Now I am not Greg Sharko of the 'SHARK BITES' fame,neither am I James Buddle--celebrated statistician of the ATP, but I am an avid supporter of Tennis and a passionate one too. So please don't be too critical of my analysis. 'shrugs'
Most of us are aware that assertably the most prestigious Tennis tournament of every season starts in a few days and this time it only concerns the BEST EIGHT PLAYERS IN THE WORLD according to the ATP-SOUTH AFRICA AIRWAYS RANKINGS. This explains the title of this article, 'THE BATTLE OF EIGHT WARRIORS'. Below is a quick run down of what they have done to reach the BARCLAYS-ATP WORLD TOUR FINALS aka WTF! which will be contested from 20th to 27th November 2011 at the O2 Arena in London.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC
Oh! what a man. that roar from me best describes the 24 year old, new WORLD NUMBER ONE of Tennis. A man who has gone from the aspiring to the aspired....from the mountain climber to the mountain itself...from the wanna be to the real deal....and lastly from the hunter to the hunted. Nole as he is fondly called by friends and colleagues alike, took the Tennis circuit by storm from December 2010 when he exhilarated the Serbian team to Davis Cup glory at France's expense(defeating Simon and Monfils in singles)....(although it was Victor Troicki who ensured victory with a deciding win over Michael Llodra.) till now. He has compiled a 69-4 record which is BLISTERING AND INCONCEIVABLE. It will not be out of place to say only one of those losses has actually been a DEFEAT....the French Open semi-final loss to Roger Federer which was decided in 4 sets. Two have been as a result of a niggling shoulder problem which affected him in no small measure against Murray (Cincinnati) and Nishikori (Basel)...while the last one was a retirement v Del Potro in a Davis Cup semi-final singles match, probably because of fatigue. His season can be summed up like this---he has won 3 grand slams (Australian Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open), 5 ATP MASTERS 1000 crowns (Indiana Wells, Miami, Rome, Madrid,and Montreal) and the ATP events in Dubai and Belgrade. Don't get it twisted, he defeated Nadal in six of those 10 title matches, something he had never done prior to Indiana Wells, he also got the better of the Spanish Matador in 2 of the 3 slam finals------something again he had never before managed. The big ones probably were the two victories over Nadal in Madrid and Rome on CLAY where Rafa is KING. He won those clay encounters in straight sets which was a FANTASTIC ACHIEVEMENT. The djoker also came back from two sets downs to defeat Federer in the US Open semi-final, thereby becoming only the second man to do so since the Swiss Maestro become a pro.
By reaching the Wimbledon semis (where he beat Jo-Wilfed Tsonga), he took over the Number one ranking from Rafael Nadal, thus becoming the only man to have broken the Nadal-Federer duopoly which had existed since 2005. He started his reign as the UNDISPUTED NUMBER ONE MALE TENNIS PLAYER IN THE WORLD on 4th July 2011----a day after winning Wimbledon.
There is no doubting the fact that the Serbian Champion is the BIGGEST FAVOURITE to win the 2011 season ending Tennis Championships. Something he achieved in 2008 (d.Davydenko) when it was still played on carpet at the Qizhong City Arena in Shanghai.
TOMAS BERDYCH
Finishing in the top 8 for two successive seasons is a rare feat only managed by an exclusive set of Tennis phenoms. Czech big hitter. St Tomas or Berdman is now part of that assemblage. Seen as a talented under achiever in years gone by, he has come out of obscurity and taken his destiny into his own hands in the last two years, reaching the semi-finals of the French Open(l to Soderling) and the final of Wimbledon (l.to Nadal) among others. This year he has been in great form, reaching at least the quarter finals of most tournaments he has entered. He also became the first Czech player since Petr Korda (91-92) to finish in the top 10 for two years on the bounce.
Berdych started gaining the right praises when he shocked Roger Federer in the quarter finals of Wimbledon last year.....a few weeks after he reached his 1st GS semi-final in Paris. The difference between last year and this one is his consistency in the latter. He ended a two year trophy drought last month at the China Open, defeating Marin Cilic in 3 sets. At the Paris Masters, Berdych reached the semi-finals before losing to eventual champion, Roger Federer. In the quarters, he stopped Andy Murray's 17-match unbeaten run.(came from a set down). He will look to improve on his 1-2 round robin record earned on his debut last year when he faces off against the very best of his chosen career path.
DAVID FERRER
Rafael Nadal aside, no one embodies the 'never say die' attitude than the nimble World number 5, David Ferrer. The Alicante born Australian Open semi-finalist has been around the elite of Tennis for five years now. Since turning pro in 2000, he has grown in leaps and bounds, reaching at least the quarter finals in all GS(Grand Slams) except Wimbledon where he has reached the 4th round in the last two years. He is a perennial top 10 finisher and he also reached the final of the season ending tournament in 2007 (l.to Federer).
This year he has done very well, reaching the Australian Open semis (l.to Murray), the finals of Monte-Carlo and Barcelona(l.to Nadal both times) and winning the Auckland (d.Nalbandian) and Acapulco (d.Almagro) tournaments. He will hope to go one better this year by winning the World Tour finals event...easier said than done you know.
ANDY MURRAY
Muzza as he is affectionately called, has been terrific this year. I still believe he might have done a lot better if the British Press had given him a minute's rest. The pressure to become the first Briton to win a grand slam after 70 odd years is weighing him down and he has actually done his utmost.
This year has been simply tremendous for the 24 year old. He reached the Autralian Open final for the second consecutive year, this time losing to the bionic Djokovic. His first quarter was poor by his standards, but he picked up form during the clay season, enjoying his best clay court success yet, by reaching the semi-finals of Monte Carlo, Rome and the french open losing to Nadal, Djokovic and Nadal sequentially. He won the Stella Artois (Queen's Club)event(d.Tsonga) and reached the Wimbledon semi-finals (l.to Nadal)---for the 2nd straight year. Murray then won the masters 1000 event in Cincinnati and also reached the US Open semis where he again lost to Nadal. From then on, he kick started a novak-like run winning 17 straight matches from the Davis Cup manhandling of Luxembourg to the quarter-final of the Paribas masters in Paris (l.to Berdych). In that period he picked up three titles in quick succession and swept through the Asian wing with victories in Thailand (d.Young), Japan (d.Nadal) and Shanghai (d.Ferrer) where he hoisted his 8th masters 1000 shield. He will look to impress his home crowd by winning the title this year after almost nearly beating Nadal in last year's semi-final---a match described as the best 3 set challenge of 2010. The Dunblane native will look to finish the year as World number 3 for the first time--a position Federer also wants. For the first time in his astounding career, he reached the last four of all four majors.
JO-WILFRED TSONGA
The man popular referred to as the Mohammed Ali of Tennis because they look so much alike, I call him the Willy-man, some others call him the fat frenchman. Whatever name you choose to see him, Tsonga has cemented his place as one of the best players in the World of Tennis and he has worked extremely hard.
The man who rose to prominence in 2008 when he shocked the tennis world and alerted everyone of his burgeoning talent by giving Nadal a hiding in the Australian Open semi-finals, triumphing in straight sets (6-2, 6-3,6-2). He eventually lost the final to Djokovic in four sets,but a resounding message had already been passed.
This year has been a pretty good one for the lad. He has reached 5 finals---Rotterdam, London (Queen's Club), Vienna, Paris, Metz, and won two of them---Vienna and Metz defeating JMDP (Juan Martin Del Potro) and Ivan Ljubicic and losing others to Soderling (Rotterdam), Murray (London) and Federer (Paris). He scored a first at Wimbledon when he came from two sets down to defeat the Swiss magician (Federer) in the q-finals, thus becoming the 1st man ever to accomplish it. Federer revenged in Flushing Meadows at the US OPEN q/finals,making no mistake this time as he brushed the frenchman aside in straights.
Tsonga first participated at the season ending masters in 2008 and went 1-2 in round robin play. He is perhaps the most dangerous under dog in the eight-man group and has a chance to upset the odds.
MARDY FISH
The man who also bears Simpson as his middle name has been a hit this year. The top ranked American player for the 1st time in his career, he is making his first appearance in the tournament and it might not be his last, judging from the scintillating form he has been on all year long. He is something of a late developer considering his age (almost 30). Although he collected silver at the Athens Olympic games in 2004 (l.to Massu), and reached the final of Cincinnati in 03and '10 and Indian Wells in 08, he had never had such a fine year as this one.....2011 has been a very good year for Mardy--reaching the quarter finals of Wimbledon (l.to Nadal) for the first time, as well as winning his 6th career title in Atlanta (d.Isner). He also reached the Los Angeles and Montreal final losing to Gulbis and Djokovic. He however scooped the US OLYMPUS SERIES trophy by reaching the later rounds of all the tournaments he took part in during the US swing----including reaching the semi finals of Cincinnati (l.to Murray) defeating Nadal along the way for the very 1st time and the US OPEN 4th round (l.to Tsonga). He reached a career high World number 7 on August 15 and now occupies the number 8 spot on the rankings table. He has stated that he will play his very best at the Championships and I really fancy him to spring one or two surprises.
ROGER FEDERER
Finding himself in new surroundings as world number 4, The GREAT man has been called all the fanciest names in the world and he thoroughly deserves each and every one of them. Goodness gracious, the Basel native has redefined what it means to be a champion in any sphere of human endeavour. The name Roger Federer is synonymous with ABSOLUTE SUCCESS. He has won everything in Tennis. What more can you say about a man who has won 69 titles?????where will you begin to to delineate his awesome career? I will not finish today if I start spelling out his unmatched achievements. Perhaps if there was no Nadal, he might have reached heights even air planes will find a herculean task to get to. Such has been the BRILLIANCE of the man mostly referred to as FED-EXPRESS or FEDEx for short.
The 16 time grand slam winner rarely retires from a game and he has played almost a 1000. He has won an amazing 18 masters 1000 titles, his last coming just a few days ago in Paris (d.Tsonga). He holds the record for consecutive weeks as World number one at an awe inspiring 237 and was within 1 week of equalling Sampras' record of 286, when Nadal reclaimed it last year. Talk about a SUPERHUMAN and you wouldn't be exaggerating. It was Soderling who stopped him from reaching an astonishing 24 consecutive grand slam semi-finals at the 2010 French Open. His record of successive GS quarter finals continues as he has even bypassed Jimmy Connors' record of 29 straight appearances by setting his own (30) at the US OPEN earlier this year. There are many more which I cannot mention for obvious reasons.
In spite of the fact that this has been one of his poorest seasons, this year end tournament is the 10th in succession he is featuring in. Only Ivan Lendl (12) and Sampras (11) can boast of something better and he shares the record for most wins (5) with Lendl and Pistol Pete (Sampras). Fresh from winning two consecutive titles---Basel (d.Nishikori) and Paris (D.Tsonga), King Roger is the most in-form player on show and will look to extend his 12 match winning streak when he opens his campaign against a familiar foe, Jo Willy Tsonga. Asides that, he has 1500 points to defend as a result of his status as defending champion (d.Nadal last year) and is also aiming to finish as World Number 3---a position that he hadn't dropped to in 8 years until a few months ago.
RAFAEL NADAL
Without doubt one of the greatest tennis players in History, the majorcan powerhouse has found life difficult in recent time, no thanks to the effervescent Novak Djokovic who has accounted for six of his 13 surprising losses in 2011.
The Matador and winner of a record 19 ATP MASTERS 1000 shields, started 2011 as a man on a mission with the ultimate aim of winning all four majors successively. It was not to be as his run was halted by good friend and compatriot, David Ferrer at the Australian Open q/finals.....the same man who had earlier beaten him in the 07 US OPEN fourth round. Nadal was injured in the match, but that didn't make things any better for the KING OF CLAY who was very unhappy at the turn of events. He reached the finals of Indian Wells and Miami only to be beaten in three sets by Novak---a man who was soon turning into his worst nightmare. He was perhaps lucky that Djokovic pulled out of Monte Carlo as he won that for an unprecedented seven consecutive years,thus becoming the 1st man ever to achieve the feat in the Modern era. He also won the Barcelona open for the sixth time in 7 years (he didn't play in 2010)
His next stop was the Madrid masters where he was defending champion...he again lost to Djokovic and the same thing was repeated in Rome. The loss marked the 1st time Nadal had been defeated by the same player in two consecutive clay court matches, four consecutive times and four consecutive finals. Nadal must have seen enough of him by now, but there was more to come.
The Spanish master retained his french open crown by defeating Roger Federer in four sets and for the 5th time on Parisian clay (05 semis, 06-08 final, 10 final). This was the end of his trophy haul for the year as he was defeated at the Wimbledon and US Open final(s) by that man called Djokovic---again?????. Nadal alos lost in the third rounds of Montreal and the Shanghai masters to Dodig and Mayer. The losses did not end there. He also lost to Murray and Fish in Japan and Cincinnati....not forgetting the Doha semi-final loss vs Davydenko (for the 3rd time in succession) and the Queen's club q-final loss to Tsonga. He officially lost the number one ranking to Novak on the 4th of July after holding it for 56 weeks.
He vented his anger on Tsonga and Gasquet during the Davis Cup semi-final v France and withdrew from the Paris Masters to focus his attention on the season ending Championship in London and the Davis Cup final v Argentina next month.
On current form, Nadal is nowhere near any of the other seven contenders for the title and 1500 ATP-SA Airways ranking points, but no one should write him off as he has been in this situation many times before and for a man who reached the final here last year (l.to Federer) and accumulated 46 titles in his career, he might just have more than a lot to prove come Sunday when he squares up against Mardy Fish.
The draw for the Tournament was made some days ago and here is how they line up
GROUP A
NOVAK DJOKOVIC
ANDY MURRAY
DABID FERRER
TOMAS BERDYCH
GROUP B
RAFA NADAL
ROGER FEDERER
JO-WILFRED TSONGA
MARDY FISH
One can argue that the Nadal-Federer group is the group of death as football pundits will say. This is the first time that Nadal and Federer will meet before the later stages of the year end tournament....all thanks to the wondrous display of Novak and the persistence of Murray.
follow Ohis Eboreime on @ohiskaka1990
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