Before the ATP Finals – London: the exit to the lost Grand Slam trophy – Sport

Even in a tennis year mixed by Corona, nothing changes about the fact that the ATP Finals is the end of the season. On Sunday they will be launched at the O2 Arena in the British metropolis of London; seven days later we meet the winner of the tournament. After the four Grand Slam tournaments, the event is considered the most important competition on the ATP Tour.

With very few exceptions, the main trophies have recently been split between Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. This hierarchy set in stone does not apply to the ATP Finals. The Mallorcan Nadal, who has won the French Open 13 times, is still missing this award at the Palmarès.

Losers’ last 3 wins in a row

Instead, London was initially and recently three times a hit patch for those aspiring players who have so far been left empty-handed in the majors. So, to some extent, the ATP Finals offered a way out for a remarkable crown:

• 2019 – Stefanos Tsitsipas
  Greek seed number 6 beats the favorites. In the last stage of his surprise coup, he makes his way into the final against Dominic Thiem.
• 2018 – Alexander Zverev
  In their second appearance at the end-of-year tournament, Hamburg Novak Djokovic dominated the final at will and only allowed 7 matches. In the semi-finals, Roger Federer got stuck with Zverev. Overall, the then 21-year-old didn’t make a set at the entire tournament. To this day, he is still waiting for success at the Grand Slam level.

• 2017 – Grigor Dimitrov
  The Bulgarian is something of the gate opener for second row players. Before the outsider triple, Andy Murray, 4-time suite Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer (2010/2111) were the champions who did not surprise. On his debut in the final, however, Dimitrov capped off a dream season with a total of 4 titles and the rise in the rankings to position 3. In the final against David Goffin (BEL), the highly decorated favorites were again out. .

• 2009 – Nikolay Davidenko
  Even when it was first held in London after moving from Shanghai, it was a huge surprise. Dawidenko, who resigned 6 years ago and is now 39, is celebrating the biggest win of his career on the Thames.

London will host the ATP Finals for the last time in 2020. The prestigious event then moves to Turin. Also this year there are enough contenders in the draw to benefit from the success in the final on the Thames.