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The Final ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Tennis event has kicked off in Paris, France this week. This is important as it is the final showdown, the last tournament for the men on the ATP tennis tour. All of the big names are there for this regular season-ender, from Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Nikolay Dayvdenko, defending champion J-Wilfred Tsonga and of course, Britain’s very own cheery soul, Andy Murray.

Murray, returning from an injury, won his comeback tour in Valencia last week, which meant that he notched up his 6th ATP title of the season. He will look to add this tournament, the BNP Paribas Masters, to his trophy cabinet, by winning the event at the Palais Omnisports in Bercy. More than just the title is up for grabs though for some of the participants, for it is a chance for players to grab a spot for qualification to the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. This is hard indoor court, and the final showcase for players to end the ATP season on a high before those Finals, and there are 1000 ranking points up for stake, something which could see any two of seven players take the final two Finals qualifying spots.

Roger Federer will be one of the favourites to take the Paris title, but he lost the Swiss Indoor title on the weekend, when he was defeated in the final by Novak Djokovic. That will have been a little bit of a kick in the pants for the tennis ace, losing in his own backyard. That was however the first appearance in a tournament since he lost in the US Open Final to Jaun Martin del Porto. Federer has never won this tournament despite seven attempts at it, his best finish has been quarter final appearances, including one in 2003 when he lost to Tiger Tim Henman. Henman went on to win that tournament, and fellow psuedo-Brit Greg Rudeski also won the tournament, so Andy Murray has some tradition to keep up.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat David Nalbandian in last year’s Paris final, and will have his hands full if he is going to repeat that feat. The prize money adds up to a tidy sum of € 2,750,000, and there have been a lot of byes through the first round, including Federer, Murray, Del Porto, Tsonga and Nadal. Incidentally, Del Porto, ranked 5th, is the highest ranked opposition that Andy Murray will face in his quarter of the draw, but there is the possibility of running into Roger Federer in the semi finals for Britain’s best.

Andy Murray’s best finish in the tournament has also been quarter final appearances, his most recent loss being last year to David Nalbandian, who was at the time, the defending champion. Six of the eight qualifying places for the ATP Finals in London, have been filled, and they read like this:
1) Roger Federer
2) Rafael Nadal
3) Novak Djokovic
4) Andy Murray
5) Juan Martin Del Porto
6) Andy Roddick

There are seven more players who are all in with a chance of grabbing the last two spots, with Nikolay Davydenko and Fernando Verdasco in pole position, in seventh and eighth place respectively. The other players on the outskirts, including Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, either need to at least make the Paris Final, or win it to be in with a chance of sneaking into the ATP Finals.

This all adds up to an exciting tournament, a final flourish before heading to London for the ATP Finals. The Bookies have Roger Federer as favourite, for his is after all, Roger Federer, with Andy Murray second favourite for the Paris title. Murray faces James Blake in the second round on Wednesday.

BNP Paribas Masters Outright Winner
Roger Federer: 5/2 at William Hill
Andy Murray: 9/2 at Coral
Novak Djokovic: 5/1 at William Hill
Rafael Nadal: 7/1 at Stan James
Juan Martin Del Porto: 12/1 at William Hill