Tennis Wrap From London • Nitto ATP Finals Complete With Record-Breaking Attendance Across 2017 World Tour Year

Photo by Ricky Dimon

 

 

The 2017 Nitto ATP Finals brought a spectacular close to a memorable 2017 season that saw more fans come out and watch the world’s best tennis players on the ATP World Tour than ever before. More than 4.5 million fans attended ATP World Tour events in 2017, an all-time record.

 

The season finale in London attracted a total attendance of 253,642, including six sold-out sessions, making it the ninth successive year that the tournament has broken the 250,000 attendance mark. Cumulative attendance since the tournament moved to London in 2009 stands at more than 2.3 million fans.

 

This year’s tournament saw a host of three set-matches across the eight days of competition in a tournament that pitted established stars such as Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer against some must-see newcomers at the season finale. The event culminated with Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov’s dramatic 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 win over Belgium’s David Goffin in the final.

 

The 31-game final equaled the second most games played in a three-set final in the history of the tournament, with only John McEnroe’s win over Arthur Ashe in 1978 longer (34 games). Dimitrov became the first champion to win the title undefeated on his tournament debut since McEnroe in 1978. The Bulgarian collected a total of $2,549,000 in prize money and 1500 Emirates ATP Rankings points to finish the season at a career high No. 3 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, behind Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

 

Eleven out of the 15 singles matches at this year’s season-ending tournament went to three sets, the second most in the 48-year history of the tournament (12 in 1971).

 

In doubles, Henri Kontinen and John Peers defeated World No. 1 doubles team Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo in the final to become the first team to successfully defend the season finale title since Bob and Mike Bryan in 2004 (Houston).

 

Chris Kermode, ATP Executive Chairman & President, said: “This year’s tournament will go down as one of the most fiercely contested, with so many matches going the distance. The event saw some breakthrough performances from the likes of Jack Sock, David Goffin, and of course Grigor Dimitrov, in front of packed crowds at The O2, the world’s leading entertainment venue. Our thanks go to Nitto for their first year as valued title sponsor of our season finale. And on behalf of the ATP, we would also like to thank the fans that came out in such strong numbers to support our year-end event, and the Tour as a whole in 2017.”

 

The Nitto ATP Finals has a rich history dating back to the birth of the Masters in Tokyo in 1970. The tournament will be held at The O2 in London though 2020.

 

BY THE NUMBERS:

• 83,900,000 – number of impressions from social media posts on Facebook, Twitter and MyATP now on Vixlet.

• 42,900,000 – number of page impressions on ATP digital media platforms, including ATPWorldTour.com, NittoATPFinals.com, mobile apps, and MyATP now on Vixlet.

• 24,100,000 – number of video plays on ATP digital media platforms, including ATPWorldTour.com, NittoATPFinals.com, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook.

• 8,000,000 – amount of prize money (US$) on offer at the 2017 season finale.

• 4,573,152 – number of fans that attended ATP World Tour tournaments in 2017, an all-time record

• 2,549,000 – amount of prize money (US$) that Grigor Dimitrov won as undefeated champion

• 2,317,265 – cumulative attendance at the season-ending tournament since it moved to London in 2009

• 775,000 – number of streams on Tennis TV, the ATP’s official live streaming service which relaunched in January 2017, with each viewer watching an average of 155 minutes per day

• 253, 642 – attendance at the 2017 tournament.

• 30,400 – amount of money (GBP) donated by ATP to help Unicef protect children in danger around the world (£100 per ace – 304 aces in total).

• 26 – number of screens in the arena used for show production around the matches

• 1 Terrific Player Concierge • Fraser Russell of “Head Concierge”

 

• 80 • number Of stories 10sBalls Published!

 

Editors Note: 10sBalls brought the biggest crew yet to cover this awesome event. I think this was our 5th (?)… The group worked 12-14 hour days without one complaint. Quite the opposite. All we heard from our team was that working conditions were fantastic. The staff was all helpful and first rate. The tennis was beyond exciting. The food was fantastic. The time flew by. We pumped out 80 plus stories. Not one photo gallery we were so busy we never had the time.