ATP Finals: Dominic Thiem almost fix, Alexander Zverev has to fight
There are still a surprising number of points to be awarded on the ATP tour. And these are also urgently needed for a qualification for the ATP Finals in London.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Sep 24, 2019, 11:52 am
It cannot be assumed that Alexander Zverev followed the match between Egor Gerasimov and Matteo Berrettini in St. Petersburg last Friday in the live ticker. Yes, questionable at all whether Zverev knows much more about the indoor tournament in Russia days later than Daniil Medvedev won the title there. But he's been qualified for the ATP final in London since his final run at the US Open.
Berrettini, on the other hand, who also lost the match against Gerasimov, is aiming for a first appearance at the London O2 Arena. And currently occupies the last place in the sun, namely the eighth. With 45 points from St. Petersburg, the Italian overtook Kei Nishikori in the Race to London, ranking eighth in the annual ranking. Alexander Zverev is tenth, but only a mere 65 points behind Berrettini. And that where there are tons of points to be awarded in the coming weeks.
Zverev threatens Monfils and Goffin
In the best case, Alexander Zverev could collect 3,000 points - 500 each with victories in Beijing and Basel, and 1,000 each in the last two Masters tournaments of the year in Shanghai and Paris. This cannot be assumed based on the season so far, but everything is still possible for the German number one. Because even Roberto Bautista Agut as seventh in the race only had 230 points more than the native of Hamburg.
However, Zverev also faces danger from the players ranked behind him, especially Gael Monfils and David Goffin, who were both already at the start in London, could still buy the ticket to the British capital with one good tournament. Jack Sock showed in 2017 with his success in Paris-Bercy that this is possible.
Djokovic, Nadal, Federer fix it
Dominic Thiem, on the other hand, can tackle the autumn tournaments relatively relaxed. Thiem is almost 1,700 points ahead of the ninth in the race, which should be enough even in the unlikely event that the Lower Austrian does not score any points in Asia, Vienna and Paris.
The appearance of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer has been fixed for several weeks. Djokovic and Federer beat Alexander Zverev on the way to the title in 2018, Nadal could not participate in the season end due to injury.