Eaton Thatcher
The ATP season is over and Andy Murray has officially finished the year as world number one. But before the calendar turns over, Murray has one more tournament to play. From December 29th to the 31st, the Mubadala World Tennis Championship will take place in Abu Dhabi. It’s a high stakes knockout tournament with a winner-takes-all prize of $250,000.
The 2016 event will only be the ninth edition of the non-ATP affiliated exhibition tournament. There are no rankings on the line, so the six invited players will only have fame and fortune to play for.
Rafael Nadal took home the prize money last year when he defeated Milos Raonic in the finals, but he’ll face fierce competition defending his title this year.
Who will end the year $250,000 richer? Here are the odds!
Odds To Win 2016 Mubadala World Tennis Championship:
Andy Murray: 13/7
With world number two Novak Djokovic sitting this one out, Andy Murray is a clear favorite to take the prize. Murray was locked in a grueling battle with Djokovic all year for the number one seed, and finally clinched it late in the year.
The Mubadala World Tennis Championship would be the perfect way for him to end a stellar 2016 season.
Milos Raonic: 3/1
Canadian Milos Raonic came close to taking the prize last year when he met Rafael Nadal in the finals. He beat South Africa’s Kevin Anderson and Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka in the prior rounds, but was ultimately defeated in straight sets by Nadal.
The young world number three thrives on the hard courts, which puts him at an advantage at this tournament. But he’ll have to come up with something special in order to disrupt Murray’s year.
Rafael Nadal: 4/1
The fourteen time Grand Slam champion will be coming back after winning the prize money last year. Currently ranked ninth in the world, Nadal is looking to end 2016 on a high note after a disappointing season.
Jo-Wilfred Tsonga: 23/2
The charismatic Frenchman reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open this year. But other than that, it has been fairly quiet. Tsonga’s season was plagued by injuries, causing him to withdraw from many of the competitions he entered. The Mubadala World Tennis Championship is his last chance to take something away from 2016.
Tomas Berdych: 93/7
Tomas Berdych started 2016 ranked number six in the world and ended the year at tenth. He failed to make much of an impact this year, with modest showings at the Grand Slams and failure to qualify for the ATP World Tour Finals.
David Goffin: 19/1
Debutant David Goffin reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time this year. The young Belgian star also managed to beat Djokovic at the ATP World Tour Finals after qualifying as a reserve. He may have slim odds to take the prize, but the youngster has already come up with a few surprises this year.
Photo credit: “Andy Murray” by Ian Dick CC BY-SA 2.0 (flickr) [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0]
