WAWRINKA RETURNS FOR FOURTH STRAIGHT APPEARANCE AT BARCLAYS ATP WORLD TOUR FINALS
LONDON – US Open champion and World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka will make his fourth successive appearance at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals after becoming the third player to qualify for the prestigious season-ending tournament, to be held from 13-20 November at The O2 in London.
The Swiss booked his ticket to London after capturing his third Grand Slam championship at the US Open in New York on Sunday, with victory over World No. 1 Novak Djokovic. The 31-year-old Wawrinka won his first major title at the 2014 Australian Open (d. Nadal) before beating the Serbian in the 2015 Roland Garros final.
Wawrinka has reached the semi-finals on all three of his previous visits to The O2, falling to Djokovic in 2013 and countryman Roger Federer in 2014-15. He has a 6-6 event record.
“At the beginning of the season, it is always my goal to be in the Top 8 and qualify for London,” said Wawrinka. “It is great to be able to secure a spot once again this year after a fantastic two weeks in New York. I look forward to returning to The O2. I love playing there.”
Victory at Flushing Meadows marked Wawrinka’s fourth tour-level title of the season. The right-hander began his campaign by lifting the trophy at the Aircel Chennai Open (d. Coric) and was victorious again the following month at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships (d. Baghdatis). A strong finish to the spring clay-court swing saw Wawrinka triumph on home soil at the Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open (d. Cilic) before reaching the Roland Garros semi-finals (l. to Murray).
The Barclays ATP World Tour Finals has welcomed more than 1.8 million fans to The O2 arena over the past seven years, establishing itself as the biggest indoor tennis tournament in the world since moving to London in 2009. A record 102 million broadcast viewers also tuned in across the eight days of competition in 2015. The ATP announced last year that the event would remain at The O2 through to 2018.
