TENNIS in DEPTH.

The fourth seed cruised through the opening set at a packed O2 Arena, but Tsonga hit back when Federer’s level dropped in the second and the result looked in doubt until the Swiss star broke to edge a tight decider. The 30-year-old went into the tournament as the man to beat after back-to-back titles in Basle and Paris, where he beat Tsonga in the final to remain unbeaten since the US Open. The Frenchman, playing at the O2 for the first time, could draw on his magnificent Wimbledon victory over Federer this summer, when he became the first man to beat Federer at a grand slam from two sets down. But the world number four had won both their most recent meetings and did not take long to move ahead today, breaking in the fourth game after his opponent had let him off the hook in the previous game with a woeful miss. Tsonga is an exciting but unpredictable player and, as with the opening set in Paris last weekend, he simply made far too many mistakes. Another break to love gave Federer, cheered by French football star Thierry Henry, a fairly uninspiring set in 21 minutes, both men taking their time to adjust to the relatively slow pace of the court. But Tsonga then benefited from a series of Federer errors in the third game of the second set to break. That gave the former Australian Open finalist the lift he needed and he began to play much better, using his brutal power to rush his opponent. His fearsome forehand was becoming a real feature of the match and he used it to great effect to force another break to move 5-2 ahead, before clinching the set when Federer netted a backhand. The 16-time grand slam champion had a real fight on his hands, particularly considering he had never previously won a deciding set against Tsonga. The Frenchman was the first to face a break point in the fifth game, which he saved with a pinpoint forehand, but the outcome remained on a knife-edge.

Rafael Nadal, in action later in the other Group B opener against Mardy Fish, arrived courtside for a glimpse of the action, but no sooner had he done so than Tsonga cracked. An easy volley dumped into the net was followed by a double-fault, and when Federer creamed a winner down the line he had three match points, taking the second with a backhand placed neatly behind his opponent.

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ATP World Tour Finals order of play:

Sunday, 20 November: Federer v Tsonga (not before 1400 GMT), Nadal v Fish (not before 2000 GMT).

Monday, 21 November Murray v Ferrer (not before 1400 GMT), Djokovic v Berdych (not before 2000 GMT).

Reigning champion Federer, who beat Nadal in last year’s final, is in good form, having won last week’s event in the French capital with a victory over Tsonga. Before the draw, former world number one Federer said: “If Djokovic is fit and Murray is fit – which it seems like he is – they will be difficult to beat, and Rafa [Nadal], regardless of how he’s going to be, is always a tough customer. ”Everybody can beat everybody – I don’t feel like [the players ranked] five, six, seven and eight have no chance – I definitely feel like they have a chance to go deep [into the competition].”

Djokovic and Nadal, as the top two seeds, were kept apart in the draw, as were third-ranked Murray and fourth seed Federer. Ferrer and Tsonga, as the fifth and sixth best players in the word were also separated, as were seventh and eighth-ranked Berdych and Fish.

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Venus told Thursday’s Gazzetta dello Sport that she has changed her diet to increase vegetables after being diagnosed with Sjogren’s syndrome, which can cause fatigue and joint pain. After playing Serena in Medellin next week, Venus will join her sister against Italians Francesca Schiavone and Flavia Pennetta in another exhibition match Dec. 3 in Milan. Serena also hasn’t played since losing to Samantha Stosur in the U.S. Open final in September.

“I did a lot of medical therapy and a serious evaluation of my diet to understand which foods help control the symptoms better,” Venus Williams told the Gazzetta, which is sponsoring the Milan exhibition. “And that’s why I’ve completely changed my diet and filled it with a lot of vegetables. In the meantime, I’ve continued to keep myself fit with tennis and in the gym. I’m very confident in my progress.” Venus’ ranking has fallen to No. 103 because of injuries. She is planning to return to the WTA Tour in January at the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand. “The London Olympics are a big goal,” the five-time Wimbledon champion said. “I would like to continue playing at my best level. I love tennis and the racket seems like it was made explicitly for my hand. “Within the next 12 months, I’m expecting to get back to the top of the rankings in singles and doubles. I want to play all year long. I’ve still got a lot of work to do but it doesn’t scare me—I’m used to it.”

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Full singles draw:

Group A: Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, David Ferrer, Tomas Berdych

Group B: Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Mardy Fish

Andy Murray will meet world number one Novak Djokovic in the group stages of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. Murray was also placed in the same group as David Ferrer and Tomas Berdych – the man who knocked him out of last week’s Paris Masters – when the draw was made on Tuesday. A fully-fit Djokovic would represent a stern test for Murray. The Serb won three of this season’s four Grand Slam tournaments, including Wimbledon. He captured the Australian Open title by beating Murray in January’s final. Djokovic has lost only four matches all year but has been struggling with back and shoulder injuries since his victory at the US Open in September. The problems forced him to withrdraw from last week’s Paris event prior to his scheduled quarter-final. However, Djokovic remains hopeful of being fully fit to compete in London. Murray trails Djokovic 6-4 on their head-to-head record, but is one of those four men to have beaten him in 2011, albeit when the Serb was forced to quit their Cincinnati Masters final. The British star is 3-1 down against Berdych following his narrow three-set defeat last week, but leads Ferrer 5-3, winning all three of their meetings this season. He also beat the Spaniard at the Tour Finals 12 months ago.

In the other group, French Open champion Rafael Nadal will resume his great rivalry with Roger Federer, who will arrive at the O2 Arena following back-to-back tournament victories in Basel and Paris. The Swiss is the defending champion at the tournament – having beaten Nadal in the final – and will be aiming to win the season-ending finale for a record sixth time. Group B, arguably the tougher of the two, also features Paris runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who beat Federer at Wimbledon back in the summer, and American Mardy Fish, another player who has been struggling with injury (hamstring) of late.

The tournament gets under way on Sunday with Federer and Tsonga kicking things off in the afternoon. Nadal will meet Fish in the evening singles match. Murray’s campaign will begin against Ferrer on Monday afternoon with Djokovic playing Berdych in the evening. Murray will also play on Wednesday and Friday.

The final takes place on November 27.

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HYUNDAI Hopman Cup XXIV (Saturday 31 December 2011 – Saturday 7 January 2012) will begin with reigning French Open champion Li Na making her debut in Perth by taking on France’s world No. 11 Marion Bartoli. Sunday’s Session 2 will see Australian No. 2 Jarmila Gajdosova take on Spanish No. 1 Anabel Medina Garrigues, and Lleyton Hewitt face former world No. 7 Fernando Verdasco in what potentially will be two of the matches of the week.

The Czech Republic has been announced as the No. 1 seeds for the 24th instalment of the Hyundai Hopman Cup at the Burswood Dome as reigning Wimbledon champion world No.4 Petra Kvitova partners world No. 7 Tomas Berdych who is coming to Perth for his third appearance, but first time with Kvitova. The Czechs will be joined in Group A by the fourth-seeded USA team of Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Mardy Fish, the Denmark team of world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki and Frederik Nielsen, and Bulgaria’s Tsvetana Pironkova and Grigor Dimitrov.

Group B will feature No. 2 seeds France made up of world No. 11 Bartoli and the 17th ranked Richard Gasquet, joined by the third-seeded Spanish team of Medina Garrigues and Verdasco, the Australian team of world No. 30 Gajdosova and former world No. 1 and dual Grand Slam champion Hewitt, and China’s French Open winner Na and Wu Di. Monday evening’s Session 4 will see world No. 1 Wozniacki play for the first time at the Hopman Cup and become the 24th No. 1 ranked player to do so. She will take on the USA’s Mattek-Sands, who is defending champion having won earlier in 2011 alongside John Isner. Tuesday evening sees Australia face off against the second-seeded French, in what is sure to be a pivotal tie for the Aussies. Wednesday night’s Session 8 also looms as a cracker between the Czech Republic and the USA, the two seeds from Group A. With Kvitova playing Mattek-Sands, and then world No. 7 Berdych taking on the ninth-ranked Fish, it is sure to be a tie to watch out for. Sessions 9 and 10 over Thursday and Friday will then feature the double-headers starting with Group A with Australia playing China, and France taking on Spain, that sees Gasquet and Verdasco doing battle on the men’s side. The two have both been ranked in the top 10, are among the most exciting and naturally talented players in the game so are sure to put on a show.

On Friday, the Czech Republic plays Denmark and the USA takes on Bulgaria. That tie is perhaps highlighted by world No. 1 Wozniacki taking on world No. 4 Kvitova.

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Petra Kvitova has won the WTA player of the year award. The results of the annual awards were announced on Monday with the Czech star scooping the top prize. Kvitova, who rose from number 34 in the world at the start of 2011 to second in the ranking list by the season’s end, upset Maria Sharapova to win the Wimbledon title in July. She recently ended the season by winning the WTA Championships in Istanbul, her sixth title of the year, before helping her country claim the Fed Cup with victory over Russia in the final.

The 21-year-old said: “This season has been simply a dream. ”It is an incredible honour to win the player of the year award and join the ranks of some of the best players that have ever played the sport, especially Martina Navratilova. ”I will always cherish the 2011 season and look forward to building on it.”

Kvitova also won the most improved player gong, which, like the main prize, was voted upon by the media, while her fellow players picked her to win the Karen Krantzcke sportsmanship award, which acknowledges a player’s professionalism, attitude and sense of fair play.

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Daniela’s new calendar is going to be out very soon – you can get it from Tennis Warehouse on November 18th. The photo shoot for the calendar was a lot of fun because we did it in Monte Carlo, where I live. The whole team was great once again and it was more fun than work, because we all knew it was for a great cause…

All money from the calendar goes to the hospital in Cambodia where we are treating and taking care of orphans who are HIV positive. The improvement we have seen in their health the last few years has been incredible and it keeps us motivated to work even harder and help as much as we can. It’s all about making a difference in their lives.

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The best eight singles players and doubles teams will gather at the world’s biggest indoor tennis event, challenging for up to 1,500 South African Airways ATP Rankings Points for an undefeated champion. Defending champion Roger Federer declared “everybody can beat everybody” in the 2011 field, which is led by World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, who is looking to cap one of the best tennis seasons ever by winning the year-end championships for a second time.

Roger Federer is attempting to become the first player to win the year-end championships six times, following victories in 2003-2004, 2006-2007 and 2010. The one tournament Federer has won six times is at nearby Wimbledon.

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