this week for sure… [but] it’s a good spot for me, because I don’t have much to lose. I’m definitely the underdog.”

On Sunday, Djokovic was honoured on court for finishing year-end No. 1 for the fifth time, tying Federer and Jimmy Connors and moving to within one of Pete Sampras’ record of six.

“Next to the Grand Slams and the ATP Finals, being No. 1 is probably the ultimate challenge in our sport,” Djokovic said. “It’s the pinnacle of the entire season. I’m very proud of that achievement and it’s extra special this year because of the whole process and the journey that I’ve been through in the past 15 months. In particular, the past eight to 10 months.”

You May Also Like: Djokovic Presented Year-End ATP World Tour No. 1 Trophy At 2018 Nitto ATP Finals

Earlier Monday, two of the best big men in the game go at it, with Alexander Zverev taking a 5-1 FedEx ATP Head2Head advantage over Marin Cilic into their group opener.

Zverev has won the past five meetings, but the most recent four have all gone three sets, and his first victory in Montpellier in 2016 was in two tie-breaks.

Cilic is looking to reach the semi-finals for the first time in four appearances in London. After early losses in Tokyo, Shanghai and Basel, Cilic rediscovered his best form at the Rolex Paris Masters last week. The 6′ 6″ right-hander defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber and reigning Nitto ATP Finals champion Grigor Dimitrov, before ending Djokovic’s 30-set winning streak in a three-set loss to the eventual runner-up.

“In Paris, last week, I played great tennis,” said Cilic. “I am feeling good at the moment and [I am] very excited. Small margins are going to make the difference. Playing the top guys is always a big challenge and matches against them are always very close and very tight.”

Did You Know?
Djokovic won four consecutive titles at The O2 arena between 2012-2015. He also won in Shanghai in 2008.

 

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Anderson beats Thiem in ATP Finals opener

  • Posted: Nov 11, 2018
ATP World Tour Finals
Venue: O2 Arena, London Dates: 11-18 November
Coverage: Follow live coverage across BBC TV, radio, the BBC Sport website & mobile app. Live text commentary available on selected matches.

Debutant Kevin Anderson made a confident start to his ATP Finals campaign with a straight-set win over Dominic Thiem in their group opener.

The South African world number six beat the Austrian 6-3 7-6 (12-10) at the season-ending event in London.

The match’s only break came in the fourth game of the opener with Anderson then taking the second-set tie-break with an ace on his fourth match point.

Roger Federer faces Kei Nishikori later, live on the BBC at 20:00 GMT.

The ATP Finals features the world’s top eight players – minus world number two Rafael Nadal and number four Juan Martin del Potro, who are injured.

They are divided into two groups for the round-robin stage with the top two from each qualifying for Saturday’s semi-finals.

Anderson celebrates dream debut… with a song

Wimbledon finalist Anderson, who lost to Thiem in the fourth round of the US Open in September, took an early lead by breaking the Austrian to go 3-1 up.

Helped by his trademark big serve, which reached more than 140mph, as well as several successful dashes to the net, the 32-year-old wrapped up the first set in 41 minutes when Thiem sent a forehand into the net.

Before that Thiem had saved two set points at 5-2 when Anderson twice went long and he held on to force the South African to serve it out.

French Open runner-up Thiem cut back on his errors in the second set, putting pressure on the Anderson serve with deuces in the sixth and eighth games, but he could not make the breakthrough.

The Austrian saved three match points in the tie-break, first when Anderson netted a forehand return, then by delivering a delicate forehand and finally an ace.

But when Anderson fashioned a fourth match point with a forehand winner on Thiem’s serve, the world number six smashed his 13th ace of the match to secure victory.

“It is fantastic to be here, I’ve worked hard and wanted to get here for so long,” said Anderson, who is the first South African in 23 years to compete at the season-ending championships.

“I’ve watched it since I was a kid so to play here in this amazing atmosphere and get a win, I couldn’t be more happy.”

He celebrated the victory by getting the crowd to join in with singing Happy Birthday to his wife Kelsey, who was watching in the arena.

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Fed Cup: Czech Republic beat United States to win sixth title in eight years

  • Posted: Nov 11, 2018

The Czech Republic won their sixth Fed Cup title in eight years as an emotional Katerina Siniakova clinched a 3-0 win over the United States with an epic victory against Sofia Kenin.

Siniakova fought back tears as she saved two match points, then took a second of her own to win 7-5 5-7 7-5.

The victory, which took Siniakova almost four hours, gave the home team an unassailable 3-0 lead in Prague.

Siniakova and Barbora Strycova won Saturday’s opening-day singles matches.

  • Murray off to winning start in doubles at ATP Finals

The US were aiming to become the first team to fight back from a 2-0 deficit in a Fed Cup final, but 19-year-old Kenin was unable to take her opportunities at 5-4 to keep the tie alive.

Kenin was punished when she pulled a forehand wide on Siniakova’s second match point, enabling the Czechs to extend their home unbeaten run to an 11th tie, stretching back to 2009.

The two most successful countries in the tournament’s history were meeting in the final for the first time in more three decades, although both teams were without several of their top players.

Czech top-10 ranked players Karolina Pliskova and Petra Kvitova were sidelined through injury and illness respectively, while Serena and Venus Williams, Madison Keys and Sloane Stephens were all unavailable for the visitors.

That meant the Americans were represented by Kenin and Alison Riske, ranked as their nation’s seventh and eighth best female players, in the singles.

Siniakova, ranked number one in the doubles and 31st in the singles, followed up her opening win over Riske with another against world number 52 Kenin.

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Murray/Soares Fight For First Group Win In London

  • Posted: Nov 11, 2018

Murray/Soares Fight For First Group Win In London

British-Brazilian team reached semi-finals in past two years

Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares worked hard to win their opening Group Llodra/Santoro match on Sunday at the Nitto ATP Finals with a 7-6(5), 4-6, 10-5 victory over Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus in one hour and 49 minutes.

Fourth seeds Murray and Soares saved three set points and recovered from 3-5 down in the first set for their 38th match win of the season (38-18 overall). The British/Brazilian team are making their third straight appearance at the season finale, which is held at The O2 in London, and have reached the semi-finals for the past two years.

“I think we did really well to win,” said Murray. “It was a battle from the first game. Obviously, I lost my serve so immediately we were kind of under the pump a bit. We had a few chances at the start of the match, as well, to break back. Then we hung in there and we got, what, I guess a bit lucky because it’s 5-4, 30-Love. The guy was serving great. All of a sudden a couple of double-faults creep in, Bruno hits a good return, all of a sudden it’s 5-All.

“I thought we competed really well, especially in both the tie-breaks, played a lot of good tennis when we really needed it. Yeah, [we’re] really happy to win the first match.”

Soares said, “It was a battle from the beginning. I think best thing what we did was competing well the whole match. It’s not easy to play. I was a bit on and off with my returns. Some games, I was feeling good, all of a sudden missing a lot. [In the] second set, same thing, started down a break, broke back. But I think the most important thing for us was finishing strong the match. I think we played a really good tie-break. I think we come out of the match with a very good feel after that.”

Klaasen and Venus, appearing at the season finale as a team for the first time, broke Murray on a deciding deuce point in the first game, and Venus later saved two break points for a 2-0 lead. At 3-5, Klaasen mis-timed a forehand return off Murray’s serve on a set point and, in the next game, Venus could not convert two set point chances on serve. Soares soon pounced at the net for 5-5 on a deciding point. In a tense tie-break, Murray and Soares were proactive at the net and took their lone chance to wrap up the 54-minute opener.

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Klaasen and Venus took a 2-0 lead in the second set, but Klaasen lost his serve in the third game. Yet the pair regrouped with Soares saving a deciding deuce point at 3-4. While Soares grew in confidence with his returning, it was Klaasen’s power that forced a volley error from Murray in the 10th game.

Murray and Soares, the 2016 year-end No. 1s in the ATP Doubles Team Rankings, seized early control of the Match Tie-break, winning the first three points, as they moved closer to their third win in four meetings over Klaasen and Venus in 2018 (also Rome, Wimbledon and Washington, D.C.).

Murray, 32, and 36-year-old Soares are now 6-3 at the Nitto ATP Finals. This year they lifted three titles – at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC (d. Bryans), the Citi Open in Washington, D.C. (d. M. Bryan/Roger-Vasselin) and the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati (d. Cabal/Farah) – from six ATP World Tour finals.

Klaasen and Venus, winners of the Open 13 Provence (d. Daniell/Inglot) in February and runners up at four other events this year, dropped to a 38-24 record on the season. Two years ago, Klaasen partnered Rajeev Ram to the final (l. to Kontinen/Peers) and Venus partnered Ryan Harrison at the 2017 event.

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Murray off to winning start at ATP Finals

  • Posted: Nov 11, 2018
ATP World Tour Finals
Venue: O2 Arena, London Dates: 11-18 November
Coverage: Follow live coverage across BBC TV, radio, the BBC Sport website & mobile app. Live text commentary on selected matches.

Britain’s Jamie Murray made a winning start to the ATP Finals when he and Bruno Soares beat Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus in the doubles.

The Scot and his Brazilian partner needed a match tie-break to win their opening round-robin match 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 10-5 in London.

The pair have reached the semi-finals in the past two editions of the event.

The singles starts on Sunday with Kevin Anderson against Dominic Thiem before Roger Federer faces Kei Nishikori.

  • Federer goes for 100th title at ATP Finals – preview
  • Czechs win sixth Fed Cup in eight years
  • Live scores, schedule and results
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New 'Infosys ATP Fan Meter' To Feature At 2018 Nitto ATP Finals

  • Posted: Nov 11, 2018

New ‘Infosys ATP Fan Meter’ To Feature At 2018 Nitto ATP Finals

Fan noise levels will be displayed on the big screens within the arena

For the first time in its history, the Nitto ATP Finals will introduce a new fan engagement feature that will measure crowd noise within the O2 arena during matches, the ATP announced on Sunday prior to this year’s prestigious season-ending tournament getting underway.

Since 2009, the season-ending event at The O2 has generated an array of thrilling matches and raucous atmospheres inside the 17,800 capacity stadium. The Infosys ATP Fan Meter will be used for the first time and will measure fan noise which will be displayed on the giant screens as well as on the arenamation around the arena.

The Infosys ATP Fan Meter will allow fans, media and broadcasters to track the loudest moments throughout the tournament across singles and doubles, from player walk-ons, match points, hot shots and more. Loud moments will be displayed at least once per set in all matches. The new noise measurement feature represents the latest initiative in an ATP and Infosys partnership that continues to showcase the integration of technology and data in sport as a means of enhancing fan engagement.

Adam Hogg, Event Director of the Nitto ATP Finals, said: “The Nitto ATP Finals has become renowned for its capacity crowds and exhilarating atmospheres since 2009. We’ve welcomed more than 2.3 million fans into the arena during that time and the introduction of the Infosys ATP Fan Meter is an exciting way to engage further with our enthusiastic fans and directly measure the level of fan involvement in the spectacular production of our season-ending event.”

The graphics generated during the matches will be promoted on line through Social Media and through ATPWorldTour.com online.

Ravi Kumar S, President, Infosys said: “The Infosys and ATP partnership has always been about reimagining the game of tennis for players, coaches, media and fans. After many breakthrough experiences like virtual reality tennis, the Stats Leaderboards and the Second Screen, we have another first with the ‘Infosys ATP Fan Meter’. This is another important step to place fans at the heart of the ATP experience. Till now, we had limited means to quantify audience engagement and excitement levels. The Fan Meter leverages the Internet of Things to create a connected stadium experience and gives us a new way of understanding the pulse of a live audience by combining the sensory element of sound with powerful data analytics.”

In addition to the Infosys ATP Fan Meter, Infosys and the ATP have upgraded the second screen available on NittoATPFinals.com to make it more mobile-friendly, with a focus on an updated design, demonstrating Infosys’s digital expertise in mobility and design. A new series of features have also been added on the tournament website including an all-new live score analytics offering, serve and return ratings as well as social sentiment analysis bringing in the conversation fans are having, all within the same platform.

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Isner: "It Means A Lot To Finally Be Here"

  • Posted: Nov 11, 2018

Isner: “It Means A Lot To Finally Be Here”

John Isner is making his debut appearance at the Nitto ATP Finals

Since the Nitto ATP Finals moved to London in 2009, only three Americans have qualified for the season finale. Andy Roddick punched his ticket in 2010 and Mardy Fish booked his spot a year later. This time, it’s John Isner’s turn.

The big-hitting North Carolina native is playing the best tennis of his career, and at the age of 33 he is the oldest first-time qualifier since 1972. Isner, who appeared at The O2 as an alternate in 2015, is relishing the opportunity to finally compete in the big show.

“It means a lot to be here,” Isner told the assembled media at The O2. “I’ve been very close throughout my career. It just hasn’t quite happened. I also realize that I’m pretty fortunate to be here as well this year. That said, I’ve had a very good year and I put myself in position to make this event. And at 33, to be competing in my first Nitto ATP Finals is very satisfying. This is certainly a life-changer, all for the good. My wife and daughter are here as well, so it’s very special.

“I think over the last 9-10 years I’ve been very consistent. I’ve been between No. 10 and No. 19 that entire time. But this year, it wasn’t so much that I was super consistent with my results. It was that I had 3-4 big results. The way our ranking system works, that’s often what it takes to get to the Top 10 and stay there. For me, it all started in Miami. I was actually 0-6 prior to that and I turned it around with one tournament. It’s what great about tennis. It only takes one event to turn things around and get it to go your way.”

Isner joins a long list of Americans who have qualified for the crown jewel of the ATP calendar, including legends Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi. It has been more than a decade since the nation had a player reach the final. In 2006, James Blake finished runner-up when the tournament was held in Shanghai. And it has been nearly two decades since an American lifted the trophy. Sampras last achieved the feat in 1999, when the event was staged in Hanover, Germany.

When asked if any of the more recent American competitors have offered advice, Isner acknowledged that Fish spoke to him after learning of his qualification.

“I did speak to Mardy at length about the experience,” Isner added. “Everything he said is true. He absolutely loved his time here and told me how cool an event it is. I got a little taste in the past when I was an alternate, but it’s a big difference to be a part of the real thing. 

“This is the pinnacle of the ATP calendar for sure. To have it at the end of the year with all these great players is amazing for me. I’ve seen it on TV and the atmosphere is incredible. London puts on such an amazing event and I’m happy to be a part of it.”

Isner is undoubtedly enjoying a career-year in 2018. In April, the 33-year-old lifted his maiden ATP World Tour Masters 1000 trophy in Miami, earning a trio of Top 10 wins over Marin Cilic, Juan Martin del Potro and Alexander Zverev. And in July he registered his best result in a Grand Slam, when he battled to the semi-finals at Wimbledon. That was immediately followed by a fifth crown at the BB&T Atlanta Open.

But those standout results, also including a quarter-final finish at the US Open, was nearly not enough to qualify for the season finale. Sitting in 10th position in the ATP Race To London, Isner claimed his spot among the elite eight when both Del Potro and Rafael Nadal withdrew due to injury. The American was sitting at home in North Carolina when he got the call. 

“I knew there was a good shot I’d be here, but I went back home from Paris for four or five nights. I went back home on Saturday and I found out on Monday that I was in. I flew here on Wednesday night. It’s maybe a little bit unorthodox. Most players stay in Europe after Paris, but I felt it was a pretty nice break for me. Even if it was for just a few days, to be back home with the family and sit on the couch and watch football, there’s a lot to be said for that. It relaxes you.

“Physically, I feel great. I’ve been very fortunate throughout my career to be injury-free. Of course there are a few things that pop up, but there’s nothing that has sidelined me for an extended period of time. I continue to work hard on my body, which is the most important thing I can do. As long as I can stay healthy, at 33, I do feel pretty good. For me personally, seeing a guy like Roger, even though he’s from another planet, he’s still doing incredible things at 37. It’s very encouraging for me to see that. It gives me a lot of incentive to keep working as hard as I can.”

Isner finds himself in the same group – Group Guga Kuerten – as World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, third seed Alexander Zverev and fifth seed Marin Cilic. He opens his campaign against five-time champion Djokovic on Monday night.

“I’m up against it for sure. Novak has won this event five times. He’s the player to beat this week for sure, and he’s back to No. 1 after an incredible second half of the year. It’s a good spot for me, because I don’t have much to lose. I’m definitely the underdog. 

“I’m going out there to play my best and be lose and free. I’ve played him eight or nine times and I’ve beaten him a couple, but he’s beaten me more times than I have. It’s going to be a very tough match, but I’m looking forward to it. The atmosphere is going to be great and it’s going to be a big challenge.”

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