Sunday will mark the start of the finale of the men’s tennis tour. The 50th edition of the ATP Finals will be held at the O2 Arena in London. At stake is the year-end No.1 spot for either Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic, up to 1500 ranking points and potentially more than $2 million in earnings.
The draw for the tournament took place on Tuesday. Eight players have been split into two groups named after former stars of the sport. In Group Andre Agassi Nadal will play Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev. Meanwhile, in Group Bjorn Borg Djokovic will lock horns with Roger Federer, Dominic Thiem and Matteo Berrettini.
Over the coming days will be a battle between the eight best-performing men on the ATP Tour this year. With a lot of stake for all players, here are the key facts to know about the 2019 tournament.
The head-to-head
Only one player has a positive record against every member of the field at this year’s tournament. Djokovic has a winning record against five out of six players. The only exception is Tsitsipas, who he is currently drawn level with at 2-2 in their head-to-head. Djokovic is yet to play Berrettini on the tour.
At the other end of the spectrum, Berrettini has a losing record against all six players he has played. In fact, he has only ever defeated Thiem and Tsitsipas once. Should he win a match in London Berrettini would become the first Italian man in history to do so at the ATP Finals. Both Adriano Panatta (1975) and Corrado Barazzutti (1978) failed to do so on their attempts.
| Nadal | Djokovic | Federer | Medvedev | Thiem | Zverev | Tsitsipas | Berrettini | |
| Nadal |
— |
26-28 |
24-16 |
2-0 |
9-4 |
5-0 |
4-1 |
1-0 |
| Djokovic |
28-26 |
— |
26-22 |
3-2 |
6-3 |
3-2 |
2-2 |
0-0 |
| Federer |
16-24 |
22-26 |
— |
3-0 |
2-4 |
3-4 |
2-1 |
1-0 |
| Medvedev |
0-2 |
2-3 |
0-3 |
— |
1-2 |
1-4 |
5-0 |
1-0 |
| Thiem |
4-9 |
3-6 |
4-2 |
2-1 |
— |
5-2 |
4-2 |
2-1 |
| Zverev |
0-5 |
2-3 |
4-3 |
4-1 |
2-5 |
— |
1-3 |
2-1 |
| Tsitsipas |
1-4 |
2-2 |
1-2 |
0-5 |
2-4 |
3-1 |
— |
1-0 |
| Berrettini |
0-1 |
0-0 |
0-1 |
0-1 |
1-2 |
1-2 |
0-1 |
— |
Who has won the most prize money?
This season Medvedev has been the standout player concerning prize money when you look at his career overall. 72.8% of his career prize money earnings have been won in 2019. This is due to a stellar second half of the season where he reached six consecutive finals on the tour. Winning Two Masters 1000 events, as well as the St. Petersburg Open. Medvedev was also runner-up to Nadal at the US Open.
Unsurprisingly the Big Three dominate the prize money lists for both this current season and overall in their careers. Nadal is currently in the lead over Djokovic this year. However, the Serbian remains the only player – man or woman – to surpass the $130 million mark.
There is still a lot to play for in London. Should any player clinch the title without losing a match, they will earn an additional $2,871,000. A full breakdown of the prize money can be seen here.
2019 prize money
Nadal – $12,214,586
Djokovic – $11,182,355
Federer – $6,989,975
Medvedev – $6,994,912
Thiem – $5,992,623
Tsitsipas – $4,272,927
Zverev – $3,152,635
Berrettini – $2,689,783
Career prize money
Djokovic – $136,954,944
Federer -$127,504,891
Nadal – $115,466,561
Thiem – $20,124,768
Zverev -$18,900,563
Medvedev – $9,599,693
Tsitsipas – $7,209,605
Berrettini – $3,580,862
NOTE: Figures as of November 4th 2019 and includes doubles earnings
Their Win-loss record of 2019
Zverev remains the only player yet to score multiple wins over top 10 position this season. His sole conquest occurred in Shanghai when he downed Federer in a three-set thriller. The defending champion hasn’t lost the most matches this year, but his overall winning percentage is the lowest.
Nadal tops the group with the highest winning rate, however, it is important to note that he has also played the fewest matches (57) out of the group. In comparison Medvedev has achieved a 76.6% winning rate, but has played an additional 20 matches (77) already this season.
|
Wins |
losses |
Top 10 wins |
Total winning % |
|
|
Nadal |
51 |
6 |
7 |
89.5% |
|
Djokovic |
53 |
9 |
8 |
85.5% |
|
Federer |
51 |
8 |
5 |
86.4% |
|
Medvedev |
59 |
18 |
8 |
76.6% |
|
Thiem |
46 |
17 |
6 |
73% |
|
Zverev |
42 |
23 |
1 |
64.6% |
|
Tsitsipas |
50 |
24 |
5 |
67.5% |
|
Berrettini |
42 |
21 |
5 |
66.66% |
Titles won
Only four players have won the ATP Finals five or more times in history and two of those are in this year’s field. Federer holds the all-time record of six, however, he hasn’t won the trophy since 2011. Meanwhile, Djokovic has five titles to his name and has featured in the final in six out of the past seven editions.
Overall, Federer has won more titles that any active player at 103. The second highest tally in history after Jimmy Connors. His first title was at the 2001 Milan Indoors when rival Tsitsipas was just two-years-old.
Six out of eight have won at least one Masters 1000 title. The only exceptions are Tsitsipas and Berrettini, who are both yet to win a trophy at an event ranked above the 250 category.
Below is a breakdown of each player and their individual achievements.
Rafael Nadal: 84
– 19 grand slams
– 35 Masters 1000
– 1 Olympic Gold
– 20 ATP 500/Gold Series
– 9 ATP 250/International Series
Novak Djokovic: 77
– 16 grand slams
– 5 year-end titles (ATP Finals)
– 34 Masters 1000
– 13 ATP 500/Gold Series
– 9 ATP 500/International Series
Roger Federer: 103
– 20 grand slams
– 6 year-end titles (ATP Finals)
– 28 Masters 1000
– 24 ATP 500/Gold Series
– 25 ATP 250/International Series
Medvedev: 7
– 2 Masters 1000
– 1 ATP 500
– 4 ATP 250
Thiem: 16
– 1 Masters 1000
– 5 ATP 500
– 10 ATP 250
Zverev: 11
– 1 year-end title (ATP Finals)
– 3 Masters 1000
– 2 ATP 500
– 5 ATP 250
Tsitsipas: 3
– 3 ATP 250
Berrettini: 3
– 3 ATP 250
ATP Finals history
There will be three debuts in the event this year. Medvedev, Tsitsipas and Berrettini are all gracing their presence at The O2 for the first time in their careers. Since 1998, only two players have won the title on their debut and none of them are a member of the record-breaking Big Four contingent. Alex Correctja triumphed in 1998, followed by Grigor Dimitrov in 2017.
For those who have played in London before, Thiem is the only member to have a losing record at the tournament. Winning just three out of nine matches played since 2016. As for the person with the most wins, Federer is currently on 57 victories. That is 41 more than Nadal, who has in recent years missed the event due to various injury issues.
Here is a breakdown of the records :-
Federer: 57-15 (debut 2002)
Djokovic: 35-12 (debut 2007)
Nadal: 16-13 (debut 2006)
Zverev: 5-3 (debut 2017)
Thiem: 3-6 (debut 2016)
The data used in this article is based on information obtained from the official website of the ATP Tour
