rafael nadal was the oldest player to become year-end atp world number 1.
rafael nadal was the oldest player to become year-end atp world number 1.
who was the oldest player to become year-end atp world number 1?
rafael nadal
tsonga reached his first career singles final and first grand slam singles final at the 2008 australian open. in the first round, tsonga upset 9th seed andy murray in four sets and eventually reached the final after upsetting then world no. 2 rafael nadal in straight sets in the semifinals. in the final, tsonga lost to the world no. 3 novak djokovic in four sets, after winning the first set, which was the only set which djokovic dropped during the entire tournament. following the event, tsonga entered the top 20 of the atp rankings for the first time in his career, rising to world no. 18. in september of the same year, tsonga avenged his australian open loss to djokovic by defeating the serb in the final of the ptt thailand open to win his first career singles title. two months later, tsonga defeated david nalbandian in the final of the bnp paribas masters in paris to win his first atp masters series (later atp world tour masters 1000) singles title, along with 3 top 10 wins en route to the title, including a third round victory over djokovic. tsonga thus became the first home player to win it since sébastien grosjean in 2001 and remains the last home player to win it to date. though he only played in a few tournaments, tsonga's results throughout the year allowed him to qualify for the year-end atp world tour finals for the first time in his career. however, he lost in the round robin stage after winning one of his three matches, which was his 3rd victory of the year against djokovic. tsonga finished the year at a then career-high singles ranking of world no. 6.
jo-wilfried tsonga career statistics
to qualify, a player who finished in the 2011 year-end top 30 must compete in four grand slam tournaments and eight atp world tour masters 1000 tournaments during 2012. they can count their best six (6) results from atp world tour 500, atp world tour 250 and other events (challengers, futures, davis cup, olympics) toward their ranking. to count their best six (6), players must have fulfilled their commitment to 500 events – 4 total per year (at least 1 after the us open). additionally, commitment players will no longer need to enter the 500 events 12 weeks in advance but instead go back the normal 6-week entry deadline. if eligible to play in one of the grand slam or atp world tour masters 1000 tournaments, a player must count the points from these tournaments, even if it is 'a zero pointer' because he missed the event. just as in formula one and numerous other sports, if a competitor misses a race or an event, he loses his chance to earn points. players with direct acceptance who do not play an atp world tour masters 1000 tournament will be suspended from a subsequent atp world tour masters 1000 event, which will be the next highest points earned atp world tour masters 1000 event within the next 12 months. if an injured player is on site within the first three days of a tournament to conduct promotional activities over a two-day period, a suspension will not be enforced but a 0-pointer will be counted on a player's ranking. if a player does not play enough atp 500 events and does not have an atp 250 or challenger appearance with a better result, the davis cup is counted in the 500s table (if the player entered or achieved better results). if a player does not play enough atp 250 or challenger events, the world team championship is counted in the 250s table (if the player entered or achieved better results). if a player could not be present in all required tournament classes (i.e. because of an injury), all uncounted atp 250 or challenger results are eligible to be included in his 18 valid tournaments. in teams rankings, challenger points are excluded.
2012 atp world tour finals