#360stats: Battle for World No.1 - Murray vs Djokovic

6 – Djokovic is looking to become just the sixth player in history to finish as the year-end No.1 for three successive seasons. Pete Sampras did so 6 years in a row, Jimmy Connors 5 times, Roger Federer and John McEnroe 4 times and Ivan Lendl 3 times.

5 – Djokovic will be looking to win an unprecedented fifth successive ATP World Tour Finals title. Last year, he became the first man in the event’s history to win four straight titles (2012-15).

6 – Djokovic is chasing a record-equalling sixth ATP World Tour Finals title. Roger Federer currently leads the pack with six titles followed by Ivan Lendl, Pete Sampras and Djokovic – all with five titles each.

5 – Consecutive finals for Djokovic at the season-ending championship (2012-16). Only Lendl has managed to do better with a staggering nine straight finals (1980-88).

100% – winning record for Djokovic in the finals of the season-ending championships (5-0; 2008, 2012-15) – the best record in the event’s history (with minimum two finals).

Title-to-entry – Djokovic is looking to win his sixth Tour Finals title in his 10th appearance at the event (Currently 5-9 (56%) titles-to-entries). Ilie Năstase owns the best titles-to-entries ratio at the World Tour Finals, winning four titles in five appearances at the season finale.

4 – Djokovic will be attempting to win the Tour Finals title undefeated for a fourth time (2012-14). Federer are Lendl are the leaders with five undefeated wins.

22 – Since 2012, Djokovic has won 22 of 23 matches at the World Tour Finals. His only loss during this run was against Federer (2015 round-robin stage).

13 – Djokovic is chasing his 13th indoor title (12-2 W-L in Indoor Finals) and is also bidding to win atleast one indoor title for a fifth consecutive season (2012-15).

48 – Djokovic is looking to become the sole leader of the ‘Big Titles’ – Grand Slams, ATP World Tour Finals and ATP World Tour Masters 1000. Federer and Djokovic are the all-time leaders with 47 big titles each.

• Federer – 17 Majors, 6 Tour Finals, 24 Masters 1000
• Djokovic – 12 Majors, 5 Tour Finals, 30 Masters 1000

8 – Djokovic will look to join Pete Sampras (1991→1999) and Roger Federer (2003→2011) as title winners across a gap of eight years. The Serb won his first in 2008.

DJOKOVIC vs NO. 1-RANKED OPPONENTS

• Djokovic is 11-16 (Win-Loss) against No. 1 ranked players in tour-level matches (7-9 on Hard) including a 1-1 record at the World Tour Finals.
• He lost his last tour-match against the No.1 ranked player – to Rafa Nadal at the 2014 Roland Garros Final.
• He is 10-7 against No .1 ranked players in championship matches.
• After going 3-14 against No.1 ranked players, Djokovicis 8-2 since 2011.
• Djokovic is 48-51 against players ranked above him – including a 2-3 record at the World Tour Finals.

2 – Djokovic has always won the event when he has entered as the No. 2 seed (2008 & 2013). Will history repeat itself?

13-2 – Since losing the 2013 Wimbledon Final to Murray, Djokovic has won 13 of his last 15 matches against the Brit.

10 – Djokovic is attempting to become only the 10th player in the Open era to win a tournament for five straight years (or more).

The List of Players who have won a particular tournament at least five times in a row (Open Era)

8 – Rafael Nadal (Monte Carlo Masters – 2005→2012)

6 – Guillermo Vilas (Buenos Aires – 1973→1977)

5 – Bjorn Borg (Wimbledon – 1976→1980)

5 – Balazs Taroczy (Hilversum – 1978→1982)

5 – Yevgeny Kafelnikov (Moscow – 1997→2001)

5 – Roger Federer (Wimbledon – 2003→2007)

5 – Roger Federer (US Open – 2004→2008)

5 – Rafael Nadal (Barcelona Open – 2005→2009)

5 – Rafael Nadal (Roland Garros – 2010→2014) 

MURRAY’S NUMBERS

1 – Murray is the first British player to make the finals of the season-ending championships, finally reaching the final on his eighth appearance (the most appearances before reaching the final). He is attempting to become the first Brit to win the World Tour Finals.

London Treble – Murray will be looking to win a third tournament in London this year after triumphing at the Queen’s Club Championship & Wimbledon.

Triple – Murray will look to become the first player in history to win a Grand Slam (Wimbledon), the Olympic Singles Gold (Rio) and the World Tour Finals in the same calendar year.

Andre Agassi is the only player to win a Grand Slam, Olympic Singles Gold and the World Tour Finals (but not in the same calendar year). He is also the only player to complete the Career Super Grand Slam – Career Grand Slam + Olympic Gold (since 1988) + Year-End Championship (since 1970)

Indoor Finals – Murray is chasing his 14th indoor title (13-3 W-L in indoor finals).

2 – The last time a player was ranked ATP No. 1 for 2 weeks was in 2003 when Agassi held the Top spot for a fortnight (28 Apr’03 – 11 May’03). With a loss in the finals to Djokovic, Murray will lose the No. 1 ranking to the Serb after holding the Top spot for 2 weeks (7 Nov’16 – 21 Nov’16).

Only two players have held the world No. 1 ranking for 2 weeks or less in their career – Carlos Moya (2 weeks) and Patrick Rafter (1 week).

23 – Murray is currently on a career-best 23-match winning streak (last loss came against Del Potro in the Davis Cup semi-final in September. During this run, he has won titles in Beijing, Shanghai, Vienna & Paris. He has bettered the 22-match winning streak set earlier this year (Queen’s Club → Cincinnati Masters).

29y and 6m – Murray is the oldest first-time World Tour Finals finalist since Arthur Ashe, who reached the 1978 final aged 35y and 6m. Ashe is also the oldest ever finalist in the event’s history.

4 – Murray becomes only the fourth player in history to appear in the finals of all four Grand Slams, the World Tour Finals and the Olympics – joining Agassi, Nadal and Federer.

MURRAY vs NO.2 RANKED OPPONENTS

• Murray is 9-14 (Win-Loss) against No. 2 ranked players in tour-level matches (8-10 on Hard) including a 1-3 (all against Federer) record at the World Tour Finals. He has lost his last three matches against No.2 ranked players at the World Tour Finals (all to Federer).
• Murray has lost his last three tour matches against No.2 ranked players.
• He is 2-2 against No.2 ranked players in championship matches.
• Murray is 565-96 against players ranked below him, including a 13-4 record at the World Tour Finals.

STAT ATTACK

1 – This is the first time that the championship match at the season finale will determine the year-end No. 1.

2001 – The Last time the No.1 ranking changed hands at the season finale was at the 2001 Tennis Masters Cup in Sydney when Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt surpassed Brazilian Gustavo Kuerten to finish the year as the No. 1 ranked player

BIG FINALS – Djokovic-Murray will become only the second pair after Nadal-Djokovic to have met in all the Big Finals (all four Grand Slams and World Tour Finals).

$2.391 Million – Paycheck on offer to undefeated champion at the 2016 ATP World Tour Finals.

2nd Oldest Champion – Sunday’s winner would become the second oldest World Tour Finals champion in the event’s history. Federer is the oldest (30y 3m when he won in 2011).

Players Box – Lendl (coaching Murray) and Becker (coaching Djokovic) are both former winners of the year-end championships.

Lendl – Champion 5 times (1981-82, 1985-87)

Becker – Champion 3 times (1988, 1992, 1995)

5 – It’s the fifth straight year the No. 1 ranked player has reached the final (a record). Djokovic (2012, 2014-15), Nadal (2013), Murray (2016)

4 – For the fourth time at the O2 Arena, one semi-final has featured a deciding set (Tie-Break). The last 3 times the winner of these matches has gone on to finish as the runners-up.

2016: Murray d. Raonic → ??

2014: Federer d. Wawrinka → RU (W/O)

2010: Nadal d. Murray → RU (l. to Federer)

2009: Del Potro d Soderling → RU (l. to Davydenko) 

7 – This will be the seventh meeting between the No.1 and No.2 player in the finals of the season finale (since ATP rankings were introduced in 1973). This will also be the fifth meeting in the Final between the Top 2 ranked players at the O2. The head-to-head is tied at 3-3

2014 – No. 1 Djokovic d. No. 2 Federer

2013 – No. 2 Djokovic d. No. 1 Nadal

2012 – No. 1 Djokovic d. No. 2 Federer

2010 – No. 2 Federer d. No. 1 Nadal

1986 – No. 1 Lendl d. No. 2 Becker

1983 – No. 2 McEnroe d. No. 1 Lendl

18 – The No.1 ranked player has won the title 18 times (since 1973); 18-9 in Finals.

6 – The No.2 ranked player has won the title 6 times (since 1973); 6-6 in Finals.

Special Kei – Djokovic got the better of Nishikori for the 10th consecutive time in the semi-finals. During this run, Djokovic has gone on to win the title on 8 occasions (ex. Rome 2016).

Will Special Kei get him another title?

Raonic & London – Murray won two London events – the Queen’s Club Championships & Wimbledon – this year after beating Raonic.

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