From the ATP: (July 17, 2017) LONDON – Six-time champion Roger Federer, the most successful player in the history of the season finale, has qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals for a 15th time. The 35-year-old Swiss clinched his place alongside Rafael Nadal in the elite eight-man field by winning a record eighth Wimbledon title on Sunday, and will return to London from 12-19 November to compete at The O2.
“I look forward to returning to London in November,” said Federer. “I was sad not to be able to compete last year as I love playing there and had not missed the event since 2002.”
Federer made a record 14 straight appearances at the prestigious season-ending tournament from 2002-15, compiling a 52-12 match record with titles in 2003-04, 2006-07, 2010-11. He also reached the final on four other occasions, finishing runner-up to David Nalbandian in 2005 and to Novak Djokovic in 2012, ’14-15.
More than 13 years after he first ascended to World No. 1, Federer is back to challenging for the top spot in the Emirates ATP Rankings. After sitting out the last six months of the 2016 season, Federer made his comeback by defeating four Top 10 players – including five-sets victories over Stan Wawrinka and Nadal respectively in the semi-finals and final – en route to the Australian Open crown. He swept the March Masters, winning back-to-back ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells (d. Wawrinka) and the Miami Open presented by Itaú (d. Nadal). Ahead of Wimbledon, Federer lifted his ninth Gerry Weber Open trophy in Halle, recording his 1100th match win during his title run (second to only Jimmy Connors with 1256 match wins).
With his runner-up finish at Wimbledon, two-time qualifier Marin Cilic boosts his Nitto ATP Finals bid, climbing six spots to No. 5 in the Emirates ATP Race to London. Dominic Thiem and Stan Wawrinka are next in line to qualify, while Alexander Zverev, five-time winner Djokovic and defending champion Andy Murray round out the top eight.
Poland’s Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo of Brazil also became the first doubles team to qualify for the season finale, having gone unbeaten (14-0 match record) in three grass-court tournaments – the Ricoh Open in ‘s-Hertogenbosch (d. Klaasen/Ram), Halle (d. Zverev/Zverev) and with their first major title at Wimbledon (d. Marach/Pavic). Melo, individually, returned today for his third stint at No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings.
The Nitto ATP Finals welcomes more than 250,000 fans to The O2 arena each year, as well as generating a global TV viewership of more than 100 million, as the ATP’s best eight singles players and doubles teams compete over eight days at the biggest indoor tennis tournament in the world.