ATP Finals: Does the winning curse still apply?
A relatively young tennis wisdom says: Whoever wins the ATP Finals faces a difficult following season. But is that even true?
by Robin Huiber
last edit: Nov 23, 2022, 06:36 pm
Can you include Alexander Zverev in the calculation? After all, the German Olympic champion of 2021 would have had a number of chances to successfully fight the curse that supposedly weighs on the winner of the ATP Finals. Actually already in Roland Garros, where, despite losing the first set against Rafael Nadal, he actually seemed on a very good way to reach his second major final.
But the fact is: Zverev won the unofficial tennis world championship in 2018 and 2021. And both times in a way that you had to think: next year Alexander Zverev will be unstoppable at the Grand Slam tournaments. In fact, the German number one won exactly one title in the seasons after his victories in London and Turin: 2019 in Geneva.
Grigor Dimitrov is considered the founder of the malaise: he won the final against David Goffin in the O2 Arena in 2017. There hasn't been another one since then!
Murray with only two titles after 2016
Would you like another example? Andy Murray had secured number one at the end of 2016 with a gigantic final sprint. And also won the finals in London. A few months later there was another sense of achievement in Dubai. And only in 2019 the last victory to date at an ATP tournament in Antwerp. Of course, injuries also play a role, especially with Murray. But the triumph at the finals was Murray's last big one.
Daniil Medvedev, the 2020 Masters champion, successfully alluded to the great curse theory. And about ten months later in New York City he won a Grand Slam tournament for the first time.
Novak Djokovic will be sick of it all, after all he had won the ATP Finals five times before his final victory against Casper Ruud on Sunday. And then simply continued to play dominantly. This is likely to be the case in 2023 as well.