Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic are the first players to qualify for the season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai in November, organizers said yesterday.
The trio have already earned enough points to book their berths in the eight-player circuit finale which will take place from Nov. 9-19, organizers said on the tournament’s Web site.
“I have just been informed that I have qualified for the Masters in Shanghai,” Nadal, a semifinalist in his two Tennis Masters Cup appearances, was quoted as saying in the statement.
“I have never managed to win it, so I am really looking forward for this year’s event and as always I’ll try my best knowing it won’t be easy,” the site quoted Nadal as saying.
Nadal, currently world No. 2 and the first player since Sweden’s Bjorn Borg in 1980 to capture the Roland Garros and Wimbledon titles back-to-back, has held the top spot in the ATP 2008 Race standings since winning in Paris.
The Spaniard currently leads the men’s professional circuit with a 56-7 match record and six titles this season.
Federer, the world No. 1 and defending Tennis Masters Cup champion, is set to return for a seventh straight year after playing Nadal in the Wimbledon final.
The Swiss player’s season record stands at 43-9.
Serbia’s Djokovic has earned his second consecutive Tennis Masters Cup spot, with a 38-9 record and three titles in the first half of the season, including his first Grand Slam triumph at the Australian Open.
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