World No. 1 and famous tennis player Noval Djokovic receives ATP No.1 trophy

The reining Australian Open Champion 2011 and Wimbledon champion 2011, the World No. 1 tennis player Novak Djokovic was awarded the ATP NO.1 trophy in a ceremony at the Rogers Cup in Montreal on Monday. Djokovic is the 25^th player to claim the No.1 position at the ATP rankings. Djokovic will be playing the Rogers Cup 2011 as a debut No. 1. If he wins the Rogers Cup 2011 title, he will become the first player to win five ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles in one season. He already has claimed 4 ATP Masters titles this year by defeating the clay king Rafael Nadal in Miami, Indian Wells, Rome and Madrid.

The Serbian Novak Djokovic hailed the tennis world this year with 48-1 match record. He performed extremely well at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament, Rogers Cup in year 2007 where he claimed the title by defeating the 3 greatest and famous tennis players; Andy Roddick, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

 

Tennis Masters Roger Cup, Montreal: The Trivalry returns!

They are back. Yes, the trio Djokovic, Federer and Nadal along with other top tennis names return to play the Tennis Masters Rogers Cup in Montreal. Although names like Robing Soderling, Andy Roddick and David Ferrer have pulled out of the biggest prize tournament of Canada but the tennis spectators will enjoy the greatest trivalry of greatest tennis players Federer, Nadal and Djokovic. As per the draws, following matches or clashes can be expected in the Montreal Tennis Masters Rogers Cup:

1) Serbian tennis player Djokovic, the current No.1 tennis player might face Nikolay Davydenko in the second round and Juan Martin Del Potro in the third round before a competitive match with Gael Monfils in the quarters.

2)      Del Potro will have to play Marin Cilic and Nieminen and win against them to play against Djokovic.

3)      For Monfils to face Djokovic, he will have to deal with American tennis player John Isner and Viktor Troicki.

4)      Andy Murray might face Kevin Anderson in the second round before coming on to Wawrinka who defeated Murray in the US Open 2010 however Wawrinka will play his first round match with Nalbandian.

5)      The king of clay, the Spaniard Rafael Nadal seems to be in least trouble as he would be opening against Chardy of Dodig before going on to Fernando Verdasco in the third round and then playing Tomas Berdych or Gilles Simon in the quarterfinals.

These are the predictions only as the Trio can be vulnerable to any upset while playing in the Rogers Cup 2011. Stay tuned for live action, scores and updates from August 6, 2011.

 

ATP Men's Tennis Ranking 2010

As clay season is hovering over the tennis lovers, a close analysis and calculation of the ATP ranking is also active. Some major changes are expected after the final of Ronal Garros event as Federer is defending the French title and Nadal would be in full energy to claim it back. Before the Garros event, Madrid Open would also make significant impact on the rankings of these two players. The rivalry between Federer and Nadal has attained so much of attention that their mat presence in any tournament makes it worth watching or else the tournament loses the audiences even. Similarly, there has been a close check on their fluctuating rankings as well. Presently the top 5 ATP rankings 2010 for men include the following tennis stars:

Number 1: Roger Federer

Roger Federer, even after losing the Rome Open is still on number one position along with winning one single title of Australian open grand slam. The overall wins he had in 2010 up till now are 10 and lost 1 only.

Number 2: Novak Djokovic

Novak, a Serbian player has been very consistent in his game for the past few years and stands at second position. In 2010, he won one singles title of ATP Barclays Dubai Tennis championships. He defeated Mikhail Youzhny in the final of this tournament. Over all in 2010, Djokovic won 20 matches and lost 6.

Number 3: Rafael Nadal

Nadal after being disappeared in major events last year due to knee injury has emerged in year 2010 with full bloom and momentum and seems to be in a very good shape and form. He was able to place himself at number 3 by winning two single titles of ATP; Rome and Monte Carlo. Over all, Nadal won 26 and lost 4 matches since the start of year 2010.

Number 4: Andy Murray

Andy Murray, a young English star player of tennis has been showing a great deal of action with his amazing play. Although he was not able to win any single title since the start of year 2010, but due to his consistent play, has been able to increase his rating to number 3 by winning 11 matches and losing 6 over all this year.

Number 5: Juan Martin Del Potro

Potro, an Argentinean tennis star shone after winning the unexpected US Open title 2009 by defeating the King Federer. He maintained his position at 5th rank. Let’s see how he would do this year.

Five shining star tennis players are going to battle throughout the year in different tournaments and would try to retain their rankings. Let’s see how far they would be successful to achieve this.

Nadal owns the clay again!

The king of clay again proved his endowment in the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 which comes under the banner of Internzationali BNL d’Italia. Nadal won his final against his native fellow Spaniard David Ferrer in two straight sets with a score of 7-5, 6-2. The event took place in Rome, Italy from April 25-May 2, 2010. The players who appeared in this ATP tour were, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Robin Soderling, Andy Murray, David Ferrer, Fernando Verdasco and Ernests Gulbist.

Nadal, after winning his 17th title of ATP World Tour Masters 1000, leveled the Andre Agassi record which was retained by Andre till 2004. Nadal leveled Andre just in the time period of 8 years while it took Andre to achieve this record in 14 years. For this particular event, Nadal holds a record of 27-1. From this anyone could know that how perfectly he has been playing on clay. In addition to these numbers, Nadal is the only player at the moment that has been able to reach the finals of nine different tournaments.

One of the biggest shocks and earth shaking matches that took place was in the Rome tournament when Roger Federer lost to Ernests Gulbist in his very first match with a score of 2-6, 6-1, and 7-5. The fans of King Federer were stunned with the result. Ernests Gulbist, ranked 40, turned out to be a big surprise for everyone. He not only defeated the King Roger but also gave a tough time to Nadal in the semi final of ATP in Rome.

As the French Open is almost around the corner, the players would be able to evaluate their skills and performances in other tours in Madrid, Portugal and Estoril. As per Nadal, he seems pretty energetic and determined to get the French Open title back from King Federer. While Roger seems to be going down with his performance as it has become more evident in his recent defeat. But before going on to the French Open, Nadal and Federer would be playing in the Madrid event. Federer would be defending the title of Madrid.

Now a big question for audiences is will Roger be able to defend his French title or not? Would Nadal be able to use his energy in a positive way to have the title back? All the questions will be answered as the French Open will all be happening from 18th May!

ATP Challenger Tour

The ATP Challenger Tennis Series was the former name of the ATP Challenger Tour until it got a revamp in the dying stages of 2008. The series consists of a number of international men’s tennis matches which allow the players to earn points so that they can qualify to the ATP level. The general tournament into which they gain entry is the 250 series tournament which is the main draw level. This series is fully under the control and is organised by the Association of Tennis Professionals.

The first version of the Challenger Tennis tournaments was held in 1978. The first year saw a total of 18 events being covered. The first events were held in Auckland and Hobart respectively in the month of January while the rest of the events were held starting from June 18th till the end of August. A number of places were chosen to play the matches. This is in stark contrast to the staggering number of matches, 178 in total, that were played in 2008 alone. The matches took place over a huge number of 40 countries which gives an idea of how the series has blossomed into a high-profile event.

The Indianapolis Tennis Championship

The Indianapolis Tennis championship is a tennis tournament which is played every year as an integral part of the ATP tour. The name of the tournament has been changed to Indianapolis Tennis championship from RCA Championships. It is a men’s tennis tournament which is played annually in July for a week. The initiation of this tournament was in 1988 when it was played as the US Men’s Hard-court Championships. After this, the surface on which this tournament used to be played changed as also did the name. It was rescheduled during the course of the year so that it became a warm-up for the international male tennis players before the last Grand Slam of the year, the US Open. The tournament came into existence when the Indianapolis Sports Centre decided to merge their 18 clay courts which with Deco-Turf II which is the same surface on which the US Open is played. The previous editions of the Indianapolis Tennis tournament has caught the attention of almost all the leading male tennis players and Giles Simon from France managed to win the last edition of the same in 2008.

Master’s Series in Tennis

The tennis tournament played at the end of each year to determine the best of the lot from the top ranked 8 players is called the Masters Tennis Series. In this series, the top 8 players in the calendar year are divided into 2 groups of 4 players each. There takes place 3 round robin matches in which each player from both the groups plays against all the other 3 players. The top two players from each of the group go onto the semi-finals and then the finals.

The Masters Tennis tournament is a third generation evolution of the original format which was initiated in 1970. In the beginning, it was simply called the Masters tournament. Though the same format of matches between the top ranked tennis players was followed in the initial stages, it did not have any effect on the world rankings. But as time progressed, the format changed and the rankings of the players got a boost or a downfall depending on their performance in this tournament too. There are further changes going to be made in the 2009 edition of the Masters Tennis tournament with the name being changed to ATP World Tour Finals. From 2009-12 it will be played at the O2 in London.

The history of ATP Tour

The Association of Tennis Professionals or ATP as it is more commonly known was formed in 1972 to act as a custodian of the rights and interests of male professional tennis players from all over the world. The women players have their own association which goes by the acronym WTP. The ATP is responsible for conducting all the tournaments in a particular year and also ranks the tennis players according to their performance in a calendar year. The ATP tour is basically a compilation of all the tournaments which are going to be played in a year. The various tournaments included in this are the Grand Slams, ATP World Tour Masters 1000, ATP World Tour 500 series and the like. Apart from the mainstream opens, the ATP Tour also organizes the World Team Cup which is played in Dusseldorf every year in the month of May. It also holds the Blackrock Tour of Champions for seniors. The players who have garnered points through the year due to their performance in the various tennis tournaments held in the year are allotted rankings in the year-end Master’s Cup. They are seeded as per their performance.

ATP Tour

The Association of Tennis Players or the ATP, as it is commonly known, is a international body which was formed in 1972 to protect the interests and rights of the male professional tennis players from all around the globe. This body is responsible for the rankings of the tennis players as well as for organising all the tournaments in a calendar year. ATP tour tennis is considered to be the bench-mark for becoming a professional player. Each and every player is expected to perform up to a certain level which will allow him to keep a constant rank on the ranking board. Each player is allotted points for his performance over a week. These points determine his ranking which will further decide his seed in a particular tournament. The ATP tour tennis circuit has a number of levels of tournaments played in a calendar year. For instance, there are many minor tennis tournaments which are played from time to time in between the Grand Slams of which there are four. All the points are compiled which will indicate the ranking of a player for the year-end Masters Cup. The female tennis players have their own tennis circuit called the WTA.

ATP Rankings

The ATP is a body which was formed in 1972 to protect the interests of male professional tennis players on the circuit. ATP tennis is a very important body which looks after the players interests and decides the fixtures of the tournaments to be held throughout the year in every season. The rankings of the players are published every week based on their performance in that particular week. There is a point system which determines the relative ranking of the tennis players. The ATP is only for the male players while the female players have got their own WTP. There is an ATP tennis ranking which determines how a player is going to be seeded for a particular tournament. All the tournaments are taken into account for the rankings except for the tennis Master’s Cup which is dropped at the end of the year. The player with the greatest number of points by the end of the year is declared No. 1.

Apart from this, there is also the ATP race which determines which players and teams are going to participate in the Master’s Cup. The top eight players from singles, according to their points, and the top four from the tennis doubles, are selected for the Master’s Cup.

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