All eyes turn to London’s O2 arena as the world’s finest tennis players get set to gruel it out over the next week for ATP’s showpiece event, the newly christened Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. The question in the minds of tennis enthusiasts across the world is not merely about the winner of the title. The repercussions to the ATP rankings, and the crowning of the ATP world tour champion would have to wait at least till the later stages of the event.
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Can Roger Federer regain the title he won four times over the last six years, and thus become the second man in the history of ATP rankings to regain the year end no.1 ranking after Ivan Lendl? Or will his nemesis Rafael Nadal spring another surprise to bring an anti-climax to the season that the Swiss himself calls one of his greatest in terms of all his accomplishments on and off the court? Can Djokovic continue his late surge in form to defend this prestigious title? The questions go on, but the wait is short, and here’s a look at the top contenders before the big showdown.
Roger Federer:
Few would believe that this would be the way Roger Federer’s year end numbers stand. Grand Slam titles no. 14 and 15, coming at the red clays of Roland Garros and then his beloved lawns at the All England Tennis club, add to that two masters series titles, twin daughters, and marriage to girlfriend of nine years, you have to ask yourself is there anything more you can achieve in a single year? Well, to Federer, there’s always something more as he tries to regain the title he owned for four years except for the blips that were ’08 and ’05. And his quest to become the ATP world tour champion after surrendering that to a certain Rafael Nadal during ’08 and you have to say, he still looks like he’s got vengeance to deliver.
Rafael Nadal:
People said it was coming. He pushed himself too hard and his knees gave way. After the grand opening to ’08 where he won his first hard court Grand Slam, people predicted that he would have his career grand slam even before Federer. Nobody saw what came next, as he surrendered his French Open title, and couldn’t even turn up to defend Wimbledon. He lost his Number 1 ranking, and the return to tennis action hasn’t been the most exciting. He hasn’t won a title since and still has to prove that he can sustain himself throughout a season. The end of the season hasn’t always been his favourite, and it is up to him to salvage the disappointing season by his own standards(which by the way included a grand slam, 3 masters series titles, and another title at Barcelona) by reclaiming the No.1 ranking, and becoming the tour champion. But the ranking would depend on his performance as well as Federer’s, and the possibilities there are intriguing.
A disappointing show at all the four grand slam events, his five titles had only one masters series triumph and disappointing losses through the season that saw him lose the no.3 ranking to Andy Murray for a while. The significant point here is that he’s hitting top form at the right time, and has won two titles in as many weeks, with victories over Federer and Nadal. Does he have it in him to defend his title against the world’s best? Or will the likes of Federer, Nadal, Murray and Del Potro prove too hot to handle?
4. Andy Murray
The hope of a nation remains still that. A hope. Having had a great start to the season, and rapid ascension into No.3 sparked many debates as to whether he’d be the one to beat Federer at Wimbledon. But the fact that it was another Andy altogether that turned up on the second Sunday at Wimbledon shows that he lacked the game for big occasions. He lost his number 3 ranking soon, but on any given day, Murray’s a strong contender on a hard court as his two masters series titles, and the three other hard court titles he won over the year would tell.
The 21 year old announced his arrival on the big stage, by beating Roger Federer in a pulsating 5 setter at Flushing Meadows when nobody had given him even an outside chance. His hard court game was never in question, but would he come through mentally on the big occasions? Well, we all the answer to that question now. Can he finish off his dream season in style by beating the best in the world continuously for a week? It is his second appearance in the season finale, so he’s definitely been there before. Can he do it?
Davydenko, Verdasco, Soderling
Do any of them pose a serious challenge for the title? Unlikely considering the level of competition among the top 5? Unlikely. But you can certainly expect a few upsets in the round robin stages. Watch out for Nadal – Soderling where the Mallorcan would certainly be out for revenge for the defeat at Paris. Having Djokovic, Nadal, Soderling and Davydenko in group B means that a couple of upsets can give way to one of these two “underdogs” could make it to the semi finals.
But essentially the group to watch out for is A, with Roger Federer teeing off against his least favoured opponent in Andy Murray and his recent conqueror – Del Potro. Who will be the two that make it to the semis? Can Federer finish off his greatest year so far in style? Or will Nadal reclaim the throne he occupied for almost a year? Come November 29th, and there will be tears and smiles a plenty…
