ATP Race to London: Roger Federer, 37, leads the field ahead of Djokovic!
The new season on the ATP Tour is three months and 20 tournaments old and the only player with multiple ATP titles is the 37-year-old Roger Federer. The 20-time Grand Slam champion has played only four events so far in 2019, winning titles in Dubai and Miami and losing in the final at Indian Wells to collect 2280 points after an 18-2 score! As in the previous two seasons (Roger is 55-5 in the first 20 matches in the last three years overall), Federer has been capable of delivering great tennis right out of the blocks and is the leader of the pack in terms of the ATP Race to London after claiming 1000 points in Miami, standing 55 points ahead of Novak Djokovic!
Competing in four tournaments so far in 2019 just like Roger, the Australian Open champion has failed to deliver his best tennis at Indian Wells and Miami, taking only 135 points at both and allowing Roger to pass him and become the leader of the ATP Race at least until Monte Carlo where Novak should move ahead of Roger again. Rafael Nadal was off to an even more reduced schedule in comparison to his great rivals in the first three months, losing in the final of the Australian Open to Novak and withdrawing before the semi-final clash with Roger at Indian Wells due to a knee injury, skipping Miami as well.
Rafa is just 145 points ahead of the 20-year-old Stefanos Tsitsipas who has won 17 matches so far in 2019, including the semi-final appearance in Melbourne, title in Marseille and the final in Dubai. Stefanos grabbed just 100 points in March at first Masters 1000 events of the season and is still 315 points clear ahead of Indian Wells champion Dominic Thiem who suffered the second round loss in Miami to Hubert Hurkacz. Miami finalist John Isner has gained 17 places on the list after reaching the final in Miami, failing to defend the title after a commanding loss to Federer but scoring 15 wins so far in 2019 to keep himself in contention for the place at the ATP Finals for the second straight year.
Gael Monfils has won 15 out of 18 matches so far this year, winning the title in Rotterdam and playing in the semi-final in Sofia and Dubai. The Frenchman was rock-solid at Indian Wells as well before withdrawing before the quarter-final clash with Dominic Thiem due to a strained left Achilles. Daniil Medvedev would have been the last player to qualify for the ATP Finals at the moment, earning 17 triumphs so far this year, lifting the trophy in Sofia and reaching another final in Brisbane at the beginning of the year. The young Russian notched only three wins in the last three tournaments, losing the ground a little bit and hoping to bounce back during the clay season.
Roberto Bautista Agut and Kei Nishikori are just five points behind the Russian while Milos Raonic is not far behind, ready to battle for that eighth spot in the Race in the next couple of months. An 18-year-old Felix Auger-Aliassime is already on 14 wins this year, reaching the title match in Rio de Janeiro and the semi-final in Miami, becoming the third-youngest player who booked the place in the last four at Masters 1000 tournament. Two spots below him, there is another Canadian teenager who dreams about punching the London ticket, with Denis Shapovalov also standing a win away from the place in Miami final, losing to Roger Federer in the semis.
Alexander Zverev and Kevin Anderson are still outside the top-20, hoping for a much better run in the next couple of months on clay and grass, not wanting to fall further behind the biggest rivals in the season where we haven't seen the dominant figure yet.
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2I6JYSC
No comments