RICKY RATES & PICKS THE TOP 8 TENNIS PLAYERS – NOVAK DJOKOVIC HOPING TO CAP OFF DOMINANT SEASON WITH FOURTH STRAIGHT ATP WORLD TOUR FINALS TITLE

Written by: Staff on 14th November 2015

BNP Paribas 2015 Masters Tennis Tournament

RICKY RATES & PICKS THE TOP 8 TENNIS PLAYERS - NOVAK DJOKOVIC HOPING TO CAP OFF DOMINANT SEASON WITH FOURTH STRAIGHT ATP WORLD TOUR FINALS TITLE

epa05014784 Serbia's Novak Djokovic serves the ball to Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic during their quarterfinal match at the BNP Paribas 2015 Masters tennis tournament in Paris, France, 06 November 2015. EPA/IAN LANGSDON |

In the week leading up to the Barclay ATP World Tour Finals, 10sballs.com‘s Ricky Dimon has been profiling every one of the eight singles qualifiers, starting with No. 8 and culminating with No. 1. Up next is top-ranked Novak Djokovic, who is the three-time defending champion of this event and has not lost a match at the O2 since 2011.

Season in review: In one of the most dominant seasons in tennis history, Djokovic battled to within one match of winning the calendar-year Grand Slam. The Serb’s lone blemish at the major level came when he fell victim to a jaw-dropping performance by Stan Wawrinka in the French Open final. Everyone else’s best effort was not good enough for Djokovic, who got the job done at the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open.

As if simply adding three slam titles to his resume was not enough, the world No. 1 has been sensational under all circumstances. He has not lost prior to a final since the very first tournament of 2015–to Ivo Karlovic in Doha. His streak of 13 consecutive final appearances includes additional triumphs in Indian Wells, Miami, Monte-Carlo, Rome, Shanghai, and Paris. Speaking of streaks, Djokovic is 22-0 in his last 22 matches dating back to the start of the U.S. Open.

2015 record: 78-5

Fall record (post-U.S. Open): 15-0

Best tournament: U.S. Open title

d. Joao Souza 6-1, 6-1, 6-1

d. Andreas Haider-Maurer 6-4, 6-1, 6-2

d. Andreas Seppi 6-3, 7-5, 7-5

d. Roberto Bautista Agut 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3

d. Feliciano Lopez 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(2)

d. Marin Cilic 6-0, 6-1, 6-2

d. Roger Federer 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4

Biggest win at different tournament: d. Roger Federer 7-6(1), 6-7(10), 6-4, 6-3

World Tour Finals appearances: 6

World Tour Finals record: 23-9

Best World Tour Finals result: Champion (2008, 2012, 2013, 2014)

Record against other World Tour Finals qualifiers: 123-66

vs. Andy Murray: 21-9

vs. Roger Federer: 21-21*

vs. Stan Wawrinka: 19-4

vs. Rafael Nadal: 22-23

vs. Tomas Berdych: 20-2*

vs. David Ferrer: 16-5

vs. Kei Nishikori: 4-2*

* denotes player is in the same group

Quotable: “I will continue to do (in London) what I’m doing so far. There is no reason for me to decrease the pace of the training and preparations and performances. It’s the last tournament of the year; very big tournament where I have done very well in the past. I’m hoping that I can repeat (the) kind of performances and success I have had there in previous years. I like the conditions there. Crowd is great. Attendance is amazing. It’s a great stage for the tournament–O2 Arena that I think is the most used arena in the world in terms of events. Hopefully I can finish off the season with another great win.”

Outlook: There is absolutely no reason to think that someone other than Djokovic will be the last man standing in London. It’s hard to even imagine him losing a round-robin match–and borderline impossible to envision him falling in the group to anyone other than Federer. After all, the top seed has not lost at this tournament since 2011. He is a four-time champion and triumphed in 2012, 2013, and 2014 while going undefeated in the process. It would only be fitting–and expected–for Djokovic to end this unbelievable season on a 27-match winning streak and with an 11th title.

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

Topics: 02 Arena, 10sballs.com, Atp Tennis, Barclays ATP World Tour, London tennis, Novak Djokovic, Ricky Dimon, Sports, Tennis News

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10sBalls_com says:

November 14, 2015 at 9:00 am

-@DjokerNole Hoping To Cap Off Dominant Season With Fourth Straight #ATPWorldTourFinals Title by @Dimonator- https://t.co/V6msDBvYuK #Tennis
Dimonator says:

November 14, 2015 at 9:59 am

RT @10sBalls_com: -@DjokerNole Hoping To Cap Off Dominant Season With Fourth Straight #ATPWorldTourFinals Title by @Dimonator- https://t.co…