LONDON, November 9, 2020 (ATP Press Release)
The ATP has brought together legends of the past and present to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Nitto ATP Finals ahead of this year’s season finale, which begins Sunday at The O2 in London.
An entertaining video series hosted by former World No. 4 Tim Henman pairs participants of different eras to retell some of the tournament’s memorable stories and trace the evolution of the showpiece of the ATP Tour season.
Five-time tournament champions Novak Djokovic and Pete Sampras come together for an engaging discussion about their tournament recollections and the sacrifice and commitment needed to finish as year-end No. 1 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, which is presented each year at the event. The Serb this year has matched Sampras’ record of six year-end No. 1 finishes, with Djokovic marvelling at how the American was able to achieve the feat over six consecutive years (1993-98).
Other champions featured in the series include Stan Smith, the first winner in 1970 in Tokyo, Bjorn Borg, Ivan Lendl, Lleyton Hewitt and Roger Federer, who has won a record six titles. From today, the video series will roll out across ATP’s social media channels and websites.
View Djokovic & Sampras Conversation
Also today, ATPTour.com will commence its Nitto ATP Finals 50th anniversary content series, which will include features on the tournament’s greatest champions and unusual moments, such as the double disqualification of Arthur Ashe and Nastase in Stockholm in 1975 and a tale of remarkable sportsmanship by Tom Gorman.
The series also takes a look at the tournament’s 13-year stay at Madison Square Garden in New York, 10-year stay in Germany and extended stay in London, where The O2 will host its 12th and final edition this year before the tournament moves to Turin in 2021.
Nitto ATP Finals Gold Partner Infosys will also unveil a special data visualisation feature to compare how the tournament’s greatest champions stack up against each other.
2020 Draw:
The draw for the 2020 Nitto ATP Finals will take place on Thursday, 12 November. Further details will be published in due course.
2020 GROUP NAMES:
This year’s Nitto ATP Finals round-robin groups will be named as follows:
In Singles:
– Group Tokyo 1970, the inaugural year of the Nitto ATP Finals, will feature the No. 1 seed
– Group London 2020, the 12th and final year at The O2 in London, will feature the No. 2 seed
In Doubles:
– Group Bob Bryan, the 2003-04, ‘09 and ‘14 winner, will feature the No. 1 seed
– Group Mike Bryan, the 2003-04, ’09, ’14 and ‘18 winner, will feature the No. 2 seed
To celebrate the anniversary, ‘50 Years’ and ‘1970-2020’ will be painted onto the Centre Court at The O2.
To mark the event’s final year in London, the ATP is running the Ultimate Prize Draw in aid of Cancer Research UK, an initiative giving tennis fans the chance to win exclusive signed memorabilia, a once-in-a-lifetime Nitto ATP Finals experience in 2021, and more. For your chance to win, enter here.
In line with UK Government guidance, the 2020 season finale will be contested behind closed doors due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The Nitto ATP Finals, featuring the best eight singles players and doubles teams, has been held in London since 2009 and has successfully established itself as one of the major annual sporting events worldwide. The tournament is broadcast in more than 180 territories with global viewership reaching an average of 95 million each year. The event will be held in Turin, Italy, from 2021-2025.
