Martina Hingis & Kim Clijsters to take part in Mylan WTT Smash Hits charity event Dec. 7

Five-time Grand Slam champion Martina Hingis and current British No.1 Heather Watson have joined a glittering line-up of stars for the Mylan WTT Smash Hits presented by Walgreens and AmerisourceBergen charity event on finals day at the Statoil Masters Tennis.

Hingis and Watson will join Sir Elton John, Billie Jean King, Kim Clijsters, Sabine Lisicki, John McEnroe, Andy Roddick, Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski for the event on the evening of Sunday December 7th, which will raise money for the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

Hingis, who won Wimbledon in 1997 at the age of 16, has made a successful comeback to the WTA doubles circuit this year. The Swiss, now 34, was one match-win away from the calendar-year Grand Slam in ’97 when she added the Australian and US Open titles to her Wimbledon crown.

Watson has returned to the Top 50, registering notable victories over the Australian Open runner-up Dominika Cibulkova and former World No.10 Flavia Pennetta.

Mylan WTT Smash Hits is an annual team event featuring Team Elton against Team Billie Jean. It will be the first time the event will be held outside the United States in its 22-year history.

http://www.statoilmasterstennis.com/watson-and-hingis-join-smash-hits-final-line-up/

Elite Eight at Barclay's ATP World Tour Finals Launch

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The 2014 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals was officially launched on Friday evening during an exclusive cruise on the Silver Sturgeon along the River Thames. The Top 8 singles players and doubles teams joined 300 guests at the tournament’s Official Launch, generously supported by Moët & Chandon.

Sailing from the Savoy Pier, guests were treated to food by Jamie Oliver’s Fabulous Feasts as they sailed to The O2, venue of the world’s largest indoor tennis tournament, where they were joined on board by the stars of this year’s season-ending tournament for the return journey to the London Eye. On board, the players were presented with personalised magnums from Moet & Chandon. They had previously taken part in their Media Day interviews and the official photo on the Centre Court of The O2.

ATP Executive Chairman & President Chris Kermode said: “We’re delighted to welcome this year’s singles players and doubles teams to London ahead of the 2014 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. The Emirates ATP Race to London has been one of the most exciting in recent memory, and the players have all truly earned their right to be here. With more than 260,000 fans expected to come through the gates over the next eight days, the stage is now set for a thrilling finale as the world’s best battle for the last title of the season in front of a packed house at The O2.”

The Barclays ATP World Tour Finals run from 9-16 November. History will be made in Sunday afternoon’s singles session as Kei Nishikori becomes the first Asian player to compete in the singles field when he challenges home favourite Andy Murray. Federer plays another debutant, Milos Raonic of Canada, in the evening session.

The Barclays ATP World Tour Finals has welcomed more than 1.25 million fans to The O2 arena over the past five years, establishing itself as the biggest indoor tennis tournament in the world since moving to London in 2009. Tickets can be purchased at: www.BarclaysATPWorldTourFinals.com.

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Roger Federer wins ATP Fan Favorite & Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award

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If the ATP is a high school, Roger Federer is Mr. Popular. The 33-year-old was voted by the fans as the ATP Fan Favorite for the 12th straight year and he was voted by his fellow players as the recipient of the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award for the 10th straight year.

The No. 1 team of Bob and Mike Bryan were voted the Fan Favorite doubles team for a 10th time. Federer is also in the running for the year-end No. 1 trophy, which will be decided next week at the ATP World Tour Finals between Federer and No. 1 Novak Djokovic.


As the youngest player in the top 100, 17-year-old Borna Coric will receive the ATP Star of Tomorrow award, after his run to his first ATP semifinal last month at the Swiss Indoors, where he beat Rafael Nadal, Ernests Gulbis and Andrey Golubev, moved him up to No. 92. Otherwise, the honor would have gone to 19-year-old Nick Kyrgios, who had his own tournament to remember when he too beat Nadal at Wimbledon to advance to the quarterfinals.


In other player-voted awards, Belgium's David Goffin earned the Comeback Player of the Year title. He rebounded from a broken wrist in 2013 to put together a remarkable four-month run that saw him go 44-4 after Wimbledon (inclusive of ATP Challenger level and qualifying) to boost his ranking from No. 106 at the beginning of July to a career-high of No. 22. The Most Improved Player went to Roberto Bautista Agut, who climbed from No. 59 to No. 14 by winning the first two titles of his career.

Andy Murray earned the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award for his work on behalf of cancer awareness. 

After Murray's good friend, doubles player Ross Hutchins, was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma two years ago and fellow Scot Elena Baltacha died of liver cancer earlier this year, Murray has spearheaded charity exhibitions at Queen's Club the last two summers and continues to contribute his time to cancer awareness campaigns.

All awards will presented next week at the ATP World Tour Finals in London.

SI.com

Roger Federer Legend Of The Barclays ATP World Tour Finals

Roger Federer gets tougher draw at ATP World Tour Finals

The draw was made for next week’s ATP World Tour Finals in London on Monday, and world No 1 Novak Djokovic finds himself in a favorable position.

The Serb will be joined by Stan Wawrinka, Marin Cilic and Tomas Berdych in Group A of the year-end championships, while Roger Federer will be joined by Andy Murray, Kei Nishikori and Milos Raonic in Group B.

During round-robin play, each group’s members will collide one time to decide the two semifinalists in that group. Three-time World Tour Finals champion Djokovic owns a lifetime 41-5 record vs. the members of his group, while Federer owns a 19-14 edge over the members of his group


Djokovic expanded his edge over Federer in the race to year-end No. 1 to 1,310 points, leaving the Swiss maestro only a small window to catch him. Federer would have to win the title without losing a match to have a chance. Federer’s biggest troubles in the group should come against Andy Murray. 

The six-time World Tour Finals champion has defeated the Scot twice in 2014, but only owns a 11-11 lifetime record against him. Federer owns a 6-1 record against Milos Raonic, but he was defeated by the bomb-serving Canadian in straight sets last week in Paris. 

Japan's rising star, Kei Nishikori, owns a 2-2 record against Federer, which includes victories in two of their last three tilts. Djokovic, meanwhile, has been completely dominant against the members of his group. He is 10-0 vs. Cilic, 16-2 vs. Berdych and 15-3 vs. Wawrinka. Round-robin action begins on Sunday in London.

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Roger Federer's hope for regaining world #1 not lost despite Paris Masters exit

All is not lost in the Battle for No. 1, according to Roger Federer, as he turns his attention to the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, where he is looking to win the title for the seventh time.

The Swiss’ bid to finish as year-end World No. 1 for the sixth time took a hit on Friday as he was beaten in the quarter-finals of the BNP Paribas Masters by Milos Raonic.

Novak Djokovic leads Federer by 490 points in the Emirates ATP Race To London, the year-to-date standings, and could add another 820 points to his tally with victory at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 in Paris. It would potentially stretch his lead to 1,310. The Serb plays the in-form Andy Murray in the Paris quarter-finals.


“I always thought it was going to get solved in London,” said Federer. “What this [loss] means is I will have a good preparation for London. It's not that I didn't want to win here, but I knew it was going to be tough from the start. I accept that. Now I will continue to prepare for London.

“I'm going to stay on indoors now,” continued the Swiss. “Obviously two days more is big. So I'm looking forward to some days off right now, really resting my body to the max in a short period of time. I have plenty of days now to get ready for London, which is kind of nice, as well. So I can actually properly practise for a change as well again.”

The 33-year-old Federer came into Paris on a 12-match winning streak, taking in back-to-back titles at the Shanghai Rolex Masters and the Swiss Indoors Basel.

But he came up against a determined Raonic, who beat the Swiss for the first time in seven attempts to keep alive his bid to qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.

“I think he played well,” said Federer, who won just 24 per cent of his return points. “Clearly he served well when he had to. I mean, it was a classic indoor match. Few shots here and there went his way today Really credit to him. When I did have the chance, he was there, as well. I didn't do much wrong, either.

“It hurts to lose that way,” said Federer, who was hoping to win his 24th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown this week. “But he deserves credit for serving the way he did and doing those passing shots the way he had to do it. In the tie-break in the first set, he took risks and it worked out.”

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Milos Raonic stuns Roger Federer at Paris Masters quarter-finals

Milos Raonic pulled out his best tennis when it counted most on Friday at the BNP Paribas Masters, keeping his Barclays ATP World Tour Finals dream alive as he defeated Roger Federer, 7-6(5), 7-5, for the first time in seven attempts to reach the semi-finals in Paris.

If Kei Nishikori beats David Ferrer in the final quarter-final of the day, the field will be set for the Final Showdown, with Nishikori and Raonic clinching the final two berths.


The 23-year-old Raonic is bidding to qualify for the season finale, to be held at The O2 in London from 9-16 November, for the first time. The Toronto native needs to go one round further than Ferrer at this ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament in Paris-Bercy.

In Saturday’s semi-finals, Raonic will face Tomas Berdych, who earlier booked his spot in London with victory over Kevin Anderson. Raonic leads Berdych 2-1 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series and is bidding to reach his second ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final. He finished runner-up to Rafael Nadal in Montreal last year.

Federer’s defeat gives Djokovic the chance to stretch his lead in their battle to finish the year as World No. 1. The Serb has a 490-point lead over Federer and plays Andy Murray in the Paris quarter-finals.

Raonic fired 21 aces as he edged Federer in one hour and 33 minutes. The Toronto native saved a break point at 4-5, 30/40 in the second set before breaking Federer decisively in the following game. It is the first time that Raonic has beaten one of the Top 3.

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