A LOOK BACK

International Challenger Ningbo (Ningbo, China): Second seed Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei won his 25^th ATP Challenger Tour title with a dominant victory over Hiroki Moriya of Japan, 6-3, 6-1. Lu saved four match points in his semi-final win over sixth seed and #NextGen star Hyeon Chung of Korea. The veteran has been a dominant force at this event, winning three of the four editions of the Ningbo Challenger. He is also the third player to successfully defend a Challenger title this year.

Lu has recorded an outstanding 29-5 record on the ATP Challenger Tour in 2016, winning three titles (Ningbo, Surbiton, Ilkley) and finishing runner-up at two other events (Seoul, Bangkok)

Open Brest Arena Credit Agricole (Brest, France): Lucky loser Norbert Gombos of Slovakia completed an improbable week by sneaking into the main draw due to the withdrawal of French #NextGen star Quentin Halys, then capturing his first title of the year with a win over Yannik Reuter of Belgium, 7-5, 6-2. He is the first Lucky Loser to win a Challenger since 2013, when Jesse Huta Galung won in Cherbourg, France. 

Second seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal/Robert Farah won their fourth doubles title of 2016 on Sunday at the VTB Kremlin Cup, fighting hard to take a 7-5, 4-6, 10-5 victory over the veteran Austrian duo of Julian Knowle/Jurgen Melzer. 

“It’s very special to win our first indoor title. We [had] never won more than one match at an indoor tournament,” said Cabal. “We felt very supported out there. We felt they were cheering for a high-quality tennis match and that’s what they got.”

Currently No. 10 in the Emirates ATP Race To London, the Colombian duo is in contention to make their first appearance at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. Their win in Moscow puts them within 500 points of No. 8 team Treat Huey/Max Mirnyi. 

“Of course, we’ve been thinking about this. We are in the race and very close,” said Farah. “But what’s most important at the moment is winning this title and what it represents. We are very happy to have one more title in our pocket.”

The Colombian pairing showed their fighting spirit on several occasions during the contest. Knowle/Melzer attempted to serve out the first set at 5-4, but Cabal/Farah bounced back by breaking their opponents twice to steal the opening set. The Austrians stormed to a 5-1 lead in the second set, but Cabal/Farah clawed their way back to 4-5 before Knowle/Melzer held serve and sent the contest to a Match Tie-break.

It appeared that Knowle/Melzer were on their way to a win after taking a 3-0 lead, but Cabal/Farah once again rebounded and dominated the remainder of the match. A missed overhead by Knowle on match point wrapped up the contest.

Cabal/Farah have previously won titles this year in Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro and Nice. All eight of their career ATP World Tour doubles titles have come together as a team.

Knowle/Melzer were competing on the ATP World Tour together for the first time in three years, in part due to Melzer’s recent 10-month absence with a shoulder injury. Both players were competing in their first ATP World Tour final of 2016.

Cabal/Farah earn 250 Emirates ATP Rankings points and split $38,540 for their win, while Knowle/Melzer pick up 150 Emirates ATP Rankings points and split $20,260.

Pablo Carreno Busta overcame injury and a set deficit to celebrate his second career ATP World Tour title on Sunday at the VTB Kremlin Cup in Moscow. The Spaniard outlasted Italian Fabio Fognini 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 inside Olympic Stadium.

Carreno Busta won nearly 70 per cent of his first-serve points and benefitted from six Fognini double faults in the one-hour and 56-minute final. He also padded his already impressive 2016 résumé.

The 25 year old has captured two ATP World Tour titles this season, having won the Winston-Salem Open crown in August (d. Bautista Agut). Carreno Busta finished runner-up on clay in Estoril and Sao Paulo. The Barcelona resident also became the third Spaniard to win two ATP World Tour titles this season, joining Rafael Nadal (Monte-Carlo, Barcelona) and Roberto Bautista Agut (Auckland, Sofia). Spanish players have won 10 titles this season, the most of any nation.

This week was Carreno Busta’s first time playing on the indoor courts in Moscow, but he looked comfortable and showed off his resiliency throughout the title run. The sixth seed won three of his five matches in three sets, including his title match against Fognini, who was going for his first career ATP World Tour hard-court title.

The 29 year old Italian jumped out in front but Carreno Busta came back and was leading 4-1 in the second set before he pulled up with a right thigh injury. The Spaniard was hobbling on the court and looked to be in pain, but his thigh was heavily wrapped during a medical timeout and Carreno Busta was sprinting around the court the next game.

He won the second set and broke Fognini twice in the third set, ending the match with an overhead winner. Carreno Busta will receive 250 Emirates ATP Rankings points and $126,850.

Fognini was playing in his 12^th career ATP World Tour final and was trying to win his fifth career title. All four of Fognini’s previous titles have come on clay. He also was going for his second title of the season, having hoisted the Umag trophy in July. He will receive 150 Emirates ATP Rankings points and $66,815.

Daniel Nestor/Edouard Roger-Vasselin continued their unbeaten streak in 2016 with a win over top seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert/Nicolas Mahut on Sunday in the final of the European Open in Antwerp, 6-4, 6-4.

“Anti-inflammatories, good partners. At this point in my career, whenever somebody asks me to play, I say yes,” joked Nestor about what still keeps him having success at age 44. “Eddie and I have always played well together, so we tried to take the opportunity.” 

The match opened with three consecutive service breaks, but Nestor/Roger-Vasselin came out on top to lead 2-1 and rode their slight advantage to the opening set. They opened the second set by breaking the top seeds and put on a clinic in their own service games, dropping just five points to storm through to the title.

Nestor/Roger-Vasselin are 7-0 as a team this year after prevailing in July at the Citi Open in Washington, D.C, and 23-6 since the 2015 Rogers Cup. Nestor has won at least one doubles title every season since 1994. His career ATP World Tour doubles finals record improves to a staggering 91-59, while Roger-Vasselin sees his jump to 13-6. Nestor has won three titles this year (Washington w/Roger-Vasselin, Nottingham w/Inglot), while Roger-Vasselin earned his second.

Herbert/Mahut were seeking their sixth ATP World Tour doubles title as a team in 2016. They’ve produced a 35-9 record this season and have already confirmed their spot for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London.

Nestor/Roger-Vasselin pick up 250 Emirates ATP Rankings points and split €30,620 for their win, while Herbert/Mahut earn 150 ATP Rankings points and €16,100 for their efforts.

A pair of ATP World Tour 500 events in Basel and Vienna comprise the penultimate week of the regular season, with players battling for critical points in the Emirates ATP Race To London.

Three berths remain up for grabs at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, as Dominic Thiem, Tomas Berdych, David Goffin and Marin Cilic are within 1,035 points of Gael Monfils for the sixth position. Bidding to make his debut at The O2 in London, Monfils is off next week, but could qualify based on the results of the other contenders.

Thiem is looking to bolster his chances of joining Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka, Milos Raonic and Kei Nishikori with a strong performance at his hometown Erste Bank Open 500. The third-seeded Austrian will turn to the home fans to spur him to victory, with defending champion David Ferrer also in his quarter of the draw and 2014 winner Murray looming in the semis. He opens against countryman Gerald Melzer.

Following Rafael Nadal’s announcement that he would conclude his 2016 season due to a wrist injury, Berdych has moved into the coveted final qualification spot with 2,880 points. Also competing in Vienna, the second-seeded Czech is less than a month removed from claiming his first title of the year at the Shenzhen Open. He faces a tricky path, with #NextGen star Karen Khachanov a potential second round opponent and Roberto Bautista Agut and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who both own faint hopes in the Emirates ATP Race To London, also in his half of the draw.

A semi-final showing on home soil at the inaugural European Open has Goffin hot on Berdych’s tail. Like Monfils and Thiem, the Belgian is in pursuit of a first appearance at the season finale. He enters the Swiss Indoors Basel in strong form, having advanced to the semi-finals or further in three of his past five events on the ATP World Tour, in addition to a quarter-final at the Shanghai Rolex Masters. Runner-up in 2014 to Roger Federer, Goffin has a challenging path this year with five current and former Top 10 players in his half of the draw. He opens his Basel bid against Marcos Baghdatis and could face Juan Martin del Potro in a blockbuster second round, with London contenders Nishikori and Raonic also looming.

Cilic, meanwhile, is seeded fourth in his fourth trip to Basel. A mere 100 points behind Goffin and 290 back of Berdych, he is poised to mount a serious charge up the Emirates ATP Race To London standings next week. The Croatian opens against Mikhail Youzhny, with Spaniards Fernando Verdasco and Pablo Carreno Busta beckoning in the second round. Stockholm finalist Jack Sock and top seed Stan Wawrinka are also present in his half of the draw.

Three Doubles Spots Up For Grabs In Basel
The five teams in the sixth to 10th positions in the Emirates ATP Doubles Race To London are all competing at the Swiss Indoors Basel. No. 6 Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram are seeded third, with No. 7 Henri Kontinen and John Peers and No. 8 Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi also in the draw.

Currently in the ninth spot are defending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals champions Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau. The Dutch-Romanian duo are the top seeds in Basel and find themselves 385 points behind Huey/Mirnyi for the final spot. The Colombian Power of Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah round out to the Top 10 and are unseeded in the Swiss city. 

Barclays ATP World Tour Finals – The Contenders
Based on the calendar-year Emirates ATP Race To London standings as of Saturday, 22 October 2016. The top eight eligible players will qualify. Players in bold have already qualified.

*Nadal has concluded his 2016 season due to a wrist injury

The Barclays ATP World Tour Finals has established itself as the biggest indoor tennis tournament in the world since moving to London in 2009. Tickets to the tournament, which takes place from 13-20 November, can be purchased at: www.BarclaysATPWorldTourFinals.com.