ATP World Tour Finals Preview Part II: The Players

ATP World Tour Finals Preview Part I: A Brief History

Andy Murray is quickly becoming a real powerhouse on the ATP circuit. Earlier today the 21-year-old Brit collected his second straight Tennis Masters title defeating the surprising Gilles Simon 6-4, 7-6(6) in the Madrid final.

Last year the ATP and WTA tours each circulated a contest among their staff, ‘Let’s Confuse Fans Again by Renaming Our Top-Level Events.’

He was vulnerable in the Wimbledon final against Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic was on his heels in the US Open final and in recent weeks, he lost in consecutive events to David Nalbandian.

Even though Roger Federer lost his opening encounter against Fernando Gonzalez in Shanghai, he wasn’t playing a poor match.

When David Nalbandian moved up to the ninth position in the ATP rankings after winning the Masters Series events in Madrid and Paris, he became the first alternate for the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai.

The names conjure up the biggest championships in sports: The Super Bowl, The World Cup, The World Series, The Stanley Cup, golf’s The Masters. In tennis, the year-end championship is more like a quiz show even hardcore fans struggle to keep up with. The man-on-the-street quiz: Q: What is men’s tennis’ year-end championship called? A: [...]

Yesterday the ATP’s U.S. media maven, Greg “The Remorseless Eating Machine” Sharko told me that the news that came from a spokesman out of the ATP’s international office in regard to the Masters Series events receiving the same number of ranking points as the Grand Slams under the tour’s new 2009 calendar was incorrect. Shark(o), [...]

Apparently there’s this event, the Masters Cup or Masters or Grand Prix final or ATP Championship, something, going on in Shanghai. In the morning I get on the internet and see the results, so unless this is an elaborate internet hoax, something is going on. Today Roger Federer played Rafael Nadal, that must have been [...]