The ATP World Tour Finals will be hosted for the sixth year at the 02 Arena in London.
Here are the two round-robin groups
Group A: Novak Djokovic, Tomas Berdych, Marin Cilic, Stanilas Wawrinka.
Group B: Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Kei Nishikori, Milos Raonic.
Alternates: David Ferrer, Feliciano Lopez.
Interestingly, Tsonga and Gulbis declined their invitations to be alternates.
London’s six years is the longest host of the WTF since Frankfurt (90-95). Other WTF host sites since – Lisbon (2000), Sydney, Shanghai, Houston. New York was the longest running WTF site (77-89).
Did you know the first WTF was held in Tokyo in ’70? Paris, Barcelona, Boston, Melbourne, Stockholm, Houston hosted before Madison Square Garden took over in 77.
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« Previous 1 2Gaurang · November 13, 2014 at 5:19 am
Wow, amazing game from Novak in the last 2 matches! He is at his best right now. Lost unbelievably only 5 games in 2 matches against Top 8 players.
I think we can very reasonably expect a Fed vs Novak final. And I think Fed game works very well against Novak, so its always a 51% chance of Fed winning.
But Novak will wrap up a well deserved year-end #1. Its his 3rd in 4 years. If he gets another one next year, he will start being counted in the top 10 players in the Open Era.
Scoop Malinowski · November 13, 2014 at 8:08 am
Soderling is done it’s pretty obvious, to become a tournament director means he’s on the business end now, unless if he gives himself a WC. Hope the strong mono case doesn’t make him too weak to be a tournament director.
Scoop Malinowski · November 13, 2014 at 8:09 am
How about that guy from Bulgaria who got in Champaign as an ALT and he almost upset a good player. Names are a blur right now. An ALT taking a main draw guy to the limit is a good achievement. How many times do you see an ALT get in a main draw – very rare in doubles, VERY BERRY RARE in singles.
Dan Markowitz · November 13, 2014 at 8:50 am
Not true, Scoop. I think you’re referring to Dimitar Kutrovsky, and he may be an alternate, but he’s a pretty good player. And here’s the key, he was playing Mannarino in his first match after winning Knoxville so he probably wasn’t at his best.
Noah got Dancevic-ed in straights. I don’t know, Scoop, I know you’re higher on Kozlov than Donaldson, but the lanky Rhode Islander played Jaziri tough in 3 and since Kozlov doesn’t play a big game and Donaldson’s already played in MD USO, I think he has the upside now.
Andrew, I know Krajicek won again, and this time the guy was a better player, No. 160, there’s often a ceiling on these guys like Krajicek, and they have trouble beating Top 100 players.
Geez, was Cilic terrible or what since the USO?
Harold · November 13, 2014 at 10:06 am
Sorry to interrupt the musings about every American tennis player ranked above 150 in the world. Their daily progress or lack thereof.
But, with the absolute failure of American tennis in the last few years, the no optimism for a top player in the immediate future, Ashe stadium will look like a midweek NBA game in Phoenix. All the expensive seats empty, the true fans in the upper regions. After the big 4 retire, cant see Cilic/Raonic, or anyone else under 26 from Eastern Europe,filling the big room or exciting anybody.
Scoop Malinowski · November 13, 2014 at 11:07 am
Kozlov is in CA training hard right now with Higueras and Todero. He’s going to train with Courier in early Dec. Kozlov and Donaldson are close, I’m just going on their games and what I saw in that doubles match vs. the Bryans, Kozlov was the alpha male on the court and showed a lot more. JD has a nice upside, Dent in his corner is an advantage. I like them both, they are both still developing so anything is possible, one can suddenly breakout, like Coric and Kyrgios did this year. I think it will be Kozlov first.
Scoop Malinowski · November 13, 2014 at 11:09 am
Wouldn’t that be ironic Harold, with the USTA already starting it’s construction of the roof over Ashe. Imagine a roof over an predominantly empty stadium with fourteen straight days of no rain. Let’s hope that never happens. And Kozlov Rubin Donaldson Krajiceck or Francis Tiafoe win a major title within five years.
Andrew Miller · November 13, 2014 at 12:17 pm
Torebko has something to say about that.
(I.e. lets not get ahead of ourselves here. The u.s. is a hype machine and kozlov hasnt proven zip yet even with a w on smyczek he has a l to torebko after losing to klizan in a tournament that shouldnt hand wildcards to minors).
No slams for these kids in the big boy era. Kozlov has a nice feel for the game but that means zero right now. Lets see where all these guys are in 2 years.
Andrew Miller · November 13, 2014 at 12:25 pm
Given Dimitrov won his first title of significance at 22 years old last year in moscow and no u.s. player outside isner and querrey have equalled that accomplishment find it hard to believe any u.s. player will win even a regular season title soon.
Maybe sock and steve johnson but look how long it has taken them. Unless a wave of retirements makes the tour easier for these players, but why wouldnt other hungry players like chardy then clean up?
Sorry just no evidene here. The only player of note to compete at a finals stage of a regular tournament outside isner and querrey has been brian baker, who made a final against davydenko in nice france. Maybe sock made a final this year? The evidence just isnt there on u.s. players breaking through without some seriously hard work and lucky breaks…like older players retiring and clearing the way for others. Chela’s retirement alone must have boosted the rankings of tons of players that no longer had to play him in rd 1.
Scoop Malinowski · November 13, 2014 at 12:55 pm
It’s shocking that no American outside of Isner and Querrey has been able to do anything in the business end of any ATP events. For years. That is catastrophic. I see that changing next year though. But then again, at this rate, it’s entirely possible USA tennis could even regress MORE next year. We’ll see. If that happens USTA should clean HOUSE.
Scoop Malinowski · November 13, 2014 at 12:58 pm
Remember everyone was talking about Russian tennis a few years ago? Boy, Russian tennis has fizzled out like a candle in a hurricane.
Andrew Miller · November 13, 2014 at 1:35 pm
Harold is right about the dismal state of U.S. tennis. It’s important though to look at the facts that there has been a lot of improvement, and the reason it’s discussed here (in my opinion) is because the mainstream journalists for the AP or USA Today or whatever have been parachuters and lazy in their reporting. Either they swoop in to talk about Harrison’s catching a bad break at slams where he gets wildcards (this is a non story – Harrison has been struggling for two straight years now and may finally be at the end of his rankings tumble, at least there’s some light at the end of the tunnel), or they swoop in to talk about how today isn’t the era of Agassi and Sampras or Connors and McEnroe (more lazy reporting, of course it isn’t) or they pile on to talk about how the #3 player in U.S. tennis as of February was Klahn down at a lowly #67 ranking (surprise….now the U.S. has 5 top 60 players in Isner, Querrey (back in the 30s), Johnson (now in the 30s) Sock (in the low 40s) and DY (in the upper 50s).
Where’s that story? Nowhere. No one is reporting that. I’m not saying this is an enormous discovery
HEADLINE: TEPID ADVANCES BY U.S. ATP PLAYERS ON FOREIGN LANDS! PLAYERS INCHING UP RANKINGS!
But I am saying that it is happenning – Sock is playing other players tough, Johnson is playing very respectable tennis and DY is up and down as always but these days the ups and downs aren’t as dramatic. These three players are year over year better.
Anyways, sorry to keep bothering other posters with the minute by minute minutiae about players no one wants to pay attention to. I’m just giving credit where it’s due – I think you applaud Berankis for getting back in gear, Vesely for a better year on the ATP, Thiem for going prime time (at least staying on the tour and winning some big matches), and in the U.S. you kind of have to give credit to Sock (for finding his passion or whatever, he is playing much much harder) and to Johnson, who has earned his keep as #3 player).
I think the U.S. is almost good enough to stay in the top group for Davis Cup, barely. No one is good enough yet to take out Querrey but maybe by this time next year, one of these players – Sock, Johnson – even DY – could lock up the #2 spot in U.S. tennis on a team that is respectable.
Face it…since Roddick’s retirement U.S. tennis hasn’t been respectable at all. It’s been a two year slump. Isner has done his best and done a very good job I think, but the players behind him haven’t answered “the call”. To me that’s changing because in February you had 3 top 70 players…now you have 5 top 60 players.
Do it by country.
spain, 10 top 60 players
france, 7 top 60 players
u.s., 5 top 60 players
australia, 3 top 60 players
Spain and France have a lot more of the top 30 (tons more) than the U.S., but this is not an awful showing. Given that everyone but Isner is around their prime tennis years, expect the rankings to stay stable.
Anyways, I think Harold is definitely right – this isn’t something to jump up and down about (Johnson is #37! Johnson is #37!). But we aren’t in the same U.S. tennis crisis – it’s different. There isn’t just empty hope, players are fighting the good fight and getting career high rankings.
Tennis is a sport where fortunes change pretty often. No one saw Nishikori coming on so strong and now look at him, top 5 with a semifinal WTF (almost) in hand. Two other first time slam finalists won slams – Cilic and Wawrinka. While Djokovic and Nadal remain on the top of the sport with Federer and Murray close by, this is a new ballgame. It looks like the same game, it’s not though.
Dan Markowitz · November 13, 2014 at 2:38 pm
Harold,
Can’t I engage you in a debate over whether you think Austin Krajicek is the Second Coming of Tim Wilkison? I say one player to you, Harold, and that is Jack Sock. Even if he got to US Open finals it wouldn’t excite many people. But Sock has pizzazz. He’s got the smile and the forehand and he’s athletic. If Sock in five years or less–because Nadal, Djoko and Murray, maybe Fed, will all be around still in five years and contending for titles along with Dimitrov, Kei, Milos and Kyrgios which should be enough to keep the game exciting–at 27 is ready to win a slam and gets deep into the US Open, yes, I think AA Stadium will be packed.
Harold · November 13, 2014 at 3:48 pm
Its just sad to read that a doubles win in a 3rd rate challenger is a springboard to possible singles sucsess on the big boy circuit. Losing tough matches in Virginia or Knoxville is not a confidence builder. You need to start winning those matches and gaining points.
Maybe right now looking into the tennis crystal ball is hard. Predicting these up and comers like Thiem, or Coric’s future goals against what this last generation( big 4) has done is impossible. The next generation looks to me like a period where players will win one, maybe 2 slams. Nobody on the horizon now has more than 5 slams in him.
Vesely… Have seen him play up close a few times. Bad mover. Legs look like he had a major issue at some point. Not making any big dent in big tournaments. Doesnt belong in the discussion with Thiem, Kyrgios( head case for sure) Coric
Andrew Miller · November 13, 2014 at 4:19 pm
Harold, no disagreement from me on the future stars. I’d add Tomic and Sock – even at the beginning of this year I saw Sock as hyped but also know that when he gets into a match he sticks it out. He’s become a different player since becoming a slam doubles champion.
Just don’t see why it’s so strange to see a player get momentum from doubles and transfer that positive vibe to their singles game. A down in the dumps Roger Federer lost a winnable match to James Blake in the 08 olympics only to get the gold with Wawrinka – that match put Federer in a whole new mindset from the mono mindset he’d been in, with no confidence and poor (for Federer) results on the year. Why wouldn’t that same thing work for a challenger player?
Anyways, who cares. I like this forum because anyone can discuss any player, any time. Truly no one has a crystal ball – name next year’s top ten on the ATP and watch how everyone gets it wrong. I bet if everyone names the top ten women’s players for next year would be more accurate than the men’s game, which is really volatile right now.
Scoop Malinowski · November 13, 2014 at 6:41 pm
What a display by Federer today, first serve % was under 50% but from the baseline and net he was as lethal as ever. Federer’s play all year has been simply sensational. Murray just completely collapsed after blowing a 0-30 lead in Fed’s first service game. That third point was a 35 shot rally which Murray fumbled when he tried to hit a second straight bh up the line but he netted it. From there it was all Federer. Based on what Federer has shown this year I think he has a great chance to be #1 next year, with Rafa and Delpo as big ?s. Djokovic will be a tough obstacle to overcome as will the rising force Nishikori. Nishikori was very impressive in subduing a fired up Ferrer. Kei has clearly solved Ferrer, he has the smarts and the fitness to dominate Ferrer. I think next year Nishikori could solve one or two members of the big four.
Andrew Miller · November 13, 2014 at 8:51 pm
If Cilic and Wawrinka could do it, don’t see why Nishikori can’t. It would be huge.
As for Thomas and the question on Soderling – few players hit as big as Soderling while also playing the way he did to win. He was super powerful, accurate and played intensely – beating players no one else could (like a defending champ in Federer at French Open 2010).
anyone who has done it before, if they are healthy, could do it again. That said the other swede who came back, JJ (as in Joe Johannson, Joachim) couldn’t. But Soderling was better than JJ, so I’d think he’d get a quarters in a slam.
jblitz · November 13, 2014 at 10:57 pm
Gaurang – “But Novak will wrap up a well deserved year-end #1. Its his 3rd in 4 years.”
And in two out of those three years, his main competition only played six months of the year. The one year Rafa played almost a complete year (missed the AO) he punted Novak down to #2. Even this year he almost lost it to a 33 yr old.
Kudos to Djokovic, he’s a heck of a player, but it’s annoying how this one little detail is overlooked. His record wouldn’t be quite so sparkling if he hadn’t been lucky as well.
jblitz · November 13, 2014 at 11:08 pm
Scoop Malinowski – “If Stan chokes the Aus Open final or plays like his normal self, Rafa wins two majors this year. But Stan played the match of his LIFE.”
Match of his life??? Get real Scoop. Stan was playing against a guy he had never so much as won a set from in his whole career who could barely serve, barely run, and certainly wasn’t playing well because of his injury. Hell, even then Stan handed a set to Rafa. If that was the match of his life, no wonder he had won only five 250 tournies up til then. He’s going to drop out of the Top 10 next January.
“Still a strong year for Rafa, just Fed and Djokovic had a little bit better years.”
Yes, because they were both able to play a full schedule and weren’t hampered by injuries and then a freak case of appendicitis. They had luckier years. It’s amazing Rafa was able to accomplish as much as he did.
Andrew Miller · November 14, 2014 at 1:31 am
Jblitz, sorry but nadal played the year in bad health anyway, he knew what he was getting into. Roddick played the 02 u.s. open with blisters the size of spain on his feet and no one cared because it was sampras’ parting tournament. Same thing for the australian open…wawrinka may have won against an ailing nadal but wawrinka was still the story of the tournament. I like to say that in 08 federer lost to djokovic because of mono, he looked the most green of any player ever – pale green and sick. But 08 is still remembered as djokovic’ first slam and the year federer was most vulnerable ha.
Only one tournament i think was stolen, 98 korda rios at the australian. Funny in scoops interview with korda thought korda said he beat rios everytime. Wasnt true at all.
EddietheEagle · November 14, 2014 at 3:30 am
That was a masterclass from Federer. The way the game shows itself at its best – relentless, all-court pressure to the point an opponent collapses – both in morale and performance.
Scoop Malinowski · November 14, 2014 at 8:15 am
jblitz, maybe it’s more that Rafa can’t handle the physicality of the quality of tennis that he needs to play to keep up with Djokovic. Djokovic is a little stronger and better equipped physically for the rigors of the tour than Rafa is.
Scoop Malinowski · November 14, 2014 at 8:17 am
Full credit to Stan for turning the tables on Rafa he earned that win with super tennis. Rafa was fine, the crowd thought he faked the back injury and booed him after the 8 minute TO. I think Rafa faked it too, as he has a history of faking injuries and using MTOs to stop the momentum when he’s losing.
Scoop Malinowski · November 14, 2014 at 8:22 am
Andrew, and Rios crushed Korda a few weeks after the Aus Open final in IW, straight sets win for Rios. I always doubted the Fed mono case – remember how good he looked in destroying Santoro just days before he lost to Djokovic? Then he loses to Djokovic and suddenly he has mono. Djokovic played lights out tennis, nothing was gonna stop him that fortnight. Djokovic always could give Roger big problems, remember their match in Montreal when Djok was still a teen? I think the mono card has been overused as an excuse by certain players. Excuse making has become a sophisticated art form.
Scoop Malinowski · November 14, 2014 at 8:23 am
Eddie, it was one of Federer’s finest performances. Almost two sets of peRFection. Maybe the pressure to win in straight was too much for Murray. Maybe Federer was simply near peRFect.
Andrew Miller · November 14, 2014 at 9:17 am
Scoop,Federer was green in the match – pale and sick vs. Djoko in the 08 australian. He definitely was sick almost the full year. Im saying it doesnt matter – the idea you opponent must be 100% healthy for a match to count is preposterous. Every match would have an asterisk* next to it if this were the case . Sick or not players play, do their jobs. The better man on the day wins (unless a player throws a match for money). Cant say well you know that shoulder injury the day before weakened a players serve…so what, if it were that awfulhe should have quit before the match or during it.
I think nadal did a warrior thing in getting through the loss. He didnt do what Henin did which was far worse. And even if nadal were 100% that match i dont think anyone was denying wawrinka that day, he was ready for it. What i am saying is injury or not nadal wasnt winning the australian this year, wawrinka won his title outright. Besides too much emphasis is put on the finals of a tournament.
Most of th tournaments best matches are played before.the final. This idea of perfect tennis from both opponents during a final is an unrealistic expectation…more loke who can cross the finish line stumbling less than the opponent.
Scoop Malinowski · November 14, 2014 at 1:01 pm
Fed didn’t look that badly ill in that match vs. Djokovic, he just got outplayed by a great player in top form, it’s not like he played an abysmal match, it was a battle and Djokovic had to earn it which he did. 75 63 76. Rafa tried his timeout shtick vs. Stan but Stan did not buy it nor did the Aussie fans. The plan backfired on poor Rafa who was upset by the boos. I am 99% sure Rafa faked it. Feigning injury and playing possum are part of world class tennis AND boxing.
Andrew Miller · November 15, 2014 at 12:34 pm
Djokovic d. Nishikori…6-0 in third set.
Wawrinka vs. Federer to face Djokovic in final. Wawrinka?
—
Illinois
Mannarino makes another challenger final. Cleaning up..
Brescia, Italy, Challenger
Marchenko d. D. Brown, likely facing M. Berrer in final.
Yokohama, Japan challenger:
Kyle Edmund vs. John Millman for all the marbles. UK on the ups. Millman (Australia) from #1101 to #200 in less than 2 months.
Kudos to Denis Kudla for winning Australian open wildcard.
Gaurang · November 16, 2014 at 1:57 am
Wow, Wawrinka dropped 4 match points (3 on his own serve) — letting Fed win a match he shouldnt have won.
Both the semifinals were tight. In the Djokovic-Nishikori match, Nishikori simply outplayed Djokovic during the second set. He was taking the balls on the rise, getting there early, and taking time away from Djokovic. Similar to how Davydenko (or James Blake) used to play. Djokovic looked clueless and it appeared that he will loose badly in the 3rd set too. Expectedly, Djokovic was facing 2 break points in his first game in the 3rd set, when Nishikori gave them away by making 2 unforced errors. And then Nishikori got broken next game, by some more unforced errors and a double fault. From that point on, Nishikori never recovered. Even though he lost 1-6 6-3 0-6, he proved that he can play unbeatable tennis. He simply has to learn to sustain it for a longer period of time.
The final is going to be a coin-flip match. I always believe Federer has an edge against Novak — but my heart is always for Novak, since I am stronger fan of Novak then Fed 😉
Gaurang · November 16, 2014 at 2:05 am
Jblitz, is it Novak’s fault that Nadal was injured? I think, physical strength and health is part and parcel of being a strong champion. For example, Federer’s health is one of his virtues…he is the least injured among all top players, and I think he has never missed a grand slam due to injury (right?)
Also look at the gap in points this year. Novak’s 11010, and Nadal’s 6835 — a gap of around 4200 points, which can increase to 4700 if Novak wins the final. Even if Nadal wouldn’t have been injured in the latter part of the year, its not necessary that he would have caught up with Novak. In fact, Novak’s play dropped in Cincinnati and Montreal since Nadal was not competing so he wasn’t really motivated. If Nadal was playing, Novak could have earned even more points.
In 2011, Novak defeated Nadal 6 times or something, all in finals. So really that says it all.
I don’t remember about 2012, how much Nadal was injured. But again, thats not Novak’s fault. Novak deserves to be #1 for 3 out of the last 4 years. He has consistently proven it… He only lost 9 games in the last 4 matches before today’s semifinals — and all those 4 matches were against top 8 opponents — this speaks a lot to his dominance of tennis.
Federer is definitely is very close to him this year. But Fed is Fed. Fed definitely played very well this year, and he doesn’t feel like he’s 33. Also to Novak’s credit, he sneaked his way to a Wimbledon victory in 5 tight sets over a great-playing-Roger this year, which is an accomplishment.
Gaurang · November 16, 2014 at 2:07 am
Scoop, the title of the page is coming out wrong (key 5 geo1…etc). I think this got broken recently (not sure when). You should fix it — it could affect your google search rankings.
Andrew Miller · November 16, 2014 at 3:02 pm
Feder withdraws, djok wins. Never thought we would see Federer not play a match. One way or the other this years best player has been djokovic because he has been the most healthy. Uncharacteristic of federer not to play a match. He acknowledges that step on court or not djokovic would win.
Im calling the davis cup for france. They are too deep. No one on the swiss team can replace federer or wawrinka and both overdid it in the wtf . My guess is france wins it.
Scoop Malinowski · November 16, 2014 at 6:47 pm
Nishikori just keeps on impressing. Love his game and the sky is the limit. Potential number ONE? Maybe. Just maybe. Interesting default by Fed, he clearly has nothing to gain from playing the final, can only hurt himself for Davis Cup, it was a no win situation for him. I think everyone understands and accepts his decision. Blame it all on Davis Cup and Stan for not deferring more easily yesterday.
Scoop Malinowski · November 16, 2014 at 6:50 pm
Gaurang, yes we are aware of the problem and are stumped at the moment, we’re trying to fix it. We did nothing wrong, we have no idea how this was caused. I’ll send you a signed copy of my book if you can fix it )
Scoop Malinowski · November 16, 2014 at 6:51 pm
Fed Stan will be ready for France Andrew, no way will their engines be on E. They both want it bad.
Dan Markowitz · November 17, 2014 at 3:02 am
Interesting article on SI.com web site, quoting from a piece by a award-winning sports journalist, this tidbit was mentioned about Nadal:
“This year, former pro Christopher Rochus commentating during the Australian Open said the Spaniard was faking injury to return to the locker room to “get a shotâ€. It wasn’t his first attack on a player that has drawn huge attention for his cycles of dominance followed by bizarre injuries followed by a superhuman ability to bounce back from problems with key areas like wrists and knees.”
The article also mentions Djokovic’s hyperbaric chamber and a comment Murray made after losing to Djoko about his super-human endurance, but just wanted JBlitz to know I’m not the only one suspicious of Nadal’s cycles of dominance followed by bizarre injuries.
Scoop Malinowski · November 17, 2014 at 8:30 am
I saw that too Dan. Shot of what? That is the question? I remember a prominent Russian coach telling me a very prominent Russian hockey player used to take a shot of something before games and it would have him bouncing off the walls his intensity would change considerably. I can see some sort of stimulant working on a tennis player as it supposedly worked on a hockey player. Wish C Rochus could be more specific.
Dan Markowitz · November 17, 2014 at 9:06 am
Well, that’s been the big problem with Christophe’s cryptic digs of the use of steroids in the game. I know I’m currently taking steroids for my hip and I don’t know if it’s coincidence or not, but my hip feels better, but last night I felt woozy and my heart hurt.
Maybe Nadal’s health problems might be a measure of what he’s been ingesting. Look, Nadal, Serena, Djoko–these are the three players in my mind most under suspicion. But Nadal is numeral uno. I’d like to see Wada or the ITF catch one of these big fishes. They make the point that Rusedski was caught at one point, but the powers that be in tennis don’t announce who tests positive until a player has the chance to appeal it change the result…I don’t know how they could do this.
Serena wasn’t tested for two years and then when the testers came to her house to test her, she apparently fled and wasn’t tested because she thought they were robbers! It’s kind of bizarre.
Scoop Malinowski · November 17, 2014 at 3:42 pm
There are just so many dots of circumstantial evidence, a curious quote here, a provocative article there, an Operation Puerto link here, a suspect doctor linked to a dirty athlete there, a Spanish World Cup victory then four years later a sudden first round embarrassing loss, a superstar tennis player major victory then a shock loss soon after, an accusation by someone like Noah or Rochus, this that and the other thing, I think any logical mind can connect the dots and understand what is happening.