STUART FRASER

[ Home / Talking Balls Tennis Blog / Past Articles / CV ]

TENNIS
PREVIEW OF ATP WORLD TOUR FINALS CONTENDERS
Freelance Article
By Stuart Fraser
Thursday 19^th November 2009

1. Roger Federer (Switzerland)

Considered by many to be the greatest player of all time, Federer has had a record-breaking year winning his first French Open in May and his 15^th grand slam at Wimbledon in July.  However, the 28-year-old has only won one of five tournaments played since then.

2. Rafael Nadal (Spain)

Despite winning his sixth grand slam in Australia at the start of 2009, Nadal has had a frustrating injury-hit year due to knee tendinitis.  His last tournament win was in Rome at the start of May but amazingly, he can recapture the world No.1 ranking if he wins in London and other results involving Federer go his way.

3. Novak Djokovic (Serbia)

Djokovic struggled to get to grips with his new racket at the start of the year but is the in-form favourite going into London having recently won tournaments in Basel and Paris, beating both Federer and Nadal in the process.  The Serb can give himself a chance of achieving a career high ranking of No.2 with another title win in London. 

4. Andy Murray (Great Britain)

Murray has won the most titles this year out of all the contenders although he has had some disappointing grand slam results with fourth round exits at the Australian and US Open’s.  The courts at the O2 Arena should suit the Scot with seven of his 14 career title wins coming on the indoor hard surface.

5. Juan Martin Del Potro (Argentina)

The 21-year-old has had a breakthrough year winning his first grand slam at the US Open in September with an epic five set victory over Federer but has struggled since due to injury.  A run to the final here could see the Argentine overtake Murray in the rankings.

6. Nikolay Davydenko (Russia)

Davydenko can beat anyone on his day, as proven by consecutive wins over Djokovic and Nadal on his way to the title at the Shanghai Masters last month.  However, he has failed to make it past the quarter-finals in any of the other Masters events and grand slams this year which highlights a lack of consistency.

7. Fernando Verdasco (Spain)

Working out with Gil Reyes, Andre Agassi’s former fitness coach, has payed off with the 26-year-old enjoying his best ever season which included a semi-final appearance at the Australian Open.  Verdasco though seems to lack the cutting edge in tournaments with only one title win from 22 events in 2009.

8. Robin Soderling (Sweden)

Soderling is a replacement for the injured Andy Roddick and is responsible for the biggest tennis shock of 2009 when he knocked Nadal out of the French Open on his way to the final.  But like Verdasco, he has only won one title this year and will have to replicate his French Open form if he is to have a chance in London.