ANDY MURRAY CONFIRMS BARCLAYS WORLD TOUR FINALS PARTICIPATION, THE FIELD OF EIGHT PLAYERS IS SET FOR THE ATP MEN’S TENNIS YEAR END CHAMPIONSHIPS BY RICKY DIMON

Written by: Staff on 3rd November 2015

ANDY MURRAY CONFIRMS BARCLAYS WORLD TOUR FINALS PARTICIPATION, THE FIELD OF EIGHT PLAYERS IS SET FOR THE ATP MEN'S TENNIS YEAR END CHAMPIONSHIPS BY RICKY DIMON

epa04936801 Andy Murray of Britain in action against Thanasi Kokkinakis of Australia during their Davis Cup singles match Britain vs Australia in Glasgow, Britain, 18 September 2015. EPA/ROBERT PERRY |

Never has the race to the World Tour Finals been in less doubt for a longer stretch of time, and the eight-man field is now set with one more regular-season tournament (the BNP Paribas Masters) still to play.

The last player with an outside shot was Richard Gasquet, who had to win titles in both Basel and Paris in order to have a chance. His semifinal loss to Rafael Nadal last week ended what little suspense remained.

With Nadal’s win over the Frenchmen, Kei Nishikori and David Ferrer officially secured the last two spots in London.

“I am very excited to go back to London,” Nishikori assured. “Being part of the best eight players in the world is a big honor and something I work very hard for every day. This tournament is one of the flagship tournaments of the year for us and I look forward to coming back.”

“It’s an honor to be back in London and be amongst the best players in the world once again,” said Ferrer, who will be making his seventh appearance at the prestigious year-end championship after playing one match in 2014 as an alternate. “It’s been a great season for me and I really look forward to the tournament.”

Nishikori and Ferrer will be joined by Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Roger Federer, Stan Wawrinka, Rafael Nadal, and Tomas Berdych. Murray announced on Monday that he is going to play, having previously threatened to skip the World Tour Finals in order to practice on clay for the Davis Cup final.

“My intention is to play at the O2,” the Scot stated matter-of-factly.

Murray will lead Great Britain into Belgium to compete for the title the week following London. Both his commitment and his playing during Davis Cup in 2015 have been outstanding from the whole season, and it has resulted in his country’s first final appearance since 1978.

The World Tour Finals field features six of the same participants–not including Ferrer–from last year. Marin Cilic and Milos Raonic failed to qualify in 2015, replaced by Spaniards Nadal and Ferrer.

Technically speaking, Raonic also did not qualify in 2014. The Canadian got in as the first alternate when an injured Nadal withdrew.

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Topics: Atp Tennis, Barclays World Tour Finals, Ricky Dimon, Sports, Tennis News

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10sBalls_com says:

November 3, 2015 at 2:09 pm

-@andy_murray Confirms Barclays World Tour Finals Participation, The Field Of Eight Players Is Set… by @Dimonator- https://t.co/b6eVVMbpQV
ElenaFoundation says:

November 5, 2015 at 7:05 am

Andy Murray confirms Barclays World Tour participation #greatnews https://t.co/AJPyKdCz0C
KiltedKelpie says:

November 5, 2015 at 7:08 am

RT @ElenaFoundation: Andy Murray confirms Barclays World Tour participation #greatnews https://t.co/AJPyKdCz0C