Rafael Nadal becomes the first player to seal an ATP World tour finals berth
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Spaniard Rafael Nadal became the first player to qualify for the season-ending ATP World Tour finals scheduled to take place in London in November this year. The 31-year old's qualification was confirmed after he won his record 10th French Open title on Sunday defeating Stan Wawrinka in the final.
The Spaniard has bagged four titles this year winning 46 matches and losing just six in the process which helped him top the London leaderboard.
"I've had a great season so far and I am happy to have already qualified for London," the Spaniard told the ATP website. "I could not play last year because of injury so I look forward to returning in November."Ā
Nadal has never won the event although the 31-year old has finished as a runner-up twice in the years 2010 and 2013 where he lost toĀ Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic respectively.
The ATP World Tours FinalsĀ features the top-eight single players and doubles pairs on the London leaderboard. The race for points on the leaderboard starts at the beginning of every season in the first week of January and will end on November 6 with the Paris Masters event coming to a conclusion.Ā
The event is scheduled to be held at London's O2 Arena from November 12th to November 19th.
Roger Federer is the next candidate to qualify for the event as the Swiss bagged his 18th Grand Slam title earlier this year when he won the Australian Open. The Swiss, however, was absent from the claycourt season in order to prepare for Wimbledon and will be next seen in action at the Stuttgart Open.
Austrian Dominic Thiem is third in the race to qualify for the event followed byĀ Stan Wawrinka, Alexander Zverev, Djokovic, world number one Andy Murray, and Belgium's David Goffin.
