Men's Tennis: 5 Key takeaways from the 2018 ATP Finals
The 49th edition of the ATP Finals concluded yesterday with Alexander Zverev winning his maiden title and the American duo of Mike Bryan and Jack Sock capturing the Doubles title. With the withdrawal of Rafael Nadal and Juan Martin del Potro, this year's competition missed out on two of the most popular tennis faces.
The final of both the Singles and Doubles categories were unique such that in both cases the finalists had faced off against each other in the group stages with the outcomes being the exact opposite: Zverev lost to Novak Djokovic at the round-robin stage but won their encounter in the final.
French pair of Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut scheduled to represent France in the Davis Cup final against Croatia later this month beat the American duo of Mike Bryan and Jack Sock in their final group match but lost out in the final despite having a match point opportunity. We take a look at 5 key takeaways of the tournament:
#5 Roger Federer at 37 cannot be written off, not now, never!
Ageless wonder Roger Federer was making a record 16th appearance at the tournament and started off in the worst possible way as he lost to Japan's Kei Nishikori in straight sets. Critics were quick to offer comments with former player Greg Rusedski even going one step ahead to say that Federer may lose his remaining two group matches.
Facing allegations of preferential treatment by the Australian Open authorities with regard to his match scheduling, Federer let his racquet do the talking as he always has for the last 15 years or so. The Swiss ace won his remaining two group matches against Dominic Thiem and Kevin Anderson in straight sets to top the Lleyton Hewitt group despite losing his opener in straight sets.
Although he failed to beat Zverev in the semi-final, Federer can enjoy the off-season taking a lot of positives from his 2018 season. Rest assured, Federer will win his 100th ATP title. It is only a matter of time and his age is not going to stop him from defending his Australian Open crown in 2019.