October is a sneaky fun month for men’s tennis. The slam tournaments are long done, the lucrative east Asia swing is over. For two weeks, the only ATP competition are modest indoor tournaments in Europe, which are no big deal for the top players.
Aside, that is, from the half-dozen or so who harbour hopes of a place among the elite eight at the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London next month.
The lure of a US$6.5 million (Dh23.9m) purse, the biggest non-slam-tournament pot in the game, which is divided among the eight players in London, drives many to a frenzy of October activity in a bid to move up the rankings to qualify.
Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Stan Wawrinka and Marin Cilic are in, thanks to their massive points totals or a victory in a slam this year. That leaves open three London slots, perhaps four if Nadal has surgery to remove his appendix.
Last week, men with world rankings of No 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14 and 15 all played, hoping to climb in the rankings. The Erste Bank Open final in Vienna pitted David Ferrer and Andy Murray and the Stockholm Open had a final matching Tomas Berdych and Grigor Dimitrov.
Those are high-visibility pairings for small tournaments.
This week, London hopefuls Ferrer (World No 5), Berdych (6) and Murray (10) are playing in Valencia while Kei Nishikori (7), Milos Raonic (9) and Dimitrov (11) are at the Swiss Indoors in Basel.
Strong competition, so late in the year.
Those with the higher positions in the London rankings, which do not track with world rankings, hold the advantage. At present, the final three would be Nishikori, Berdych and Murray, whose victory over Ferrer dropped the Spaniard to No 9 for London.
"The next few weeks are extremely important," Murray told the ATP's website. "Everyone is playing this week. I just need to win as many matches as possible to keep hold of the eighth spot or go higher. Whoever qualifies for the finals will deserve it."
Ferrer is the man on the bubble, but he tends to play well at Valencia, his home tournament.
Dimitrov has not given up despite losing the Stockholm final. “I know after my loss, my chances are getting slim, but you never know. Five have qualified so far and there are three more to go.”
Berdych summed up the sort of mania that seizes those on the edge of the season-ending event.
“The battle is on and we’re going to fight to the end of the year,” he said. “I just need to be ready and prepared and go for it again.”
poberjuerge@thenational.ae
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