Strong Fields in St. Petersburg, Metz: There are two European indoor tournaments on the ATP World Tour this week with the St. Petersburg Open and Moselle Open in Metz. These are the first two of 13 tournaments leading into the season-ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London. A maximum of 3,750 Emirates ATP Ranking points are on the line over the next seven weeks before the season finale in London, 13-20 November. Four players in the Top 10 of the Emirates ATP Race To London standings are in action this week, led by No. 3 Stan Wawrinka, No. 4 Milos Raonic and No. 9 Tomas Berdych in St. Petersburg, and No. 7 Dominic Thiem in Metz.
Emirates ATP Race To London: Seven of the Top 16 players in the Emirates ATP Race To London standings are competing this week. There are five remaining spots to the season-ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. Wawrinka, No. 3 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, has already qualified. Here is a look at the Race standings and players in action this week:
Position
Player
Points
1
Novak Djokovic (Qualified)
10,240
2
Andy Murray (Qualified)
8,185
3
Stan Wawrinka (Qualified) #
4,820
4
Milos Raonic #
4,420
5
Kei Nishikori
4,315
6
Gael Monfils
3,315
7
Dominic Thiem +
3,205
8
Rafael Nadal
3,200
9
Tomas Berdych #
2,530
10
Marin Cilic
2,400
11
David Goffin +
2,140
12
Roger Federer
2,130
13
Nick Kyrgios
1,915
14
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
1,890
15
Lucas Pouille +
1,759
16
Roberto Bautista Agut #
1,740
+ Metz # St. Petersburg
St. Petersburg Open (St. Petersburg): The St. Petersburg Open celebrates its 21st edition. The tournament is being held at the world-class Sibur Arena for the second straight year after the event was held from 1995 to 2013 at the St. Petersburg Sports and Concert Complex. The event was not held in 2014.
Leading the way is US Open champion Wawrinka, who is making his tournament debut. The other seeds are No. 2/reigning champion Raonic, No. 3 Berdych, No. 4 Bautista Agut, No. 5 Alexander Zverev, No. 6 Albert Ramos-Vinolas, No. 7 Viktor Troicki and No. 8 Joao Sousa.
There are three former champions in the field: Mikhail Youzhny (2004), Mikhail Kukushkin (2010) and reigning champ Raonic.
Stan Makes Russian Debut: Top seed Wawrinka is playing his first ATP World Tour tournament in Russia. The top Swiss player qualified for his fourth consecutive Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London after winning the US Open title. Wawrinka’s only previous pro tournament in Russia came at the St. Petersburg Challenger in August 2004 when he lost in the final to Jean-Rene Lisnard. Wawrinka was ranked No. 159 at the time.
He has won his last 11 finals he has appeared in since 2014 after compiling a 4-9 finals record from 2005-2013. The Lausanne native is tied for the second most titles on the ATP World Tour this season at four with Murray and Thiem. All of them trail Djokovic, who has seven.
Milos Reigning Champ: Raonic looks to defend an ATP World Tour title for the third time in his career. The 25-year-old Canadian won his first ATP World Tour title in San Jose in 2011, and he defended his title in 2012 and 2013. Five of Raonic’s eight ATP World Tour titles have come indoors. In the opening week of the season he captured his first title Down Under in Brisbane (d. Federer).
He also was runner-up at the BNP Paribas Open, an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament in Indian Wells (l. to Djokovic), the Aegon Championships at The Queen’s Club and at Wimbledon (l. to Murray in both). Raonic is No. 4 in the Emirates ATP Race To London standings.
Berdych is Back: No. 3 seed Berdych returns to action after his withdrawal from the US Open due to appendicitis. His absence snapped a streak of 52 consecutive Grand Slam tournament appearances. This is Berdych’s second straight appearance in St. Petersburg after an opening round loss last year (l. to Bolelli after bye).
Berdych is 31-15 on the season with his best results the semi-finals in Doha, Marseille and Wimbledon. He has also advanced to six quarter-finals, including at the Australian Open, Roland Garros and at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments in Miami, Madrid and Toronto. Berdych is trying to qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London for the seventh straight year. He is No. 9 in the Emirates ATP Race To London standings.
#NextGen Russians: Russian wild cards Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev are two of the Next Generation players. The 20-year-old Khachanov is the No. 3 Russian and at a career-high No. 81. He reached the second round during his Grand Slam tournament debut at the US Open (d. Fabbiano, l. to No. 7 Nishikori in four sets). The 18-year-old Rublev reached a career-high No. 154 in March and is No. 201.
Youzhny Success in St. Pete: No. 2 Russian Mikhail Youzhny is the winningest player in event history with 31 victories in 43 matches. This is Youzhny’s 14th appearance (2002-13, ’15-16). He won the title in 2004 and reached the final in 2002 and 2010. The 34-year-old Youzhny has improved from No. 127 on 4 January in the opening week of the year to a season-best No. 53. Youzhny is one of three Russians to win the title in tournament history along with Marat Safin (2000-01) and Yevgeny Kafelnikov (1995).
Moselle Open (Metz): The 14th edition of the Moselle Open features three players in the Top 20 of the Emirates ATP Rankings: No. 10 Thiem, No. 14 Goffin and No. 18 Pouille. The top three seeds are joined by No. 4 Gilles Simon, No. 5 Martin Klizan, No. 6 Gilles Muller, No. 7 Benoit Paire and No. 8 Nicolas Mahut. Six of the past seven champions (except 2014) are Frenchmen. There are three former winners in the field: Goffin (2014), Simon (2010, 2013) and wild card Tommy Robredo (2007).
Thiem Top Seed: Top seed Thiem is making his tournament debut in Metz. The 23-year-old Austrian is looking to qualify for his first Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London. He is No. 7 in the Emirates ATP Race To London standings with four titles in five finals. He has compiled a 52-17 match record (20-8 on hard).
Flying The French Flag: While three-time champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is sidelined with a knee injury, two-time winner and No. 4 seed Gilles Simon leads a strong contingent of Frenchmen battling for the Moselle Open title. Frenchmen have won six of the past seven Metz titles. Simon reached the final last year and won the title in 2010 and 2013. He began his career with an 0-4 record in Metz before winning 12 of his past 13 matches. Other Frenchmen in the singles draw (not including possible qualifiers) are wild card Quentin Halys, Pierre-Hugues Herbert, Mahut, Paul-Henri Mathieu, No. 7 seed Paire and No. 3 seed Pouille.
Pouille In Top 20: One of the most improved players on the ATP World Tour this season is the 22-year-old Pouille, who broke into the Top 20 of the Emirates ATP Rankings at No. 18 after his quarter-final result at the US Open (d. No. 5 Nadal in 4R, l. to Monfils). Pouille also advanced to the quarter-finals at Wimbledon (l. to Berdych). He is making his main draw debut in Metz.
Robredo Returns: Former World No. 5 Robredo returns to the ATP World Tour for the first time since late February in Dubai. The 34-year-old Spaniard has been sidelined with a right elbow injury. He returned to the Genova, Italy Challenger two weeks ago and lost in the first round. The 12-time ATP World Tour winner won his lone indoor title in Metz in 2007 (d. Murray). He is 9-2 in Metz with quarter-final results in 2003 and 2010, his last appearance.
Newlyweds In Action: Former Metz finalists Mathieu and Andreas Seppi are playing their first tournament since both getting married on 10 September. Mathieu, who reached the final in 2008, married Quiterie Camus in France. Seppi, who was runner-up in 2012, married Michela Bernardi in Italy.
French Duo Top Seeds in Doubles: World No. 10 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Team Rankings, Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin are the top seeds. They enter Metz with a 13-9 match record on the season, highlighted by a runner-up at Wimbledon (l. to Herbert/Mahut). Benneteau won the doubles title in 2003 with Mahut. Roger-Vasselin won titles in 2012, with Mahut, and last year, with Lukasz Kubot.
ICYMI
The 2016 Davis Cup Final Is Set: Argentina vs. Croatia. Read
Rafael Nadal Helps Power Spain To World Group Return. Read
Russia To Return To World Group After Four-Year Absence. Read
Isner, Roddick Among Attendees At Dirk Nowitzki Charity Tennis Event. Read
Irish Eyes Are Smiling: McGee Wins First Challenger Title. Read
Birthdays
20 September – Feliciano Lopez (35)
23 September – Marcelo Melo (33)
24 September – Jack Sock (24)
27 September – Yoshihito Nishioka (21)
28 September – Marin Cilic (28)
Ranking Movers
+26 Adam Pavlasek (80) career high
+15 Malek Jaziri (55)
+14 Dustin Brown (68) career high
+11 Hyeon Chung (134)
+6 Teymuraz Gabashvili (111)
+6 Frances Tiafoe (122) career high
+3 Aljaz Bedene (85)
+1 Kyle Edmund (54) career high
+1 Grigor Dimitrov (21)
Pages: