Wednesday 25 October 2017 13:21, UK
The battle for places in the line-up at the ATP World Tour Finals in London is set to go down to the wire ahead of the season finale, live on Sky Sports.
With four players, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem, already qualified for the season finale, we analyse the prospects of the contenders, including the in-form Juan Martin del Potro, chasing the remaining four spots at The O2, between November 12-19.
Nadal, who holds a 1,960-point lead in the standings, remains the favourite to finish the campaign as the year-end world No 1 despite suffering his fourth defeat of the year against Federer in the Shanghai Masters final and pulling out of the Swiss Indoors in Basel with a knee injury.
Injuries to high-profile players including two former world No 1s, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, mean there will be a distinctly refreshed outlook to the much anticipated denouement to the tennis season.
Juan Martin del Potro - The popular Argentine made a successful defence of his Stockholm title on the back of his run to the semi-finals in Shanghai. With victory in Sweden, the former US Open champion moved up four places in the Race to London to 14th. The 29-year-old will look to maintain his hopes of contention in London with another deep run in Basel at this week's Swiss Indoors.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga - The charismatic Frenchman pocketed his fourth ATP World Tour title of the year, a career best, with success at the European Open. The 32-year-old proved too strong for Diego Schwartzman in Antwerp and with victory propelled himself into contention for a fourth appearance at the season finale. Tsonga, who plays in Vienna this week, now trails Pablo Carreno Busta, who is currently in procession of the final spot, by 550 points with two tournaments left before London comes calling.
David Goffin's bid to qualify for London took a stumble as the Belgian suffered a surprise defeat to Greek qualifier Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter-finals in front of his home faithful. The 26-year-old, who played last year as an alternate, will look to pick up valuable points in Basel but could face Federer in the quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, Pablo Carreno Busta fell short at the Kremlin Cup succumbing to Daniil Medevedev in Moscow with US Open finalist Kevin Anderson unable to improve his hopes with a quarter-final exit Fernando Verdasco in Stockholm. Sam Querrey will need a deep run in Austria at the Vienna Open after the Wimbledon semi-finalist chose last week for a break in his schedule.
Nadal, who qualified for London in June on the back of clinching a record 10th Roland Garros title, has enjoyed a strong Asian hard court swing with victory at the China Open before his run to the final in Shanghai. After missing last year's edition through injury the Spaniard will be desperate to underline his phenomenal campaign with a triumph in London.
Federer, confirmed for Basel this week, will target a seventh World Tour Finals success and first since 2011 to top a stellar season which has seen the Swiss great enjoy a remarkable renaissance in form. The 19-time Grand Slam champion maintained his renaissance in form this year at the penultimate Masters 1000 tournament to win his second Shanghai title and sixth ATP World Tour title of the year in emphatic fashion. This year's Australian Open and Wimbledon champion has targeted winning in London as a priority.
Zverev is fast becoming a genuine contender at the biggest tournaments on tour and despite his relative inexperience at the top echelons of the game he has shown he can compete with the best. The talented German has picked up five titles this year and has already suggested he is likely to prioritise the London showcase over the inaugural edition of the Next Gen Finals in Milan. The 20-year-old will kick off his campaign as the top seed in Vienna against Viktor Troicki on Monday.
Thiem, 24, is widely regarded as one of the brightest talents in the game but after a challenging year on the road he may relish the opportunity to perform in front of his home supporters in Vienna this week. The Austrian, whose confidence took a hit after he suffered three opening losses on the bounce since the US Open, failed to extend pass the round robin stage on his debut appearance last year.
Grigor Dimitrov jumped a spot into fifth place in the standings for London with his run to a third Stockholm final. The Bulgarian suffered his first defeat in a final this year. His fate will likely need to wait another week because he has decided to skip Vienna.
Marin Cilic, Goffin and Carreno Busta are currently the final three incumbents of spots into London. Cilic, who is defending his title, and Goffin feature in Basel while the Spaniard plays in Vienna.
There are still two weeks worth of tournaments for players to compile points to boost their qualification hopes - click here for the full run-down of Sky Sports events.
We will have all the action from the Erste Bank Open and Swiss Indoors Basel before the Paris Masters.
The Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan and season-ending extravaganza World Tour Finals at London's O2 in November end another memorable year which will be covered via our website www.skysports.com/tennis with live blogs and updates as the season reaches its climax.
On the move? Head to our app for mobile devices and iPad, or follow our Twitter account @SkySportsTennis to join in the conversation. Who will win the World Tour Finals this year? Have your say...
