All the major ATP Tour titles for 2010 have been decided. Roger Federer took the Australian Open and Rafael Nadal cleaned up at the French Open, Wimbledon and most recently the US Open.
However, the line-up for season finale at the O2 Arena in London, where the top eight players in the standings compete in the World Tour Finals, is still largely undecided.
On account of their form in the Slams both Nadal and Federer are guaranteed a place in London … but the other six places remain very much up for grabs.
Next in line come Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. Surprisingly both have only won once during the season and that’s why neither is 100% assured of making the end of season championships. However, it would take a seismic shift in the rankings for either player to miss out.
Barring such a miracle that still leaves half of the 8 places unresolved at this late stage of the campaign. Robin Soderling in 5th spot is well-placed to qualify and Tomas Berdych, after big performances in Paris and London during the Summer, comes next on the list. Both these guys will only have themselves to blame should they fail to make it to the November showpiece.
The interesting battles will come further down the list, especially with Masters Series events (offering some big ranking points) to come in Shanghai and Paris.
Andy Roddick, Fernando Verdasco, David Ferrer and Mikhail Youzhny look certain to be in the shake-up. The first three have been in poor form recently and will need to up their performances. Youzhny, on the back of a run to the semis in New York, clearly has momentum.
Injury has blighted the seasons of Nikolay Davydenko, Juan-Martin Del Potro, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Fernando Gonzalez. They will have to start again from scratch in 2011.
Finally, guys like Jurgen Melzer, Marin Cilic and Mardy Fish must retain some small hope of making the line-up but, realistically, each must achieve a Masters Series win in order to boost their chances.
The finals moved to London from Shanghai in 2009 with Nikolay Davydenko winning the title after a 6-3 6-4 victory over Del Potro. Roger Federer will be looking for a record equalling 5th title this year (Ivan Lendl won five times between 1981 and 1987).
Rafael Nadal will be chasing his first world crown this year and is keen to add this prize to his impressive haul for the season.
“My goal remains for me that the [Barclays ATP World Tour Finals] is probably the last big tournament that I didn’t win,” said the Spaniard after his US Open win.
“It’s the most difficult title for me to win because we play it indoors … so gonna be always very difficult if we don’t change that. But at the same time is a challenge for me to keep improving to have the chance to play well there and to have the chance to win, so that’s what I’m gonna try this year.”
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