FEEL IT in 2009!

The ATP wants us tennis fans to FEEL IT in 2009 with the unveiling of a renewed ad campaign to promote significant changes in the ATP Tour starting next year. From January, its name will change to ATP World Tour to reflect the global aspect of men’s tennis. Ads will position world-class players like Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer as tennis giants, playing tennis that is "out of this world".

In an effort to make the tour more fan-friendly, the tournament categories will be renamed to indicate the number of ranking points the tournament winner will receive, while ranking points will be roughly doubled from last year. In addition to the Grand Slams (where the champion will earn 2000 ranking points), there will be three tournament categories:

- ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (formerly ATP Masters Series)
- ATP World Tour 500
- ATP World Tour 250

The season finale will be renamed from Tennis Masters Cup (previously held in Shanghai from 2005- 2008) to Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, which will be held in London from 2009-2012. Appropriately, the year-end number one player will be called ATP World Tour Champion.

The Davis Cup will also award ranking points for the first time in 2009.

With these changes, how is the transition going to happen from the previous rankings system to the new one? To make it simple, players' ranking points will be doubled at the end of the year. It's not a perfect solution - for instance, winners of this year's 300-level International Series Gold events who defend their titles next year will lose out on this proposition because they will only get 500 points in place of 600 points (300 x 2).

Here is the breakdown of points for the different tournament categories from the winner down to the quarterfinalists:

Grand Slam: 2000 (W), 1200 (F), 720 (SF), 360 (QF)
ATP World Tour Masters 1000: 1000 (W), 600 (F) 360 (SF), 180 (QF)
ATP World Tour 500: 500 (W), 300 (F), 180 (SF), 90 (QF)
ATP World Tour 250: 250 (W), 150 (F), 90 (SF), 45 (QF)

The transition to the new rankings system is going to be fun!

2008 Tennis Fun Facts

With the conclusion of the Davis Cup finals between winner Spain and runner-up Argentina on Sunday, the 2008 ATP season officially came to a close. Here are a few noteworthy facts from the year that was.

In 2008, no top seed won a Grand Slam title:

Grand Slam results
1 - Australian Open - (3)Djokovic d. Tsonga
2 - French Open - (2)Nadal d. (1)Federer
3 - Wimbledon - (2)Nadal d. (1)Federer
4 - US Open - (2)Federer d. (4)Murray

Five different players won a Masters Series shield, and former world no. 1 Roger Federer was not one of them, although he was a finalist in two events.

Masters Series/Masters Cup results
1 - Indian Wells - Djokovic d. Fish
2 - Miami - Davydenko d. Nadal
3 - Monte Carlo - Nadal d. Federer
4 - Rome - Djokovic d. Wawrinka
5 - Hamburg - Nadal d. Federer
6 - Canada - Nadal d. Kiefer
7 - Cincinnati - Murray d. Djokovic
8 - Madrid - Murray d. Simon
9 - Paris - Tsonga d. Nalbandian
10 - Shanghai (Masters Cup) - Djokovic d. Davydenko

Four new players are in the year-end top ten:
1 - Nadal (+1)
2 - Federer (-1)
3 - Djokovic (0)
4 - Murray (+7)
5 - Davydenko (-1)
6 - Tsonga (+37)
7 - Simon (+22)
8 - Roddick (-2)
9 - Del Potro (+35)
10 - Blake (+3)
(denotes change from last year's rankings)

Djokovic Wins Tennis Masters Cup, Closes In On Federer

World number three Novak Djokovic beat Nikolay Davydenko in the final of the year-end Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai Sunday to claim his fourth title in 2008. Djokovic's victory pulls him within ten ranking points of No. 2 Roger Federer:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=p7B6JwEslHXoxo_H_quSyJg

Federer and top-ranked Rafael Nadal have occupied the top two spots since July 25, 2005.

Federer eliminated at Tennis Masters Cup

Defending champion Roger Federer, who has been ailing with a stomach flu, lost to Andy Murray in their round-robin match at the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai. The loss prevents Roger to advance to the semis and possiby add to his tally of four titles at the year-end tournament. The no. 4 seed Murray takes on Nikolay Davydenko while the no. 3 seed Novak Djokovic battles Gilles Simon in the semifinals. Federer will end the year as no. 2 regardless of the final outcome in Shanghai.

With Rafael Nadal skipping the Tennis Masters Cup because of injury and with Roger Federer's loss, the top two players in the world end the year with 6,675 and 5,305 ranking points, respectively:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=p7B6JwEslHXqGh3TW_scsDg

(Please note that the rankings system will be overhauled by the ATP next year, so these points may be doubled at the beginning of the 2009 tennis season.)

Paris Masters "Jinx" Lives On

None of the Big 4 in men's tennis has ever won the Paris Masters, and the trend continues at this year's tournament. While world no. 3 Novak Djokovic lost in the round of 16 against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and world no. 4 Andy Murray all bowed out in the quarterfinals.

Murray was beaten by defending champion David Nalbandian, while Federer withdrew due to a stiff back ahead of his quarterfinal match-up against James Blake. Down one set, Nadal retired from his match against former champion Nikolay Davydenko. Rafa was a finalist here last year.

When the rankings are updated on Monday, Nov. 3, Nadal will have 6,675 points compared to Federer's 5,205:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=p7B6JwEslHXq3EGdmd205aw

Federer Wins Third Straight Swiss Davidoff Indoors Title

Basel native Roger Federer successfully defended his title at the Swiss Davidoff Indoors on Sunday, beating David Nalbandian in the final. When Roger won his first trophy at Basel in 2006, he started a "tradition" of throwing a pizza party for the ball boys and girls. He was a former ball boy here.

Here are Federer's results at his hometown tournament since he turned pro:

2008 - W (d. Nalbandian)
2007 - W (d. Nieminen)
2006 - W (d. Gonzalez)
2005 - DNP (foot injury)
2004 - DNP (thigh strain)
2003 - R16 (l. to Ljubicic)
2002 - SF (l. to Nalbandian)
2001 - F (l. to Henman)
2000 - F (l. to Enqvist)
1999 - QF (l. to Henman)
1998 - R32 (l. to Agassi)

With Roger's victory, he maintains his ranking points at 5,805, compared to 7,100 for Rafael Nadal, who did not play this week.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=p7B6JwEslHXoHPWC-D5hhEg

Nadal Clinches Year-end Number One Ranking

It's official - Rafael Nadal will finish the year as the world's number one player. Both Nadal and Roger Federer lost in the semifinals in Madrid. Rafa lost to Gilles Simon, while Roger was beaten by Andy Murray.

Here is a list of year-end number one ranked players in the last fifteen years:
Rafael Nadal (ESP) - 2008
Roger Federer (SUI) - 2004 to 2007
Andy Roddick (USA) - 2003
Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) - 2001 to 2002
Gustavo Kuerten (BRA) - 2000
Andre Agassi (USA) - 1999
Pete Sampras (USA) - 1993 to 1998 (record)

When the ranking points are updated on Monday, October 20th, Nadal will have 7,100 ranking points compared to Federer's 5,805:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=p7B6JwEslHXo8r5QK3JdmQA

Rafa-Roger Rivalry Reloaded

After a record 237 consecutive weeks at No. 1, Roger Federer relinquished the top spot to Rafael Nadal on August 18, 2008. With a little over a month left in the season, Federer's streak of four consecutive year-end No. 1's is about to end as well. In Madrid, Nadal is two wins away from reaching the final and clinching the ATP year-end No. 1 ranking in the process.

Before the Madrid Masters, Rafa leads Roger by 1,070 ranking points: http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=p7B6JwEslHXonHQ96gFjbcQ

Even if Federer wins all of his remaining tournaments this year and Nadal loses in the finals at Madrid, loses his first match in Paris Masters, and doesn't win a match in Shanghai (Masters Cup), Nadal would still end up with a 75-point lead: http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=p7B6JwEslHXreysuXVWNDDg

Can Roger reclaim the top spot in 2009? Or can Rafa hold on to being world No. 1 until the end of next year? Suffice it to say that whoever dominates the Slams will be No. 1. The most exciting scenario is for the rivals to switch places several times next year.

What about the other two players in the so-called "Big 4"? Can either Novak Djokovic or Andy Murray step up in 2009 and be No. 2 or even No. 1? Now that will add even more fun to the Rafa-Roger rivalry many tennis fans have come to admire.

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