Sunday 22nd November 2009 - 14:51:51
London is about to be gripped in another whirlwind of Tennis fever this week as the top eight players descend on the O2 for the ATP World Tour Finals.
After the long and up and down season faced by all the players they all intend to end the year on a high as they go head to head one more time.
And this time next week the rankings cold look incredibly different as a handful of players are hoping to topple those above then while, for the rest it’s a case of just hanging on.
Leading the pack is world number one Roger Federer who regained the top spot earlier in the year as well as achieving the career Grand Slam by winning the French open in June and was once again triumphant at Wimbledon.
But the new father will be looking over his shoulder this week as Rafael Nadal has his eye on finishing the year back at the top of the rankings.
It’s been a difficult second half of the season for the popular Spaniard after being riddled with injury; tendonitis ending his hopes of retaining both the French Open and Wimbledon titles and an abdominal strain preventing him from being 100% at the U.S. Open.
Despite this a recent run of good form, which has seen him make a least a semi-final in his last five tournaments has seen him close the gap on his longstanding rival.
But while Nadal may have his sights on the top spot he must keep one eye on Novak Djokovic as the Serb closes in on the number two spot.
It’s been a successful few weeks for the world number three as he picked up titles in Basel and Paris and is the man in form in London.
Djokovic lifted the World Tour Title in 2008 and is the slight favourite to retain that title. And while Djokovic looks to move up the rankings his win at the Paris Masters last week.
Andy Murray has risen as high as two this year but has since been overtaken by both Nadal and Djokovic and but could improve on his fourth place should he win the London tournament..
Since the U.S. Open, where he crashed out surprisingly early to Marin Cilic, the Scot has struggled with a wrist injury and is currently on his way back from injury.
Despite lifting the title in Valencia earlier this month he suffered an early exit in Paris. But with the home crowd behind him Murray will be hoping to hang onto that fourth spot.
But Juan Martin Del Potro is creeping up behind him and the there could be a fight for the fourth spot as the newly crowned U.S. Open champion wants to get amongst the pack in the top five.
Nikolay Davydenko, and Fernando Verdasco were the two other players to qualify outright for the competition while Robin Soderling replaces the injured Andy Roddick.
The opening match will see Andy Murray take on Juan Martin Del Potro while Roger Federer plays Verdasco later on Sunday evening.
The tournament sees the top eight men split into two groups of four and will play each other in a round-robin format before the top two from each group will progress to the semi-final.
Group A:
Roger Federer (1)
Andy Murray (4)
Juan Martin Del Potro (5)
Fernando Verdasco (8)
Group B:
Rafael Nadal (2)
Novak Djokovic (3)
Nikolay Davydenko (7)
Robin Soderling (9)
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
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