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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.