Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer are the three players that have been no. 1 throughout 2018, and have shared the top three spots for seven occasions since 2014.

In addition to the achievements of the top three players, ATP Tour stated on its website that there were five changes in the top ten places. Among them, we find the finalist of the AMT 2018, the South African Kevin Anderson (No. 6), and the American John Isner (No. 10), who ends the season inside the top ten for the first time.

Between the players who returned to the top ten in 2018 are Djokovic (who finished 12^th in 2017), Juan Martin del Potro, and Kei Nishikori (who went up from No. 22 to No. 9).

ATP Tour also points out that for the first time in the history of the world rankings, there are players from five different regions of the planet. There are six players from Europe, while Africa, Asia, North America, and South America have only one representative each.

ATP Tour 2018 season highlights:

• Novak Djokovic (31) finished as number one in the world for the fifth time (2011-12, 2014-15, 2018). This also extends the Big 4´s dominance to 15 years since Federer achieved it in 2004 for the first time.
• Rafael Nadal finished in the Top 10 for the fourteenth consecutive year, matching Federer’s best record (2002-15). It is also the tenth time that Rafael finished as No. 2.
• Roger Federer is the oldest player (37) to finish No. 3. He has previously finished 14 times in the top three (five times No. 1, six times No. 2 and three times No. 3).
• Alexander Zverev is the youngest player (21) to finish in the ‘Top 4’ for the second occasion since Djokovic did it in 2007 and 2008, and the first German since Boris Becker in 1994 – 95.
• Juan Martín del Potro finished in the ‘Top 10’ for the first time since 2013 in 2018, and matched his best outcome in 2009 and 2013.
• John Isner (2.08 m) and Kevin Anderson (2.03 m) are the tallest players in history to finish in the Top 10 as leaders. There are five players that reach at least 1.98m in the Top 10, including Alexander Zverev, Juan Martin Del Potro, and Marin Cilic.

There is a record of 7 players that are 30 years or older in the Top 10. There are also five players that are 23 or younger finishing with their best outcome in the rankings yet, between No. 11 and No. 20.  The group is led by No. 11 Karen Khachanov (22), No. 12 Borna Coric (22), No. 14 Kyle Edmund (23), No. 15 Stefanos Tsitsipas (20), and No. 16 Daniil Medvedev (22).

Alexander Zverev won over Novak Djokovic at the Nitto ATP Finals on Sunday, has also finished the year among the Top 4 in the ATP Rankings for a second straight season.

After a victory over Roger Federer on Saturday on the semifinals, Zverev finished the best season of his career by becoming the youngest winner of the Masters Cup since Djokovic claimed it for the first time in 2008. He is also the first German champion since Boris Becker in 1995

“This is the biggest title of my career so far”, said Zverev. “This trophy means a lot, everything, to all the players. I mean, you only have so many chances of winning it. You play against the best players only. How I played today, how I won it, for me, it’s just amazing”.

Djokovic, sought to equal Roger Federer with six titles as top winners of the competition. He dominated the second half of the season, winning Wimbledon, Cincinnati, US Open and Shanghai, also snatching the No. 1 from Rafael Nadal.

Zverev, considered the best Next Gen, has already won three Masters titles (Rome, Montreal and Madrid), but his repeated disappointments in the Grand Slam tournaments had raised doubts about if he could succeed in the most demanding scenarios.

In his eighth tournament since teaming up with Ivan Lendl, Zverev reflected on the influence of the former World No. 1.

“My Dad is the one that taught me the game of tennis. My dad deserves the most credit out of everyone… I’m very thankful to him for that. Obviously [with] Ivan, the experience he has on and off the court, is amazing. That helped me, as well, to kind of play the two matches that I played back-to-back now”, said Zverev.

Djokovic seemed unstoppable, since Wimbledon, but on this match,  he wasn’t at his best shape. Since he was defeated by Marin Cilic in June, he had only lost three matches, all by the hands of Next Gen Players:  Stefanos Tsitsipas (Toronto), Karen Khachanov (París-Bercy) and now Zverev.

Zverev recovered from a 6-4, 6-1 round-robin loss to Djokovic on Wednesday. He is the first player since 1990 to beat the top two seeds.

Zverev defeated Djokovic with his consistency and service. The German was confident and precise in every shot. His game was, at some point, closet to perfection.

Unbeatable during the group stage and without major difficulties in the semifinal against Kevin Anderson, Djokovic reached the final without a single break in 36 games. But Zverev, broke it four times. The final was a contrast of what happened during round robin, when Zverev won just five games. Zverev said he didn’t know what to expect from the crowd. “Yesterday I felt I had done everything right, to be honest, following the rules and how it should have been, but the reaction of the crowd was not too good for me”. The match was even until Djokovic served 3-4 in the first set. From 30-30 he committed two consecutive fore hand errors to drop his service for the first time. In the next game, Zverev served three consecutive Aces.  Statistics at the end of the first set favored Zverev. The German lost only four points with his service and made 21 winning shots.

Djokovic was again in trouble in the first game of the second set. A winning service shot saved Zverev’s first break point, but in the second game Djokovic missed the typical point where he is always expected to win, while the German worked in a position of strength before break the Serbian’s forehand.

When Djokovic played 1-1 and 15-15, he scored a forehand at the end of a 27-shot rally, which gave the impression of leaving him exhausted

Djokovic was 3- 5, 15- 40, he managed to save the first match point but then a strong back hand from Zverev gave him the victory. Zverev dropped to his knees and celebrated the accomplishment, the Serbian congratulated him in a big hug.

Djokovic, said that Sascha deserved the victory, later he acknowledge that maybe the efforts made during the second half of the season have reached him. He also said that during the last couple of weeks he wasn’t at his best shape.

The ATP and Tennis Australia officially presented the ATP Cup, a new team competition to kickstart the men’s tennis season from 2020.

The new tournament, was announced during the Nitto ATP Finals in London, it will be played across three Australian cities over ten days in the lead up to the Australian Open and will feature teams from 24 countries.

The event sees the return of an ATP team competition into the calendar for the first time since the ATP World Team Cup, which was held in Dusseldorf from 1978-2012.

This tournament represents the initiative by ATP to innovate in the sport, it will ensure every season starts with an event with global profile. The 2020 ATP Cup will offer US$15 million in prize money and up to 750 ATP Rankings points to the winner.

“This new event fits perfectly with our strategy to innovate and look towards the future. We know from our extensive discussions with the players that the ATP Cup will provide a great way for them to open their season – bringing together the world’s best for a major team event that compliments existing scheduling, provides highly-coveted ATP ranking points and clearly links to the Australian Open. The first week of the season is when the players want to play and that’s why the tournament has their strong support. By staging the event with Tennis Australia, which is renowned for its experience as an outstanding event promoter, we know that the tournament will be a great success from year one” , stated Kermode, ATP Tour president.

Tennis Australia CEO, Craig Tiley stated: “This is an amazing opportunity, in close collaboration with the players and the tour, to deliver a globally impactful event that further elevates the sport and the fan interest in it”.

“We want to keep growing tennis, give the players an environment where they can perform to the best of their abilities and then ensure they are appropriately appreciated and rewarded. This event will help us all achieve that while connecting with new generations of tennis fans. It will provide a new source of inspiration for young athletes to choose our sport”, added Tiley.

The introduction of the tournament, during the first week of the year means that some of the events will be rearranged. Doha will remain the same to offer the players who won’t be at the ATP cup, the opportunity to earn ATP points. Pune´s tournament will be rescheduled one week after The Australian Open.

World No. 1 and President of the ATP Player Council Novak Djokovic was among the players who joined ATP Executive Chairman & President Chris Kermode and Craig Tiley, CEO of Tennis Australia, to reveal the details of the competition.

Djokovic, who finished 2018 as No.1 for a fifth time, stated: “I like that it’s owned by ATP, by the players, and that we have ranking points, and it’s going to be the best way to kick start the season. Australia is a country that has a Grand Slam, that nurtures tennis tradition. More than 90 per cent of the time we’re playing as individuals and we don’t have too many team events. This is going to bring together a lot of nations and for me personally it will be a very nice and proud moment to represent my country.”

Stefanos Tsitsipas ended the season brilliantly after recovering from a set down to defeat the Australian Alex de Minaur in the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan.

Tsitsipas, ranked 15^th in the world, acquired the title after defeating De Minaur in a 1 hour and 41 minutes match (2-4, 4-1, 4-3(3), 4-3(3)). It’s the second title under Tsitsipas name this season, after Stockholm back in October.

Tsitsipas, who was announced this year’s “Most Improved Player”, rose from a season-opening ATP Ranking of No. 91 to end the season as the youngest member of the Top 20. He also finished runner-up in Barcelona and Toronto, falling to Rafael Nadal on both finals

The Greek got the title after five consecutive victories this week and replaced Hyeon Chung as NextGen champion.

“It feels great. I’ve been playing some great tennis this week here in Milan”; Tsitsipas said.

“It was a fantastic match. I stayed calm although I had a chance twice to win the match but remained calm. I was aiming to win that match. I was mentally very strong and that was proven in the tie-break in the last set”.

The Aussie Alex de Minaur climbed from No. 208 in the ATP Rankings to his current standing of No. 31.

De Minaur took the first set, but Tsitsipas answered with his best tennis to win the next three sets.

In the fourth set, Tsitsipas was on the verge of victory with a 3-2, 30/40 lead on De Minaur’s serve. But after the Greek missed an inside-in forehand, De Minaur hit a lunging backhand volley to save his second match point and force a tie-break.

The Australian sent a strong forehand, but this time Tsitsipas didn’t let slip his third match point.

“No regrets”, De Minaur said. “You often are going to play a lot of tie-breaks, and he played well when he needed to. In the big points, he used his serve well and I probably just missed a couple forehands here and there, and that was the difference. But overall, I am very happy with my performance. I mean, all credit to Stefanos. He was a better player today.”

I’m very happy it’s over. It’s been a long season, a season I’ll never forget. I’ve played some incredible tennis throughout the whole year and both mentally and physically, I feel like it’s time to take a break,” De Minaur said. “But [I’m] really proud with myself, and I really owe it all to the team of people I’ve put around me.”

Over the weekend, the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas and the British Kyle Edmund won their first ATP World Tour titles in Stockholm and Antwerp, respectively.

These victories offered the fans a glimpse into the future.

Since 2004, when Rafael Nadal “bit” his first trophy, no season has had so many first-time champions. With the triumphs of Tsitsipas and Edmund, the list of players who have lifted a trophy for the first time in 2018 has increased to 13.

This year also marks the first time since 2006 that nine champions are under 25 years old. Frances Tiafoe and Stefanos Tsitsipas, members of #NextGenATP, are the youngest singles champions of this year. Both players have already qualified for the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan, which will be held from November 6^th  to 10^th.

To keep the tradition started in 1973, ATP world Tour has announced the nominees for this year´s Awards. Fans, players and coaches can vote in the different categories for their favorites.

Comeback player of the year, elected by the players, it’s given to the player who has overcome serious injury and re-established himself as one of the top players on the ATP World Tour. The nominees are: Novak Djokovic, Jason Kubler, John Millman and Kei Nishikori.

Also voted exclusively by the players is the most improved player of the year given to the player who reached a significantly higher ATP Ranking by year’s end and who demonstrated an increasingly improved level of performance through the year. The nominees are: Marco Cecchinato, Alex de Minaur, Kyle Edmund and Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Newcomer of the Year: The #NextGenATP player who entered the Top 100 for the first time in 2018 (ATP Ranking as of 15 October) and made the biggest impact on the ATP World Tour this season. The nominees are: Alex de Minaur, Ugo Humbert, Hubert Hurkacz, Michael Mmoh and Jaume Munar.

Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award: The player who, throughout the year, conducted himself at the highest level of professionalism and integrity, who competed with his fellow players with the utmost spirit of fairness and who promoted the game through his off-court activities. The nominees are: Kevin Anderson, Juan Martín del Potro, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Tournaments of the Year, also voted by the players, is the tournament in its category that operated at the highest level of professionalism and integrity and which provided the best conditions and atmosphere for participating players. The categories: ATP World Tour Masters 1000, ATP World Tour 500 and ATP World Tour 250

The fans will vote for their favorite player. In this category singles players and doubles team participate.

ATP Coach of the Year nominated and voted on by fellow ATP coach members, this award goes to the ATP coach who helped guide his players to a higher level of performance during the year.

Chosen By ATP, Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award, that will be given to the person who has made outstanding humanitarian contributions. Previous winners include former South African President Nelson Mandela, Arthur Ashe, Federer, Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and 2017 recipient Horia Tecau.

Determined by the rankings, the player who ends the year as World No. 1 in the ATP Rankings and the team that ends the year as World No. 1 in the ATP Doubles Team Rankings, will be rewarded.

Winners for the 2018 ATP World Tour Awards Presented by Moët & Chandon will be announced ahead of the Nitto ATP Finals that will be held in London from November 11^th – 18^th.

The singles player and doubles team receiving the highest number of votes from ATPWorldTour.com fans from now through 2 November. 11.59 pm (GMT).

To vote for your favorites visit the link below:

https://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/atp-awards-2018-fans-favourite

The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) has announced that, as of 2019, matches that reach 12-12 in the final set at the Wimbledon Championships will now go to a tie-break, in an effort to end never- ending matches, such as Kevin Anderson’s victory over John Isner earlier this year.

The semi-final between Anderson and Isner, became the second-longest match in Grand Slam history after lasting more than six-and-a-half hours. The South African won the match and the final set score was 24- 26

Isner was also involved in the longest match when he defeated Nicolas Mahut in 2010, during first round at Wimbledon ending in a 70-68 final.

This year’s semifinal will be the last of its kind after the AELTC announced on Friday that, after considerable review along with players and officials, a first-to-seven tie-break will be used when the score reaches 12-12 in the fifth set, players must still have an advantage of two clear points.

“In reaching this decision, the AELTC Committee sought the feedback of both players and officials, analyzed two decades of match data, and considered other factors including scheduling complexities and spectator experience”, said AELTC chairman Philip Brook.

“Our view was that the time had come to introduce a tie-break method for matches that had not reached their natural conclusion at a reasonable point during the deciding set”. 

“As a next step, we look forward to share further details with our Grand Slam, ITF, WTA and ATP colleagues when we meet in Singapore.”

• Nadal, Zverev, Isner, Ferrer, Stan Wawrinka and Stephens will play the tournament’s 26^th
• David Ferrer, Acapulco’s four-time champion, will play AMT before he retires in Madrid
• The 26^th edition of AMT will be held from February 25^th to March 2^nd in Acapulco, Guerrero.

Mexico City, October 16 ^th, 2018.- The wait is over. With the likes of Rafael Nadal, Alexander Zverev and Sloane Stephens, Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC released the list of players that will feature the tournament’s 26^th edition.

Confirmed as the main player of AMT 2019, Nadal, currently number 1 in the world and with 5 titles conquered this year (Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Roma, Roland Garros and Toronto), will seek his third title in Acapulco after 2005 and 2013.

For the second time in Acapulco, Alexander Zverev will have a place among the favorites in 2019, despite his young age (21 years old) he is one of the best tennis players around. In 2018, “Sascha” added Munich, Madrid and Washington to the list of titles to his name (Montpellier, Munich, Roma, Washington and Montreal in 2017; San Petersburg in 2016).

The American Sloane Stephens is the first WTA player confirmed to be part of AMT in 2019. Top 10 player with 6 titles in her career, including the AMT in 2016, US Open in 2017 and Miami Open in 2018, will be joining the tournament on its 26^th edition.

“We have been working, for a couple of months now, to get these players to be part of the tournament. After the 2017 and 2018 we have established some standards on the quality of the players we are looking for Acapulco. I believe we have met those standards with the presence of a legend Rafael Nadal, a young talent like Sascha Zverev, and a Grand Slam champion like Sloane Stephens. I am sure that a player list like these confirms our tournament not only as the best in Latin America but as one of the most important ATP 500 and WTA international event”, said Raul Zurutuza, tournament director. Besides Nadal and Zverev, John Isner (champion of the Miami Open and Atlanta in 2018), David Ferrer (four times champion in Acapulco 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015), Stan Wawrinka (no. 68) winner of 3 Grand Slams (Australian Open 2014, Roland Garros 2015 and US Open 2016), will return to Acapulco after 7 years of absence.

The first wild card will be handed to David Ferrer. The Spaniard will be playing in Acapulco for the last time after he announced his retirement last month.

Ferrer, with 27 titles (fourth place among active players) and 110 in the ATP rankings, will play a farewell tour that includes Auckland, Acapulco, Buenos Aires, Barcelona and Madrid.”I thought that this day would never come, but in 2019 we will have to say goodbye to a legend named David Ferrer. Since his first appearance in 2003, David became a frequent guest of Acapulco, and as the years went by, he won not only 4 titles, but also the affection, respect and admiration of the public. When the time comes, we will pay tribute worthy of a champion, and I know in advance that he will have a last great performance in Mexico”, said Zurutuza. Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC will be held from February 25^th to March 2^nd at the facilities of the Princess Mundo Imperial Hotel.