Nitto ATP Finals: Four stories that headline season-ending finale
Come November 10th and tennis fans across the globe will be toasted to a week long treat of some fine tennis featuring the best of eight on the Tour. The O2 Arena in London will once again witness the dramatic end to cracker of a season. The most coveted non slam tournament to attract eyeballs, the Nitto ATP Finals promises to showcase some tasty matches for fans to savour.
With three debutantes at the Finals, namely Matteo Berrettini, Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas, it is more than intriguing to watch who carves a niche and how.
It looks tough for defending champion Alexander Zverev to do an encore with the kind of season that the German has had. Nevertheless, it is about time to see if the World no 7 can be inspired enough to recreate what he achieved last year at the Tour finals.
Here are four must follow stories at the impending ATP Finals.
Will Djokovic usurp Nadal for the year end No 1 ranking?
Novak Djokovic has forever been a beacon of perseverance. After enduring the roughest patch of his life when he slid out of the top 20 last year in May, the Serb, since then has portrayed an example of grit by steadily climbing up the rankings ladder. With five titles this season, including two Majors (Australian Open and Wimbledon, two Masters 1000 and the Japan Open) Djokovic without a doubt has all the weapons and confidence walking onto the court inside the O2 Arena as the action begins this Sunday.
With Rafael Nadal forced to withdraw minutes before his semi-final clash at the Paris Masters, Djokovic went all the way to clinch his fifth title in Bercy without dropping a set. Despite this, the Spaniard reclaimed his No. 1 ranking and will have to slog at the Finals to stay at the zenith. This should be the motivating factor apart from the trophy for both the legends to give it their best in London.
Nadal, who is drawn against Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsistsipas and defending champ Alexander Zverev in Group Andre Agassi, needs to win all the group stage matches if he is to secure his No. 1 spot. Losing even a single match could help the Serbian to grab the coveted top ranking. This could be a heap of work for Nadal who has always struggled to keep fit at the fag end of a season. Making his ninth appearance at the Tour Finals, the Spaniard has made it to the final only twice in 2010 and 2013. Djokovic on the other hand has been a champion for five years and twice a finalist at the ATP Finals.
With so much at stake, it shall be a blockbuster fight to see who will secure the top honors at the season finale.