Djokovic Clinches Year-End No. 1 For First Time

YEAR-END NO. 1 Djokovic Clinches Year-End No. 1 For First Time
Novak Djokovic
by ATP Staff
13.10.2011

Novak Djokovic will finish as the No. 1 player in the year-end South African Airways 2011 ATP Rankings. He is the 16th different player to finish No. 1 in the history of the ATP Rankings (since 1973).
World No.2 Rafael Nadal’s third-round loss at the Shanghai Rolex Masters on Thursday assured the Serb of the top ranking come the end of the season.
The 24-year-old Belgrade native is the first Serbian man to finish No. 1 in the history of the ATP Rankings (since 1973). It also marks a record eighth straight year a European is the No. 1 player on the ATP World Tour. For seven years from 1985-91, Europeans finished No. 1.
Djokovic is the first player other than Roger Federer (2004-07, ‘09) or Rafael Nadal (2008, ’10) to finish No. 1 since American Andy Roddick in 2003.
Djokovic will be officially crowned as the year-end No. 1 at a special trophy presentation at the season-ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London where he will be competing for a fifth straight year. The tournament takes place Nov. 20-27.
On July 4, Djokovic became No. 1 in the South African Airways 2011 ATP Rankings for the first time after winning his first Wimbledon title. He began his outstanding season with a 41-match winning streak (43 overall back to last year). He has won a career-high 10 titles in 11 finals, including his second Australian Open and first US Open crowns.
En route to a 64-3 match record, he has captured a record five ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles in a season, in Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid, Rome and Montreal. He has also compiled a 20-2 mark vs. Top 10 opponents, defeating rivals Nadal six times and Federer four times so far in 2011.
Between now and the end of the season, the Serb is due to play at the Basel Swiss Indoors, the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris, and the season-ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals at The O2 in London.

ATP WORLD TOUR YEAR-END NO. 1 (since 1973)
Year
Player
2011
Novak Djokovic (Serbia)
2010
Rafael Nadal (Spain)
2009
Roger Federer (Switzerland)
2008
Rafael Nadal (Spain)
2007
Roger Federer (Switzerland)
2006
Roger Federer (Switzerland)
2005
Roger Federer (Switzerland)
2004
Roger Federer (Switzerland)

2003
Andy Roddick (U.S.)
2002
Lleyton Hewitt (Australia)
2001
Lleyton Hewitt (Australia)
2000
Gustavo Kuerten (Brazil)
1999
Andre Agassi (U.S.)
1998
Pete Sampras (U.S.)
1997
Pete Sampras (U.S.)
1996
Pete Sampras (U.S.)
1995
Pete Sampras (U.S.)
1994
Pete Sampras (U.S.)
1993
Pete Sampras (U.S.)
1992
Jim Courier (U.S.)
1991
Stefan Edberg (Sweden)
1990
Stefan Edberg (Sweden)
1989
Ivan Lendl (Czech Republic)
1988
Mats Wilander (Sweden)
1987
Ivan Lendl (Czech Republic)
1986
Ivan Lendl (Czech Republic)
1985
Ivan Lendl (Czech Republic)
1984
John McEnroe (U.S.)
1983
John McEnroe (U.S.)
1982
John McEnroe (U.S.)
1981
John McEnroe (U.S.)
1980
Bjorn Borg (Sweden)
1979
Bjorn Borg (Sweden)
1978
Jimmy Connors (U.S.)
1977
Jimmy Connors (U.S.)
1976
Jimmy Connors (U.S.)
1975
Jimmy Connors (U.S.)
1974
Jimmy Connors (U.S.)
1973
Ilie Nastase (Romania)

Nishikori Reaches First ATP World Tour Masters 1000 SF

SHANGHAI ROLEX MASTERS 2011
Shanghai, China
by ATP Staff
14.10.2011

Kei Nishikori, already projected to become the highest-ranked Japanese player in the Open Era, advanced to his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-final on Friday.
The 21-year-old Nishikori withstood nine aces from the racquet of 12th seed Alexandr Dolgopolov of the Ukraine and saved six of seven break points for a 6-4, 6-3 victory at the Shanghai Rolex Masters.
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"I feel like home here," said Nishikori, who was the Houston runner-up in April. "It means a lot to play semis here. I'm really excited now. I think I started well today. I knew he [was] going to hit a lot of slice and I have to be careful. I was trying to not go for too much, just try to [be] steady on the court, and that worked."
Nishikori is set to rise from his current mark of No. 47 in the South African Airways 2011 ATP Rankings to around No. 32 on Monday. Nishikori previously equalled Shuzo Matsuoka's (6 July 1992) career-high of World No. 46 on 2 May.
Asked about his status in Japan, Nishikori admitted, "It is special feeling when I go back to Japan. The people sometimes [recognise] me when I walk in the street. I really enjoying how the life is going on.
"I think baseball and soccer is one of biggest sports in Japan. But I think tennis is getting better in the [past] two, three years. A lot of kids playing [have] started playing. Me and Kimiko Date came back. Tennis is getting more popular now."
Dolgopolov, 22, is one of the most improved players on the ATP World Tour this season. He was appearing in his ninth quarter-final (or better) and has a 37-25 match record. He lifted his first title on 31 July at the ATP Studena Croatia Open in Umag (d. Cilic) and was runner-up at the Brasil Open in Costa do Sauipe (l. to Almagro).

Mayer beats Nadal at Shanghai Masters

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SHANGHAI, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- Florian Mayer defeated top-seeded Rafael Nadal in straight sets Thursday in third-round play of the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament.
Mayer ousted Nadal 7-6 (7-5), 6-3. He missed out on a pair of break points when leading 5-4 in the first set but took the tiebreaker with an ace after a Nadal error put Mayer ahead.
Mayer had the match's first break to go up 4-3 in the second set and finished the win with another break. Nadal did win 75 percent of the points on serve but failed to generate a single break-point opportunity Thursday.
Second-seed Andy Murray, the defending Shanghai champion, got by Stanislas Wawrinka in a tight 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. Murray won only four more points (84-80) over the course of the match but was able to hang on after building a 5-1 lead in the third set.
No. 3-seeded David Ferrer was also taken to three sets before claiming a 1-6, 7-5, 6-2 decision over Juan Carlos Ferrero.
But Feliciano Lopez upset sixth-seeded Tomas Berdych 6-4, 6-4; 10th-seeded Andy Roddick ousted seventh-seeded Nicolas Almagro in straight sets; and Matthew Ebden eliminated No. 8-seeded Gilles Simon 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (10-8).
No. 12th-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov rebounded for a 5-7, 6-1, 6-0 win over Bernard Tomic, and Kei Nishikori beat Santiago Giraldo 7-6 (8-6), 4-6, 6-3 in a match that involved a pair of unseeded players.

© 2011 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.