I just wanted to give a shout-out to this guy who entered the qualifying round through a wild-card and is now through R2 of Estoril Open. It is the first time Borges participated in an ATP Tour level tournament.
Federer: 187-27
Nadal: 71-20
Djokovic: 95-18
Is the title too wordy or is it understandable?
I'll try to break it down.
The "ATP World Tour Masters 1000" in this concept and with this name started in 2009.
Here are the winners of the first 3 tournaments of the "ATP World Tour Masters 1000" for each year
2009: Nadal, Murray, Nadal
2010: Ljubicic, Roddick, Nadal
2011: Djokovic, Djokovic, Nadal
2012: Federer, Djokovic, Nadal
2013: Nadal, Murray, Djokovic
2014: Djokovic, Djokovic, Wawrinka
2015: Djokovic, Djokovic, Djokovic
2016: Djokovic, Djokovic, Nadal
2017: Federer, Federer, Nadal
2018: Del Potro, Isner, Nadal
2019: Thiem, Federer, Fognini
2020 started late with the first 3 masters tournament being the only ones: Djokovic, Djokovic, Medvedev
And, 2021, did not feature Indian Wells, but the winners of the first 3 masters tournaments were:
Hurkacz, Tsitsipas, Zverev
So yeah, we never went this long in the "ATP World Tour Masters 1000" without someone from the top 4 winning a title!
Before that, the name of the Masters series was called "ATP Masters Series"
It went on from 2004 to 2008 and.........
It also featured a member of the top 4 winning at least one of the first 3 masters titles!!!
Every year, since 2004 till 2020 a member of the Big 4 won at least one of the first three tournaments in the ATP Masters series!!
The stream stops in 2003, but then it was the "Tennis Masters Series" with Hewitt, Agassi and Ferrero being the champions.
2003 was also the last year we didn't have a champion that was one of Novak/Rafa/Roger, as other that Hewitt, Agassi and Ferrero, the other Masters tournaments were won by: Felix Mantilla, Guillermo Corria, Andy Roddick (twice), Juan Carlos Ferrero and Tim Henman
The last year there was no member of the big 4 in any of the finals of the Masters series was 2001 when a 19/20 year old Roger Federer, 15/16 year old Rafa Nadal and a 14/15 year old Novak Djokovic failed to make the finals.
Every year since 2001 saw at least one of them in the finals of some of the Masters tournaments.
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18 year old Dominic Thiem beat 44 year old Thomas Muster 6-2 6-3 in 2011 Vienna Open.
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38 year old Dick Norman beat 16 year old Daniel Berta 6-3 6-3 in 2009 Rosmalen Grass Court Championships.
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17 year old Carlos Alcaraz beat 39 year old Feliciano Lopez 4-6 6-2 6-4 in 2021 Andalucia Open.
Source: https://twitter.com/TennisTV/status/1380183274362912774
Many players in the draw could have good runs in either tournament, so it would make sense to choose the tournament that rewards the most points.
Some players in the Belgrade ATP 250 draw:
Djokovic (serbian, so it makes some sense) Thiem Berrettini Monfils Wawrinka Coric Lajovic (serbian, so it makes some sense) Karatsev Krajinovic (serbian, so it makes some sense) Fucsovics Verdasco Cuevas Munar Pouille
https://www.essentiallysports.com/i-understand-dominic-thiem-alexander-zverev-admits-struggling-to-find-motivation-atp-tennis-news/
Is Thiem being a diva or are the tournaments literally escorting players from the tournament to hotel without letting them go outside or giving them a room with a balcony?
Covid is real and dangerous but giving players designated times and spaces(let’s say 20 feet apart) to be outside alone without masks is totally safe.
Juan sent fellow Argentine Federico Coria packing 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 tonight to reach his maiden ATP Final. Juan will face the winner of Ramos Viñolas / Bagnis.
Will Juan win the title? Does he have a promising future? Will he replicate this success? Is this his breakthrough season? All of this will reveal itself soon enough.
Anyone else disappointed that Sinner vs Bautista Agut is not on Pista Rafa Nadal (centre court) tomorrow?
Semifinals time in Madrid, after another in a series of wild results bounces Rafael Nadal out of the tournament. I look forward to all the new “we are in Rome” memes. Hard to call anyone a clear favorite at this point, but here are some thoughts.
https://degensclub.com/journal/blurryturtle/2021-madrid-open-atp-semifinals
