ATP

Andy Murray to play at Nottingham as preparations continue for Wimbledon

By Sports Desk June 10, 2023

Andy Murray will continue his preparations for Wimbledon by playing at the Rothesay Open Nottingham next week.

The former world number one has taken a wildcard entry for the challenger event after selecting to play there rather than at the Stuttgart Open.

Murray, who has advanced to the semi-finals of the Lexus Surbiton Trophy this weekend, last year chose to play in Stuttgart and beat top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas and Nick Kyrgios on his way to the final before losing to Matteo Berrettini.

He had been weighing up a return to Germany, but had said he was tempted by Nottingham as it would cut down on travel, while the playing surface is more similar to Queen’s and Wimbledon.

British number two Dan Evans, who has won the title in two of the last three editions, had already been confirmed for Nottingham.

Murray reached the last four in Surbiton with a 3-6 6-3 6-4 victory over Australian Jason Kubler on Friday.

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    The end of the 2024 season is upon us, but before the ATP Tour wraps up until 2025, there is one final big tournament to come.

    That season finale is, of course, the ATP Finals, and it kicks off in Turin on Sunday, with eight of the world's top players vying for the prize.

    Jannik Sinner is already sure of his place as the year-end number one, but there could be movement in the rankings below him, with Alexander Zverev heading into the tournament as the newly minted world number two, ahead of Carlos Alcaraz.

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    Djokovic beat Sinner last year to claim his seventh ATP Finals title, which is the most times a player has won the competition.

    Sinner, fresh from triumphs at Flushing Meadows and the Shangai Masters, heads to Turin as the favourite, with an eighth title on the line, but let's look ahead to the 2024 ATP Finals with Opta's pre-tournament facts.

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    Sinner will not only be the firm fan favourite in Turin, he will always be the favourite to claim the crown.

    The 23-year-old has already collected a Tour-leading seven titles this season, including the Australian Open and the US Open, and will be out to go one better following his loss to Djokovic in last year's final.

    Six of Sinner's victories have come on hard court, with his triumph at the Halle Open the only exception. 

    The Italian is only the fifth player aged 23 or under to win at least six Tour-level titles on hard courts in a calendar year after Jimmy Connors (1973), Ivan Lendl (1981), Pete Sampras (1994) and Federer (2004).

    Since the ATP's redistribution of ranking points in 2009, only Djokovic (2015) and Nadal (2010) have clinched the year-end number one earlier in a season than Sinner in 2024.

    He is out to become the seventh player to win the ATP Finals on home soil in the Open Era, and will be the player to beat in Turin.

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    Zverev comes into the tournament in excellent form, on the back of winning the Paris Masters.

    His triumph in France not only saw him move into second place in the rankings, but also saw him claim his 66th match win, which is more than any other player in 2024 (Sinner is second on 65).

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    Since the rankings were first published in 1973, Boris Becker (four) holds the most wins over the world number one at the ATP Finals – Federer and Zverev have the next-most such wins, with three each.

    Among players with multiple matches against the world number one at the ATP Finals, Zverev (3-2) is the only player to hold a winning record.

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    Only Sinner (12) has claimed more top 10 wins in 2024 than Alcaraz (11), whose last such win came against Sinner in Beijing in September.

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