Tennis Masters Cup

Tennis Masters Cup
ATP Tour
Location	Shanghai  China (2005-2008)
Venue	Qi Zhong Stadium
Category	Masters Cup
Surface	Hard / Indoors
Draw	8M / 4D
Prize Money	US$4,450,000
Website	masters-cup.com

The Tennis Masters Cup is a tennis tournament played at the end of each year, involving the top eight players in the men's tennis world rankings.

Unlike most of the other events on the men's tour, the Tennis Masters Cup is not a straightforward knock-out tournament. The eight players are divided into two groups of four, and play three round-robin matches each against the other three players in their group. From there, the two players with the best records in each group progress to the semifinals, with the winners meeting in the final to determine the champion.

[edit] Short history

The event is actually the third evolution of a championship which began in 1970. It was originally known simply as The Masters tournament, and was organised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The Masters was a year-end showpiece event between the best players on the men's tour, but did not count for any world ranking points. In 1990, the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) took over the running of the men's tour and replaced the Masters with the ATP Tour World Championship. World ranking points were now at stake, with an undefeated champion earning the same number of points they would for winning one of the four Grand Slam events. The ITF, who continued to run the Grand Slam tournaments, created a rival year-end event known as the Grand Slam Cup, which was contested by the 16 players with the best records in Grand Slam competitions that year. In December 1999, the ATP and ITF agreed to discontinue the two separate events and create a new jointly-owned event called the Tennis Masters Cup. As with the Masters and the ATP Tour World Championships, the Tennis Masters Cup is contested by eight players. However under the rules of the Tennis Masters Cup, the player who is ranked number eight in the ATP Champion's Race world rankings does not have a guaranteed spot. If a player who wins one of the year's Grand Slam events finishes the year ranked outside the top eight but still within the top 20, he may be included in the Tennis Masters Cup instead of the eighth-ranked player. If two players outside the top eight win Grand Slam events, the higher placed player in the world rankings will take the final spot in the Tennis Masters Cup.

In 2009 the Masters will be renamed the ATP World Tour Finals and it will be staged at The O₂ in London from 2009 to 2012^[1].

For many years, the doubles event was held as a separate tournament the week after the singles competition. But more recently they have been held together in the same week and venue. Like the singles competition, the doubles involves the eight most successful teams on the tour each year and starts with a group phase with each team playing three round-robin matches.

Former World No.1s Pete Sampras and Ivan Lendl hold the record for the most titles, each with 5.

[edit] Past finals

[edit] Singles

Location	Year	Champion	Runner-up	Score
ATP World Tour Finals
London	2009	TBD	TBD
Tennis Masters Cup
Shanghai	2008	Novak Djokovic	Nikolay Davydenko	6–1, 7–5
	2007	Roger Federer	David Ferrer	6–2, 6–3, 6–2
	2006	Roger Federer	James Blake	6–0, 6–3, 6–4
	2005	David Nalbandian	Roger Federer	6–7(4), 6–7(11), 6–2, 6–1, 7–6(3)
Houston	2004	Roger Federer	Lleyton Hewitt	6–3, 6–2
	2003	Roger Federer	Andre Agassi	6–3, 6–0, 6–4
Shanghai	2002	Lleyton Hewitt	Juan Carlos Ferrero	7–5, 7–5, 2–6, 2–6, 6–4
Sydney	2001	Lleyton Hewitt	Sebastien Grosjean	6–3, 6–3, 6–4
Lisbon	2000	Gustavo Kuerten	Andre Agassi	6–4, 6–4, 6–4
ATP Tour World Championships
Hanover	1999	Pete Sampras	Andre Agassi	6–1, 7–5, 6–4
	1998	Alex Corretja	Carlos Moya	3–6, 3–6, 7–5, 6–3, 7–5
	1997	Pete Sampras	Yevgeny Kafelnikov	6–3, 6–2, 6–2
	1996	Pete Sampras	Boris Becker	3–6, 7–6(5), 7–6(4), 6–7(11), 6–4
Frankfurt	1995	Boris Becker	Michael Chang	7–6(3), 6–0, 7–6(5)
	1994	Pete Sampras	Boris Becker	4–6, 6–3, 7–5, 6–4
	1993	Michael Stich	Pete Sampras	7–6(3), 2–6, 7–6(7), 6–2
	1992	Boris Becker	Jim Courier	6–4, 6–3, 7–5
	1991	Pete Sampras	Jim Courier	3–6, 7–6(5), 6–3, 6–4
	1990	Andre Agassi	Stefan Edberg	5–7, 7–6, 7–5, 6–2
Masters Grand Prix
New York City	1989	Stefan Edberg	Boris Becker	4–6, 7–6(6), 6–3, 6–1
	1988	Boris Becker	Ivan Lendl	5–7, 7–6(5), 3–6, 6–2, 7–6(5)
	1987	Ivan Lendl	Mats Wilander	6–2, 6–2, 6–3
	1986	Ivan Lendl	Boris Becker	6–4, 6–4, 6–4
	1985	Ivan Lendl	Boris Becker	6–2, 7–6(4), 6–3
	1984	John McEnroe	Ivan Lendl	7–5, 6–0, 6–4
	1983	John McEnroe	Ivan Lendl	6–3, 6–4, 6–4
	1982	Ivan Lendl	John McEnroe	6–4, 6–4, 6–2
	1981	Ivan Lendl	Vitas Gerulaitis	6–7(5), 2–6, 7–6(6), 6–2, 6–4
	1980	Bjorn Borg	Ivan Lendl	6–4, 6–2, 6–2
	1979	Bjorn Borg	Vitas Gerulaitis	6–2, 6–2
	1978	John McEnroe	Arthur Ashe	6–7, 6–3, 7–5
	1977	Jimmy Connors	Bjorn Borg	6–4, 1–6, 6–4
Houston	1976	Manuel Orantes	Wojtek Fibak	5–7, 6–2, 0–6, 7–6, 6–1
Stockholm	1975	Ilie Nastase	Bjorn Borg	6–2, 6–2, 6–1
Melbourne	1974	Guillermo Vilas	Ilie Nastase	7–6, 6–2, 3–6, 3–6, 6–4
Boston	1973	Ilie Nastase	Tom Okker	6–3, 7–5, 4–6, 6–3
Barcelona	1972	Ilie Nastase	Stan Smith	6–3, 6–2, 3–6, 2–6, 6–3
Paris	1971	Ilie Nastase	Round Robin
Tokyo	1970	Stan Smith	Round Robin

[edit] Doubles

Location	Year	Champions	Runners-up	Score
ATP World Tour Finals
London	2009	TBD TBD	TBD TBD
Tennis Masters Cup
Shanghai	2008	Daniel Nestor Nenad Zimonjic	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	7–6(3), 6–2
	2007	Mark Knowles Daniel Nestor	Simon Aspelin Julian Knowle	6–2, 6–3
	2006	Jonas Bjorkman Max Mirnyi	Mark Knowles Daniel Nestor	6–2, 6–4
	2005	Michael Llodra Fabrice Santoro	Leander Paes Nenad Zimonjic	6–7(6), 6–3, 7–6(4)
Houston	2004	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	Wayne Black Kevin Ullyett	4–6, 7–5, 6–4, 6–2
	2003	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	Michael Llodra Fabrice Santoro	6–7(6), 6–3, 3–6, 7–6(3), 6–4
	2002	Not Held
ATP World Doubles Challenge Cup[2]
Bangalore	2001	Ellis Ferreira Rick Leach	Petr Pala Pavel Vizner	6–7(6), 7–6(2), 6–4, 6–4
ATP Tour World Championships
Bangalore	2000	Donald Johnson Piet Norval	Mahesh Bhupathi Leander Paes	7–6(8), 6–3, 6–4
Hartford	1999	Sebastien Lareau Alex O'Brien	Mahesh Bhupathi Leander Paes	6–3, 6–2, 6–2
	1998	Jacco Eltingh Paul Haarhuis	Mark Knowles Daniel Nestor	6–4, 6–2, 7–5
	1997	Rick Leach Jonathan Stark	Mahesh Bhupathi Leander Paes	6–3, 6–4, 7–6(3)
	1996	Todd Woodbridge Mark Woodforde	Sebastien Lareau Alex O'Brien	6–4, 5–7, 6–2, 7–6
Eindhoven	1995	Grant Connell Patrick Galbraith	Jacco Eltingh Paul Haarhuis	7–6, 7–6, 3–6, 7–6
Jakarta	1994	Jan Apell Jonas Bjorkman	Todd Woodbridge Mark Woodforde	6–4, 4–6, 4–6, 7–6, 7–6
Johannesburg	1993	Jacco Eltingh Paul Haarhuis	Todd Woodbridge Mark Woodforde	7–6, 7–6, 6–4
	1992	Todd Woodbridge Mark Woodforde	John Fitzgerald Anders Jarryd	6–2, 7–6, 5–7, 3–6, 6–3
	1991	John Fitzgerald Anders Jarryd	Ken Flach Robert Seguso	6–4, 6–4, 2–6, 6–4
Sanctuary Cove	1990	Guy Forget Jakob Hlasek	Sergio Casal Emilio Sanchez	6–4, 7–6, 5–7, 6–4
Masters Grand Prix
London	1989	Jim Grabb Patrick McEnroe	John Fitzgerald Anders Jarryd	7–5, 7–6, 5–7, 6–3
	1988	Rick Leach Jim Pugh	Sergio Casal Emilio Sanchez	6–4, 6–3, 2–6, 6–0
	1987	Miloslav Mecir Tomas Smid	Ken Flach Robert Seguso	6–4, 7–5, 6–7, 6–3
	1986	Stefan Edberg Anders Jarryd	Guy Forget Yannick Noah	6–3, 7–6, 6–3
New York City	1985	Stefan Edberg Anders Jarryd	Joakim Nystrom Mats Wilander	6–1, 7–6
	1984	Peter Fleming John McEnroe	Mark Edmondson Sherwood Stewart	6–3, 6–1
	1983	Peter Fleming John McEnroe	Pavel Slozil Tomas Smid	6–2, 6–2
	1982	Peter Fleming John McEnroe	Sherwood Stewart Ferdi Taygan	6–2, 6–2
	1981	Peter Fleming John McEnroe	Kevin Curren Steve Denton	6–3, 6–3
	1980	Peter Fleming John McEnroe	Peter McNamara Paul McNamee	6–4, 6–3
	1979	Peter Fleming John McEnroe	Wojtek Fibak Tom Okker	6–3, 7–6, 6–1
	1978	Peter Fleming John McEnroe	Wojtek Fibak Tom Okker	6–4, 6–2, 6–4
	1977	Bob Hewitt Frew McMillan	Robert Lutz Stan Smith	7–5, 7–6, 6–3
Houston	1976	Fred McNair Sherwood Stewart	Brian Gottfried Raul Ramirez	6–4, 5–7, 5–7, 6–4, 6–4
Stockholm	1975	Juan Gisbert Manuel Orantes	Round Robin
	1974 - 1971	Not Held
Tokyo	1970	Stan Smith Arthur Ashe	Round Robin

[edit] Singles Titles Matrix

Player	Country	#	Years
Pete Sampras	United States	5	1999, 1997, 1996, 1994, 1991
Ivan Lendl	Czechoslovakia	5	1987, 1986, 1985, 1982, 1981
Roger Federer	Switzerland	4	2007, 2006, 2004, 2003
Ilie Năstase	Romania	4	1975, 1973, 1972, 1971
Boris Becker	Germany	3	1995, 1992, 1988
John McEnroe	United States	3	1984, 1983, 1978
Lleyton Hewitt	Australia	2	2002, 2001
Björn Borg	Sweden	2	1980, 1979
Novak Djokovic	Serbia	1	2008
David Nalbandian	Argentina	1	2005
Gustavo Kuerten	Brazil	1	2000
Àlex Corretja	Spain	1	1998
Michael Stich	Germany	1	1993
Andre Agassi	United States	1	1990
Stefan Edberg	Sweden	1	1989
Jimmy Connors	United States	1	1977
Manuel Orantes	Spain	1	1976
Guillermo Vilas	Argentina	1	1974
Stan Smith	United States	1	1970

[edit] Honor Roll

Tennis Masters Cup (since 2000–present):

Player	Years participated	Matches	W-L	W Rate	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	Best result
Andre Agassi	5	16	8-8	.500	F	RR	RR	F		RR					F (2000, 2003)
James Blake	1