2012 ATP World Tour Finals

2012 ATP World Tour Finals
2012 ATP World Tour Finals
Date	5 – 12 November
Edition	43rd (singles) / 37th (doubles)
Surface	Hard
Location	London, United Kingdom
Venue	O2 arena
2011 Champions
Singles
	Roger Federer
Doubles
	Daniel Nestor / Max Mirnyi

The 2012 ATP World Tour Finals (also known as the 2012 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals for sponsorship reasons) is a tennis tournament that is being played at the O₂ Arena in London, United Kingdom between 5 and 12 November 2012. The defending singles champion is Roger Federer, while the defending doubles champions are Daniel Nestor and Max Mirnyi.

Tournament

The 2012 ATP World Tour Finals took place from 5–12 November at the O₂ Arena in London, United Kingdom.^[1] It was the 42nd edition of the tournament (36th in doubles). The tournament was run by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and was part of the 2012 ATP World Tour. The event took place on indoor hard courts. It served as the season-ending championships for players on the ATP Tour. The eight players who qualify for the event are split into two groups of four. During this stage, players compete in a round-robin format (meaning players playe against all the other players in their group). The two players with the best results in each group progress to the semifinals, where the winners of a group faces the runner-ups of the other group. This stage, however, is a knock-out stage. The doubles competition uses the same format.^[2]

Points and prize money

Stage	Singles	Doubles¹	Points
Champion	RR + $1,240,000	RR +$190,000	RR + 500
Runner-up	RR + $410,000	RR +$65,000	RR + 400
Round Robin win per match	$130,000	$25,000	200
Participation fee	$130,000²	$65,000³	–
Alternates	$75,000	$25,000	–

RR is points or prize money won in the Round Robin Stage.
¹ Prize money for doubles is per team.
² Pro-rated on a per-match basis:
³ 3 Pro-rated on a per-match basis: $30,000 = 1 match, $50,000 = 2 matches, $65,000 = 3 matches

Qualification

The top eight players (or teams) with the most countable points accumulated in Grand Slam, ATP World Tour, and Davis Cup tournaments during the year qualify for the 2012 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. Countable points include points earned in 2012, plus points earned at the 2011 Davis Cup final and the late-season 2011 Challengers played after the 2011 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. To qualify, a player who finished in the 2011 year-end top 30 must compete in four Grand Slam tournaments and eight ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments during 2012. They can count their best six (6) results from ATP World Tour 500, ATP World Tour 250 and other events (Challengers, Futures, Davis Cup, Olympics) toward their ranking. To count their best six (6), players must have fulfilled their commitment to 500 events – 4 total per year (at least 1 after the US Open). Additionally, commitment players will no longer need to enter the 500 events 12 weeks in advance but instead go back the normal 6-week entry deadline. If eligible to play in one of the Grand Slam or ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments, a player must count the points from these tournaments, even if it is 'a zero pointer' because he missed the event. Just as in Formula One and numerous other sports, if a competitor misses a race or an event, he loses his chance to earn points. Players with direct acceptance who do not play an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament will be suspended from a subsequent ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event, which will be the next highest points earned ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event within the next 12 months. If an injured player is on site within the first three days of a tournament to conduct promotional activities over a two-day period, a suspension will not be enforced but a 0-pointer will be counted on a player's ranking.^[3] If a player does not play enough ATP 500 events and does not have an ATP 250 or Challenger appearance with a better result, the Davis Cup is counted in the 500s table (if the player entered or achieved better results). If a player does not play enough ATP 250 or Challenger events, the World Team Championship is counted in the 250s table (if the player entered or achieved better results). If a player could not be present in all required tournament classes (i.e. because of an injury), all uncounted ATP 250 or Challenger results are eligible to be included in his 18 valid tournaments. In teams rankings, Challenger points are excluded.

A player who is out of competition for 30 or more days, due to a verified injury, is not penalized. The 2012 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals counts as an additional 19th tournament in the ranking of its eight qualifiers at season's end, while the Davis Cup Final points count towards the next year's race.^[4]

Qualified players

Singles

#	Players	Points	Tours	Date Qualified
1	Novak Djokovic (SRB)	11,420	17	9 July^[5]
2	Roger Federer (SUI)	9,465	20	9 July^[5]
3	Andy Murray (GBR)	7,600	19	5 September^[6]
inj.	Rafael Nadal (ESP)	6,795	19	9 July^[5]
4	David Ferrer (ESP)	6,030	24	15 October^[7]
5	Tomáš Berdych (CZE)	4,405	23	22 October^[8]
6	Juan Martín del Potro (ARG)	4,080	22	25 October^[9]
7	Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA)	3,490	25	1 November^[10]
8	Janko Tipsarevic (SRB)	2,990	27	1 November^[10]

On 7 July, the first three qualifiers were announced during the Wimbledon tournament, they were Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Rafael Nadal.

Roger Federer began his season at the Qatar Open as the defending champion but withdrew before his semifinal match. At the Australian Open he lost to Rafael Nadal 7–6^(7–5), 2–6, 6–7^(5–7), 4–6 in the semifinals.^[11]^[12] He then went on to win 16 matches in a row, beginning with the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament defeating Juan Martín del Potro in the final 6–1, 6–4, and then back-to-back titles in Dubai Tennis Championships over Andy Murray 7–5, 6–4 and BNP Paribas Open over John Isner 7–6^(9–7), 6–3.^[13]^[14]^[15] His streak ended in the third round of the Sony Ericsson Open losing to Andy Roddick.^[16] He bounced back at the Mutua Madrid Open, winning the title over Tomáš Berdych 3–6, 7–5, 7–5.^[17] He then lost in the semifinals of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia and French Open to Novak Djokovic.^[18]^[19] In the grass season, he reached three finals, first at the Gerry Weber Open losing to Tommy Haas 6–7^(5–7), 4–6.^[20] He then won his 17th Slam at the Wimbledon defeating Murray 4–6, 7–5, 6–3, 6–4 in the final.^[21] In the Olympics, he scored his first singles medal, winning the silver, losing in final to Murray 2–6, 1–6, 4–6.^[22] He then won his 6th title of the year at Western & Southern Open over Djokovic 6–0, 7–6, not dropping a set or his serve during the entire tournament^(9–7).^[23] In the final Slam of the year, at the US Open he fell in the quarterfinals for the first time in the tournament to Berdych.^[24] He then played the Swiss Indoors Basel as the defending champion but lost to Juan Martín del Potro 4-6, 7-6^(7-5), 6-7^(3-7) in the final.^[25] Federer has qualified for his 11th Year-End Championship and is the defending champion.

Novak Djokovic began the year by defending his Australian Open title after back-to-back five set wins over Andy Murray 6–3, 3–6, 6–7^(4–7), 6–1, 7–5 in the semifinal and Rafael Nadal 5–7, 6–4, 6–2, 6–7^(5–7), 7–5 in the final in 5 hours and 53 minutes, the longest Grand Slam singles final in the history of professional tennis.^[26] Djokovic then won his second title of the year at the Sony Ericsson Open without dropping and set and defeating Andy Murray in the final 6–1, 7–6^(7–4).^[27] In the European Clay season, he was able to reach 3 finals, losing each time to Nadal. He lost 3–6, 1–6 in the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters,^[28] 5–7, 3–6 in the Internazionali BNL d'Italia,^[29] and 4–6, 3–6, 6–2, 5–7 in his first French Open final.^[30] At Wimbledon as the defending champion, he fell in the semifinals to Roger Federer 3–6, 6–3, 4–6, 3–6.^[31] At the Olympics, the Serbian failed the medal after losing in the Bronze medal match to Juan Martín del Potro 5–7, 4–6.^[32] In the US Open Series, he reached three consecutive finals. He first won in the Rogers Cup defeating Richard Gasquet 6–3, 6–2 in the final.^[33] He then lost to Federer in the final of the Western & Southern Open 0–6, 6–7^(5–7).^[23] In the US Open as the defending champion, he lost to Murray in the final after coming back from 2–0 sets; 6–7^(10–12), 5–7, 6–2, 6–3, 2–6.^[34] He is the only one to reach at least the semifinals of each Slam of the year. At the Asian swing he made a sweep winning the China Open over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7–6^(7–4), 6–2 and the Shanghai Rolex Masters over Andy Murray 5–7, 7–6^(13–11), 6–3 saving 5 match points in the second set.^[35]^[36] He has qualified for his sixth Year-End Championship.

Rafael Nadal began his season at the Qatar Open losing to Gaël Monfils 3–6, 4–6 in the semifinals.^[34] He then reached the final of the Australian Open losing to Novak Djokovic 7–5, 4–6, 2–6, 7–6^(7–5), 5–7.^[26] In the European clay season, Nadal started with back-to-back wins without dropping a set, winning the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters over Djokovic 6–3, 6–1^[28] and the Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell over compatriot David Ferrer 7–6.^(7–1), 7–5.^[37] At the Madrid Open, he lost to Fernando Verdasco 3–6, 6–3, 5–7 for the first time, thus ending his 22 match winning streak in clay.^[38] He then won again back-to-back titles in the Internazionali BNL d'Italia^[29] winning 7–5, 6–3 and French Open winning 6–4, 6–3, 2–6, 7–5 in a rain delayed final^[30] he defeated Djokovic on both occasions. His French Open win meant he has won the most French Open titles in the Open Era.^[39] At Wimbledon, Nadal suffered a shock loss in the second round, the first time he has lost before the second round in a Slam since 2005 Wimbledon; he lost to 100th ranked Lukáš Rosol 7–6^(11–9), 4–6, 4–6, 6–2, 4–6.^[40] Nadal then withdrew from the Olympics as the defending champion from 2008 Olympics,^[41] and the US Open Series^[42] due to a knee injury. This is Nadal's 8th time to qualify for the event, however he was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to a left knee injury.^[43]

On 5 September, following his 2012 US Open triumph, Andy Murray was the fourth to qualify.

Andy Murray started the year with the appointment of new coach Ivan Lendl,^[44] and opened successfully with a defence of his title at the Brisbane International, defeating Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine in the final.^[45] Murray then competed in the Australian Open, where he reached the semifinals before being beaten by Novak Djokovic in a tightly fought match that lasted almost 5 hours.^[46] Next, at the Dubai Tennis Championships lost to Roger Federer 5–7, 4–6 in the final.^[14] He then reached the final of the Miami Masters, which he ultimately lost to Djokovic 1–6, 6–7^(4–7).^[27] At French Open, he was beaten by David Ferrer in the quarterfinals 4–6, 7–6^(7–3), 3–6, 2–6.^[47] Murray then reached the final of Wimbledon, where he lost to Roger Federer 6–4, 5–7, 3–6, 4–6.^[21] He then reached the final of the Olympics, where he defeated Federer 6–2, 6–1, 6–4 to win the gold medal for Britain, the first time since 1908.^[22] In the mixed doubles final, Murray and Robson faced Victoria Azarenka and Max Mirnyi of Belarus, but lost in three sets, settling for the silver medal. At the US Open Murray went on to claim his first ever major title, winning the final against Djokovic 7–6^(12–10), 7–5, 2–6, 3–6, 6–2, and becoming the first British man to win a grand slam title since Fred Perry in 1936.^[34] As the defending champion he reached the final of Shanghai Rolex Masters losing to Djokovic 7–5, 6–7^(11–13), 3–6; he served for the match at 5–4 in the second and had 5 match points; this was his first loss at the event.^[36] This is the 5th time Murray has qualified for the ATP Finals.

On October 15 following the Shanghai Rolex Masters David Ferrer was announced as the fifth qualifier.

David Ferrer opened his season with a successful defence of his Heineken Open title, with a 6–3, 6–4 win over Belgian player Olivier Rochus for his third title at the Auckland tournament.^[48] He next entered the Australian Open and managed to reach the quarterfinals before losing to eventual champion Novak Djokovic 4–6, 6–7^(4–7), 1–6.^[49] He then went on to win back-to-back titles at the Copa Claro over Nicolás Almagro 4–6, 6–3, 6–2, and Abierto Mexicano Telcel over Fernando Verdasco 6–1, 6–2.^[50]^[51] At the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell he reached his 4th final of the year, losing to Rafael Nadal 6–7^(1–7), 5–7.^[37] At the French Open, he reached the semifinals for the first time losing to eventual champion Rafael Nadal 2–6, 2–6, 1–6.^[52] He then won his 4th title of the year at the UNICEF Open defeating Philipp Petzschner 6–3, 6–4 in the final.^[53] Ferrer reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, where he was beaten by eventual runner-up Murray 7–6^(7–5), 6–7^(6–8), 4–6, 6–7^(4–7).^[54] Ferrer then won the Swedish Open defeating compatriot Almagro 6–2, 6–2 in the final.^[55] At the US Open, he reached the semifinals, thus reaching at least the quarterfinals of each slam in the year, only one of four to achieve it in the year, he lost to Novak Djokovic 6–2, 1–6, 4–6, 2–6, where the match was suspended after the first set.^[56] Ferrer then won his home tournament the Valencia Open 500 defeating Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov 6–1, 3–6, 6–4 in the final.^[57] Ferrer won his 7th title of the year, the most of any player at the BNP Paribas Masters defeating qualifier Jerzy Janowicz 6-4, 6-3 in the final. This is Ferrer's first Master 1000 title after finishing runner-up 3 times prior.^[58] This is the 4th time Ferrer has qualified for the finals in London.

On October 22 after winning the If Stockholm Open, Tomáš Berdych was announced as the sixth qualifier.

Tomáš Berdych began the year by winning the Hopman Cup with Petra Kvitová over France's Marion Bartoli and Richard Gasquet.^[59] At the Australian Open, he reached the quarterfinals losing to Rafael Nadal 7–6^(7–5), 6–7^(6–8), 4–6, 3–6.^[60] The following week, he won his first title of the year at the Open Sud de France defeating Gaël Monfils 6–2, 4–6, 6–3.^[61] He reached his first Masters 1000 final in 2 years at the Mutua Madrid Open but lost 6–3, 5–7, 5–7 to Roger Federer.^[17] At the French Open he reached the fourth round losing to Juan Martín del Potro 6–7^(6–8), 6–1, 3–6, 5–7.^[62] He was then upset by Ernests Gulbis in three tie-break set 6–7^(5–7), 6–7^(4–7), 6–7^(4–7) at the first round of the Wimbledon.^[63] He then reached his second final of the year at the Winston-Salem Open but lost to John Isner 6–3, 4–6, 6–7^(9–11).^[64] At the US Open he upset world no. 1 Federer in the quarterfinals 7–6^(7–1), 6–4, 3–6, 6–3 but lost to Andy Murray 7–5, 2–6, 1–6, 6–7^(7–9) in the semifinals with very windy conditions.^[24]^[65] He won his second title of the year at the If Stockholm Open defeating Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 4–6, 6–4, 6–4.^[66] This is the third consecutive time that Berdych has qualified.

On October 25, following the withdrawal of Rafael Nadal, Juan Martín del Potro booked a spot into the event.

Juan Martín del Potro reached the quarterfinals of the first slam of the year in the Australian Open losing to Roger Federer 4–6, 3–6, 2–6.^[67] He then reached his first final of the year at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament losing to Federer once again 1–6, 4–6.^[13] However, he bounced back by winning his first title of the year at the Open 13 defeating Michaël Llodra 6–4, 6–4 in the final.^[68] At the Estoril Open, successfully defended his title by defeating Richard Gasquet 6–4, 6–2.^[69] At the French Open he reached the quarterfinals but fell to Federer for the fifth time in the year despite leading two sets to love he lost 6–3, 7–6^(7–4), 2–6, 0–6, 3–6.^[70] At Wimbledon he was handedly defeated by David Ferrer 3–6, 2–6, 3–6 in the fourth round.^[71] He was able to bounced back at the Olympics winning the Bronze Medal match over Novak Djokovic 7–5, 6–4 after losing to Federer in the semifinals 6–3, 6–7^(5–7), 17-19.^[32] At the US Open he reached his third slam quarterfinals of the year but lost once again this time to Djokovic 2–6, 6–7^(3–7), 4–6.^[72] He won his third title of the year at the Erste Bank Open defeating qualifier Grega Žemlja in the final 7–5, 6–3.^[73] At the Swiss Indoors Basel, Del Potro got his fourth championship of the year after beating Roger Federer 6–4, 6–7^(5–7), 7–6^(7–3).^[25] This is the third time del Potro has qualified for the event.

On November 1, after reaching the quarterfinal of the Paris Masters, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Janko Tipsarević booked the final two spots to the event.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga began the year well by winning the Qatar Open in an all French final over Gaël Monfils 7-5, 6-3.^[74] At the Australian Open he was upset in the fourth round by Kei Nishikori 6-2, 2-6, 1-6, 6-3, 3-6.^[75] At the French Open he lost in the quarterfinals to Novak Djokovic 1-6, 7-5, 7-5, 6-7^(6-8), 1-6, despite having four match points, two at 5-4 and two at 6-5 in the fourth set.^[76]^[77] At Wimbledon he reached the semifinals losing to Andy Murray 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 5-7.^[78] At the US Open, Tsonga failed to reach the third round of a slam for the first time since 2007, losing to Martin Kližan 4-6, 6-1, 1-6, 3-6 in the second round.^[79] He then bounced back by winning his second title of the year at the Moselle Open over Andreas Seppi 6-1, 6-2.^[80] He then reached the final of the China Open losing to Novak Djokovic 6-7^(4-7), 2-6.^[35] He reached his fourth final of the year at the If Stockholm Open losing to Tomáš Berdych 6–4, 4–6, 4–6.^[66] This is the third time that Tsonga has qualified for the event.

Janko Tipsarević began the year by reaching the final of the Aircel Chennai Open but end up losing to Milos Raonic in three tie-break sets 7-6^(7-4), 6-7^(4-7), 6-7^(4-7).^[81] At the Australian Open he reached the third round but lost Richard Gasquet 3-6, 3-6, 1-6.^[82] At the French Open he reached the fourth round and faced Nicolás Almagro but lost in straight sets 4-6, 4-6, 4-6.^[83] At the Wimbledon he was upset in the third round by Mikhail Youzhny losing 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 3-6.^[84] The Serb then bounced back by reaching back-to-back finals at the MercedesCup defeating Juan Mónaco 6–4, 5–7, 6–3 in the final to claim his first title of the year and at the Crédit Agricole Suisse Open Gstaad losing to Thomaz Bellucci 7-6^(8-6), 4-6, 2-6.^[85]^[86] At the US Open he reached his second straight quarterfinals at the event but once again lost this time to David Ferrer 3-6, 7-6^(7-5), 6-2, 3-6, 6-7^(4-7), despite leading the final set 4-1.^[87] This is the first time Tipsarević has qualified for the event after serving as an alternate the previous year.

Doubles

#	Players	Points	Tours	Date Qualified
1	Bob Bryan (USA) Mike Bryan (USA)	9,035	18	12 August ^[88]
2	Max Mirnyi (BLR) Daniel Nestor (CAN)	6,315	17	9 August ^[89]
3	Robert Lindstedt (SWE) Horia Tecău (ROU)	5,875	20	19 August ^[90]
4	Leander Paes (IND) Radek Štěpánek (CZE)	5,265	11	6 October
5	Marcel Granollers (ESP) Marc López (ESP)	4,270	17	22 October
6	Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) Jean-Julien Rojer (NED)	3,515	22	1 November
7	Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) Rohan Bopanna (IND)	3,455	20	2 November
11	Jonathan Marray (GBR) Frederik Nielsen (DEN)	2,090	5	15 October ^[91]

The first team that qualified was the team of Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor on 9 August.

Max Mirnyi & Daniel Nestor began the year by winning the Brisbane International] over the team of Melzer/Petzschner 6–1, 6–2.^[92] They then successfully defended their title at the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships facing the team of Dodig/Melo in the final 4–6, 7–5, [10–7].^[93] At the Sony Ericsson Open they reached their third final of the year only to come up short and lose to the team of Paes/Štěpánek 6-3, 1-6, [8-10].^[94] They then reached their second Masters 1000 final at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters losing to the team of Bryan/Bryan 2–6, 3–6.^[95] They then successfully defended their title at the French Open, their second slam as a team over the team of Bryan/Bryan 6–4, 6–4.^[96] They then claimed their second consecutive title at the the AEGON Championships, once again over the American team of Bryan/Bryan 6–3, 6–4.^[97] Mirnyi also claimed the Mixed Doubles gold medal at the Olympics pairing with Victoria Azarenka defeating the British team of Murray/Robson 2–6, 6–3, [10–8].^[98] Nestor on the other hand claimed the title at the Swiss Indoors Basel pairing with Nenad Zimonjić defeating Huey/Inglot 7–5, 6–7^(4–7), [10–5].^[99]

After winning the Rogers Cup the team of Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan qualified for the event on 12 August.

Bob Bryan & Mike Bryan started the year by winning the Apia International Sydney defeating Ebden/Nieminen in the final 6–1, 6–4.^[100] At the Australian Open, as the 3-time defending champion they reached their fourth consecutive final but lost to the team Paes/Štěpánek 7–6^(7–1), 6–2.^[101] They won their 20th Masters title at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters by defeating Mirnyi/Nestor 6–2, 6–3.^[95]They then reached 3 consecutive finals, the first is in a winning effort at the Open de Nice Côte d’Azur over Marach/Polášek 7–6^(7–5), 6–3.^[102] The second final came in the French Open, where they face Mirnyi/Nestor but ended up in the losing side 4-6, 4-6.^[96] They then lost again to Mirnyi/Nestor at the final of the AEGON Championships 3–6, 4–6.^[97]

Groupings

Singles

Group A:

Group B:

Doubles

Group A:

Group B:

Head-to-Head