2008 ATP Tour

The ATP Tour is the elite tour for professional tennis organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The ATP Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the Tennis Masters Cup, the ATP Masters Series, the International Series Gold and the International Series tournaments.

chedule

This is the complete schedule of events on the 2008 ATP Tour, with player progression documented until the quarter-final stage. [cite web|url=http://www.atptennis.com/3/en/tournaments/fullcalendar/|title=2008: Full Calendar|publisher=ATP|accessdate=2008-04-09 This reference includes links to all tournament draws.]

January

The opening week of the year featured three tournaments, across the regions of Oceania, South East Asia, and the Middle East. All three of these events began on December 31, 2007. One of the semi-finals in Chennai, India, between Rafael Nadal and Carlos Moya featured a notable match in the history of the ATP Tour, with Nadal coming out on top, 6–7(3), 7–6(8), 7–6(1). The contest was significant because it was the longest three-set match since 1993, when Andrei Cherkasov defeated Andrea Gaudenzi, 6–7(6), 7–6(2), 7–5 at the ATP Tel Aviv. Both matches ran for three hours and fifty-four minutes. [cite web|url=http://www.atptennis.com/1/en/2008news/chennai_saturday.asp|title=Nadal Outbattles Moya to Set Up Youzhny Final|publisher=ATP|date=2008-01-05|accessdate=2008-04-06] Two further tournaments were played in the week prior to the Australian Open; both were in close proximity to the Grand Slam tournament, in Auckland, New Zealand, and Sydney, Australia.

The Australian Open saw Novak Djokovic claim his first Grand Slam title, and also saw him becoming the first representative of Serbia to win a Grand Slam title. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/7211924.stm|title=Australian Open 2008 [Reaction] |publisher=BBC Sport|author=Piers Newbery|date=2008-01-27|accessdate=2008-04-06] Djokovic was able to beat Roger Federer in the semi-finals and consequently broke up his monopoly of hard court slam titles, of which he had won the last five. The event also saw the shock emergence of French player Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who reached the final and drew comparison with Muhammed Ali due to his appearance and audacious style of play. [cite web|url=http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/aus08/news/story?id=3216829|title=Djokovic's win over Tsonga puts new face on Australian title|publisher=ESPN|date=2008-01-31|accessdate=2008-04-06] This was the first Australian Open to take place on the new Plexicushion surface, which was designed to have lower heat retention and a more predictable bounce. [cite news | url = http://www.theage.com.au/news/tennis/open-drops-rebound-ace-for-new-surface/2007/05/30/1180205342716.html | title = Open drops Rebound Ace for new surface | publisher = The Age | date = 2007-05-31 | accessdate = 2008-04-06]

On January 28, the Viña del Mar tournament commenced in Chile. This was the first event in a series of South and Central American clay court tournaments.

April

April was a month that augured better for out-of-form world number 1 Roger Federer, who won his first title of the year in Estoril, and reached the final of Monte Carlo for the third year in a row. However, it was Rafael Nadal who proved to be most efficient, winning both tournaments he played on his favoured clay surface. By the end of the month, Nadal had taken his overall record on clay to 108 wins out of his last 109 matches. [cite news | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/7383040.stm | title = Nadal wins fourth Barcelona title | publisher = BBC SPORT | date = 2008-05-04 | accessdate=2008-05-11] Countryman David Ferrer also had a successful month, winning in Valencia and reaching the final of Barcelona.

At the Munich event, Fernando Gonzalez won the tenth title of his career. The event also saw the re-emergence of Younes El Aynaoui, who was the oldest man (36) to reach the semi-final stage of an ATP level event since Jimmy Connors at the SAP Open in 1993. Connors was 40 at the time of his achievement. [cite news | url = http://news.bostonherald.com/sports/other_sports/tennis/view.bg?articleid=1091680 | title = Fernandez Gonzalez beats El Aynaoui at BMW Open | publisher = Boston Herald | date = 2008-05-04 | accessdate=2008-05-11]

July

October

Doubles

Unlike the ATP Singles Race, the Stanford ATP Doubles Race uses only the best fourteen tournaments on a team's ranking with no mandatory tournaments counting towards the ranking.

Points Distribution (Singles & Doubles)

(*) 1 point only if the Main Draw is larger than 32 (International Series) or 64 (Tennis Masters Series). [ [http://www.atptennis.com/en/players/information/racepop.asp ATP Race Points Breakdown] atptennis.com]

ee also

*ATP Entry Ranking
*2008 in tennis
*2008 WTA Tour
*ATP International Series Gold
*ATP International Series
*Tennis statistics
*ATP Rankings

References

External links

* [http://www.atptennis.com Official ATP Tour website]