The 2012 ATP World Tour Finals (also known as the 2012 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals for sponsorship reasons) was a tennis tournament that was played at the O2 Arena in London, United Kingdom, between 5 and 12 November 2012.
Singles play on the O2 Arena during the 2012 event
The 2012 ATP World Tour Finals took place from 5 to 12 November at the O2 Arena in London, United Kingdom. It was the 43rd edition of the tournament (38th in doubles). The tournament was run by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and was part of the 2012 ATP World Tour. The event took place on indoor hard courts. It served as the season-ending championships for players on the ATP Tour.[1]
The eight players who qualified for the event were split into two groups of four. During this stage, players competed in a round-robin format (meaning players played against all the other players in their group).[2]
The two players with the best results in each group progressed to the semifinals, where the winners of a group faced the runners-up of the other group. This stage, however, was a knock-out stage. The doubles competition used the same format.[3]
Format
The Barclays ATP World Tour Finals had a round-robin format, with eight players/teams divided into two groups of four. The eight seeds were determined by the ATP rankings and ATP Doubles Team Rankings on the Monday after the last ATP World Tour tournament of the calendar year. All singles matches were the best of three tie-break sets, including the final. All doubles matches were two sets (no ad) and a Match Tie-break.
Draw
The top seeded players/teams were placed in Group A and the second seeded player/team were placed in Group B. Players/teams seeded 3 and 4, 5 and 6, 7 and 8, were then drawn in pairs with the first drawn placed in Group A. Each player/team played the three other players/teams in his group. The winner of each group (best overall record) was placed in separate semi-final brackets, with the top player/team in Group A playing the runner-up in Group B, and vice versa. If two or more players/teams were tied after the round robin matches, the ties were broken by the Tie-Break Procedure.
Points and prize money
Stage
Singles
Doubles1
Points
Champion
RR + $1,240,000
RR +$190,000
RR + 900
Runner-up
RR + $410,000
RR +$65,000
RR + 400
Round robin win per match
$130,000
$25,000
200
Participation fee
$130,0002
$65,0003
–
Alternates
$75,000
$25,000
–
RR is points or prize money won in the round robin stage.
1 Prize money for doubles is per team.
2 Pro-rated on a per-match basis: $75,000 = 1 match, $100,000 = 2 matches, $130,000 = 3 matches
3 3 Pro-rated on a per-match basis: $30,000 = 1 match, $50,000 = 2 matches, $65,000 = 3 matches
Qualification
The top eight players (or teams) with the most countable points accumulated in Grand Slam, ATP World Tour, and Davis Cup tournaments during the year qualify for the 2012 ATP World Tour Finals. Countable points include points earned in 2012, plus points earned at the 2011 Davis Cup final and the late-season 2011 Challengers played after the 2011 ATP World Tour Finals.
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 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, 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.[4] 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.
A player who is out of competition for 30 or more days, due to a verified injury, is not penalized. The 2012 ATP World Tour Finals counts as an additional 19th tournament in the ranking of its eight qualifiers at season's end, while the Davis Cup Final points count towards the next year's race.[5]
Novak Djokovic began the year by defending his Australian Open title after back-to-back five set wins over Andy Murray in the semifinal and Rafael Nadal in the final in 5 hours and 53 minutes, the longest Grand Slam singles final in the history of professional tennis.[27] Djokovic then won his second title of the year at the Sony Ericsson Open without dropping and set and defeating Andy Murray in the final.[28] In the European Clay season, he was able to reach 3 finals, losing each time to Nadal. He lost in the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters,[29] in the Internazionali BNL d'Italia,[30] and in his first French Open final.[31] At Wimbledon as the defending champion, he fell in the semifinals to Roger Federer .[32] At the Olympics, the Serbian failed the medal after losing in the Bronze medal match to Juan Martín del Potro.[33] In the US Open Series, he reached three consecutive finals. He first won in the Rogers Cup defeating Richard Gasquet in the final.[34] He then lost to Federer in the final of the Western & Southern Open.[24] In the US Open as the defending champion, he lost to Murray in the final after coming back from two sets down.[35] He is the only one to reach at least the semifinals of each Slam of the year. At the Asian swing he made a sweep winning the China Open over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and the Shanghai Rolex Masters over Andy Murray, saving 5 match points in the second set.[36][37] He has qualified for his sixth Year-End Championship.
Rafael Nadal began his season at the Qatar Open losing to Gaël Monfils in the semifinals.[38] He then reached the final of the Australian Open losing to Novak Djokovic.[27] In the European clay season, Nadal started with back-to-back wins without dropping a set, winning the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters over Djokovic[29] and the Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell over compatriot David Ferrer.[39] At the Madrid Open, he lost to Fernando Verdasco for the first time, thus ending his 22 match winning streak in clay.[40] He then won again back-to-back titles in the Internazionali BNL d'Italia[30] winning and French Open winning in a rain delayed final[31] he defeated Djokovic on both occasions. His French Open win meant he has won the most French Open titles in the Open Era.[41] At Wimbledon, Nadal suffered a shock loss in the second round, the first time he has lost before the second round in a Slam since 2005 Wimbledon; he lost to 100th ranked Lukáš Rosol.[42] Nadal then withdrew from the Olympics as the defending champion from 2008 Olympics,[43] and the US Open Series[44] due to a knee injury. This is Nadal's 8th time to qualify for the event, however he was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to a left knee injury.[45]
Andy Murray won the Olympic gold medal and his first slam at the US Open
Andy Murray started the year with the appointment of new coach Ivan Lendl,[46] and opened winning the title at the Brisbane International, defeating Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine in the final.[47] Murray then competed in the Australian Open, where he reached the semifinals before being beaten by Novak Djokovic in a tightly fought match that lasted almost 5 hours.[48] Next, at the Dubai Tennis Championships lost to Roger Federer in the final.[15] He then reached the final of the Miami Masters, which he ultimately lost to Djokovic.[28] At French Open, he was beaten by David Ferrer in the quarter-finals .[49] Murray then reached the final of Wimbledon, where he lost to Roger Federer.[22] He then reached the final of the Olympics, where he defeated Federer to win the gold medal for Britain, for the first time since 1908.[23] In the mixed doubles final, Murray and Robson faced Victoria Azarenka and Max Mirnyi of Belarus, but lost in three sets, settling for the silver medal. At the US Open Murray went on to claim his first ever major title, winning the final against Djokovic and becoming the first British man to win a grand slam title since Fred Perry in 1936.[35] As the defending champion he reached the final of Shanghai Rolex Masters losing to Djokovic. He served for the match at 5–4 in the second and had 5 match points, but lost his first match at the event.[37] This is the 5th time Murray has qualified for the ATP Finals.
David Ferrer reached the quarter-finals of all slams.
David Ferrer opened his season with a successful defence of his Heineken Open title, with a win over Belgian player Olivier Rochus for his third title at the Auckland tournament.[50] He next entered the Australian Open and managed to reach the quarter-finals before losing to eventual champion Novak Djokovic[51] He then went on to win back-to-back titles at the Copa Claro over Nicolás Almagro, and Abierto Mexicano Telcel over Fernando Verdasco.[52][53] At the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell he reached his 4th final of the year, losing to Rafael Nadal.[39] At the French Open, he reached the semifinals for the first time losing to eventual champion Rafael Nadal.[54] He then won his 4th title of the year at the UNICEF Open defeating Philipp Petzschner in the final.[55] Ferrer reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, where he was beaten by eventual runner-up Murray.[56] Ferrer then won the Swedish Open defeating compatriot Almagro in the final.[57] At the US Open, he reached the semifinals, thus reaching at least the quarter-finals of each slam in the year, only one of four to achieve it in the year, he lost to Novak Djokovic, where the match was suspended after the first set.[58] Ferrer then won his home tournament the Valencia Open 500 defeating Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov in the final.[59] Ferrer won his 7th title of the year, the most of any player at the BNP Paribas Masters defeating qualifier Jerzy Janowicz in the final. This is Ferrer's first Master 1000 title after finishing runner-up 3 times prior.[60] This is the 4th time Ferrer has qualified for the finals in London.
Tomáš Berdych has qualified for the third straight year
Juan Martín del Potro reached the quarter-finals of the first slam of the year in the Australian Open losing to Roger Federer.[69] He then reached his first final of the year at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament losing to Federer once again.[14] However, he bounced back by winning his first title of the year at the Open 13 defeating Michaël Llodra in the final.[70] At the Estoril Open, successfully defended his title by defeating Richard Gasquet .[71] At the French Open he reached the quarter-finals but fell to Federer for the fifth time in the year despite leading two sets to love he lost.[72] At Wimbledon he was handily defeated by David Ferrer in the fourth round.[73] He bounced back at the Olympics winning the Bronze Medal match over Novak Djokovic after losing to Federer in the semifinals.[33] At the US Open he reached his third slam quarter-finals of the year but lost once again this time to Djokovic.[74] He won his third title of the year at the Erste Bank Open defeating qualifier Grega Žemlja in the final.[75] At the Swiss Indoors Basel, Del Potro got his fourth championship of the year after beating Roger Federer.[26] This is the third time del Potro has qualified for the event.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga began the year well by winning the Qatar Open in an all-French final over Gaël Monfils.[76] At the Australian Open he was upset in the fourth round by Kei Nishikori.[77] At the French Open he lost in the quarter-finals to Novak Djokovic, despite having four match points, two at 5–4 and two at 6–5 in the fourth set.[78][79] At Wimbledon he reached the semifinals losing to Andy Murray.[80] At the US Open, Tsonga failed to reach the third round of a slam for the first time since 2007, losing to Martin Kližan in the second round.[81] He then bounced back by winning his second title of the year at the Moselle Open over Andreas Seppi.[82] He then reached the final of the China Open losing to Novak Djokovic.[36] He reached his fourth final of the year at the If Stockholm Open losing to Tomáš Berdych.[68] This is the third time that Tsonga has qualified for the event.
On 15 October, after securing their position in the top 20, Wimbledon champions Britain's Jonathan Marray and Denmark's Frederik Nielsen qualified for the event.
Jonathan Marray & Frederik Nielsen made a breakthrough winning their only title at Wimbledon defeating three-time Wimbledon finalists Lindstedt/Tecău. This win marked the first time that a British player had won a doubles slam in 76 years and Nielsen was the first Dane to win a Wimbledon Championship title. It was also the first time since 1998 that a doubles final went to 5 sets.[117] Nielsen also reached the final of Moselle Open teaming up with Johan Brunström losing Mahut/Roger-Vasselin.[125]
Novak Djokovic
Marcel Granollers / 
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