The real Federer returns to breeze into semis New ATP team event to be hosted in Aust
LONDON: Tennis Australia and the ATP have revealed a new team competition as a curtainraiser to the 2020 season.
The ATP Cup will kickstart the year on January 3 of that year in three Australian host cities, yet to be decided.
The move marks a return by the governing body of men’s professional tennis to a team format for the first time since the World Team Cup which ran from 1978 until 2012 in the German city of Dusseldorf.
The tournament will lead into the Australian Open, the first grand slam of the season, in late January.
The new tournament will feature 24 teams in six groups of four and there will be an incentive for the world’s top players to feature, with 750 ATP ranking points and prize money of $US15 million ($NZ21 million) awarded to the winners.
There will be up to five players per team and the match format will consist of two singles and one doubles match in bestofthree set contests.
Qualification for the tournament will be based on the highest ATP ranking of the number one singles player from each country.
Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley said: ‘‘This is an amazing opportunity . . . 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.’’
World No. 1 and President of the ATP Player Council, Novak Djokovic, said at yesterday’s announcement in London: ‘‘It’s going to be the best way to kickstart the season.
‘‘More than 90% 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.’’
The ATP Cup finishes on January 12 and the 2020 Australian Open, originally scheduled for January 13, will be moved to January 20. — DPA LONDON: A few days after it appeared as though a Roger Federer impersonator had gatecrashed the 02 Arena, the Swiss great resumed normal service to outplay Kevin Anderson and reach the last four of the ATP Finals yesterday.
Federer walked out into a jampacked O2 Arena knowing any repeat of his insipid performance on Sunday against Japan’s Kei Nishikori could have resulted in an ignominious early exit.
But the 37yearold again shrugged off the passing of time to swagger past the dangerous Anderson 64 63 and reach the semifinals for the 15th time in 16 appearances at the event.
Record sixtime champion Federer turned on the style to avenge this year’s gutwrenching Wimbledon quarterfinal defeat by Anderson in which he squandered a match point.
Federer and Anderson both ended up with two wins in the Lleyton Hewitt group but the Swiss grabbed first place on the headtohead record — meaning he is likely to avoid world No 1 Novak Djokovic in tomorrow’s last four.
Djokovic will top the other group unless he loses to Marin Cilic and John Isner beats Alexander Zverev.
A tournament that has so far lacked thrills could yet have a showdown on Monday between old warriors Federer and Djokovic.
Earlier, Dominic Thiem beat Nishikori 61 64 — a result that meant the Austrian would reach the semifinals if Federer lost to Anderson and won fewer than six games.
Thiem admitted that he was not holding his breath and from the moment Federer took the first set it was just a case of whether the second seed or Anderson would top the group.
‘‘Very happy, the first match against Kei was tough, I never got going,’’ Federer, who rebounded from an ugly performance against Nishikori to beat Thiem in his second roundrobin match in the Lleyton Hewitt group, said on court.
‘‘With my back against the wall maybe it’s easier for me to play.’’
A confident Anderson pushed hard early on and had a glimmer of a chance in the sixth game but Federer held from 030 with a sublime backhand winner that ripped past his opponent and had the crowd roaring its approval.
Shaken, Anderson doublefaulted twice in the next game to drop serve but Federer wobbled, sending a forehand wide to hand the break back. The 20time Grand Slam champion immediately broke again though and switched on the afterburners to clinch the set in the next game from 040.
Federer pounced in the seventh game of the second set and claimed victory on his third match point as the world number six netted a forehand. — Reuters