Roger Federer to begin quest for season-end title

The season-ending ATP World Tour Finals has kicked off here at the O2 Arena on Sunday and the first day of the tournament will mark the presence of Tennis ace and world no. 2 Roger Federer. The Swiss will square off against top American player and ninth-seeded Jack Sock, who ensured qualification by winning the Paris Masters last week.

Federer is in a rich-vein of form having won seven titles this year, including Australian Open and Wimbledon, and will chase to win his first season-ending title since 2011.

The 19-time grand slam champion has a good history in the event with streak of 14 consecutive appearances, only missing last year due to injury. He has converted six of his 14 appearances to wins.

Sock's singles success is highlighted by four ATP titles, including a victory at the 2017 Paris Masters tournament, and an appearance in the 2017 ATP Finals.

Another Tennis stalwart, Rafael Nadal, who is ending the year at No. 1, however, has not confirmed his participation in the ATP due to a knee injury.

He is scheduled to play David Goffin of Belgium on Monday.

The ATP World Tour Finals this year will mark the absence of Andy Murray, winner of the last year’s season end event, and Novak Djokovic, five-time ATP Finals champion, due to injuries. (ANI)

Sania suffering from knee injury: Ace tennis player Sania Mirza has said that she is suffering from a knee injury and would soon take a call on whether a surgery is needed or not.

"It was tough year with partners getting injured, but I have a bit of a knee injury now. I have been off for about a month. I have couple of weeks to rest, just trying to get used to, I have to see if I need to have a surgery or not. (I have) a little bit of problem," Sania said on the sidelines of the Indian Sports Honours.

She added, "But all in all I still finished close to top 10, so I am happy with the year."

The tennis star was speaking on the red carpet of the Indian Sports Honours.

Sania, the country's finest woman doubles player, who began the year with the number one ranking, closed it at number 9.

Meanwhile, India's nonplaying Davis Cup captain Mahesh Bhupathi has said that it was just a matter of time for young Ramkumar Ramanathan to break into the top 100.