TENNIS ATP FINALS – The draw ceremony of the ATP World Tour Finals was held on Monday afternoon in London. Defending champion Novak Djokovic has been drawn in the Group A against two Grand Slam champions Marin Ciic, Stan Wawrinka and Tomas Berdych. Roger Federer has been drawn into a very tough Group B against Andy Murray, Kei Nishikori and Milos Raonic, who are enjoying a good period of form during the indoor season. Diego Sampaolo
Novak Djokovic won the Paris Bercy Indoor Master 1000 last week for the third time in his career extending his lead over Roger Federer to 1310 point in the ATP Ranking and has a good chance to end as the World Number 1 player for the third time in his career. Federer’s hopes to overtake Djokovic have been dashed after his defeat in the quarter final against Milos Raonic in Paris Bercy.
Djokovic is looking to win the ATP World Tour Finals title for the third consecutive year after beating Federer in 2012 and Nadal in 2013.
The ATP World Tour Finals will feature three newcomers Marin Cilic, Kei Nishikori and Milos Raonic who have reached the end-of-year tournament for the first time in their careers after their outstanding season. Cilic won the US Open following in the footsteps of his coach Goran Ivanisevic, who won his first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon 2001. The Croatian player beat Kei Nishikori in the US Open final. The Japanese player is the first Asian player to play at the ATP Finals
Group A
Djokovic is the strong favourite to win the Group A as the only player in his group who beat him this year was Wawrinka. The Swiss player won their quarter final clash at last January’s Australian Open and went on to clinch his first ever Grand Slam Tournament. The Belgrade player has extended his winning streak indoors to 27 consecutive matches and had more time to rest between Shanghai and Paris Bercy and reaches London well-rested and with a strong motivation after becoming father of his first son Stefan two weeks ago.
“Two consecutive wins in London in the last two years give me reason to believe that I can do well. It helps that I am playing well and that I am feeling well about myself on the court playing indoors. Every match that I play gets me closer to holding the Number 1 spot at the end of the year”, said Djokovic
The A group features the two Grand Slam champions of this year Cilic and Wawrinka and 2010 Wimbledon finalist Stan Wawrinka.
Djokovic has a combined winning record of 41-5 in his head-to-head matches against Wawrinka, Cilic and Berdych and never lost in his 10 career matches against Cilic. The Serbian player had to dig deep to beat Cilic in five sets in the quarter final at Wimbledon last July. Djokovic won six ATP titles this year, more than anyone else. He triumphed at Indian Wells, Miami, Rome, Wimbledon (after a fantastic five-set match against Federer), Beijing and Paris Bercy. Djokovic secures the World Number 1 spot at the end of the year if he wins all his three matches in his group or reaches the final with at least one win in the round-robin group.
Berdych is the slight favourite for second place in the round-robin Group A as he showed recent good form winning in Stockholm and reaching the semifinal in Paris Bercy where he lost to Milos Raonic in three sets. Berdych is more experienced in this kind of tournament as he will play for the fifth time, On the contrary Wawrinka has qualified for the second time in his career after reaching the semifinal last year. Cilic will make his debut in the end-of-season after winning his first Grand Slam of his career at the US Open and three more tournaments in Zagreb, Delray Beach and Moscow and lost the Rotterdam final against Berdych last February after beating Andy Murray in the quarter finals. Cilic skipped Paris Bercy because of a right arm injury. The Croatian player beat Berdych twice in two Grand Slam tournaments this year at Wimbledon and at the US Open but doesn’t have a winning record against any of his rivals in his group.
Wawrinka won the Australian Open and Monte-Carlo but he has won just one match since he reached the quarter final at the US Open. The Lausanne player suffered three first round matches against Tatsuma Ito in Tokyo, Giles Simon in Shanghai and Mikhail Kukushkin in Basel and won only against Dominic Thiem in straight sets in Paris Bercy before losing in the next match against Kevin Anderson after serving for the match
Berdych has secured his spot for London for the fifth consecutive year with his win in three sets over Kevin Anderson in the Paris Bercy quarter finals. The Czech player won two indoor titles in Rotterdam and Stockholm and played in three more finals at Dubai, Oeiras and Beijing “Qualifying for the ATP World Tour Finals is always the proof of having a great season, especially in this era of tennis when you have the guys like today. So you have to fight”, said Berdych
Group B
Roger Federer, winner of five tournaments this year at Dubai, Halle, Cincinnati, Shanghai and Basel, starts as the favourite in the Group B against very strong rivals who have recently played very well during the indoor season Andy Murray, Kei Nishikori and Milos Raonic.
Federer has won the end-of-season tournament six times but has not won this title since 2011. He has reached the semifinals every year except from 2008 when he suffered from a back injury.
Federer boasts a 19-14 winning streak against the rivals in his group. He is tied 11-11 against Andy Murray but the Basel player won all his two head-to-head matches against the Scotsman this year in quarter final matches at the Australian Open and Cincinnati.
Federer is tied 2-2 in his head-to-head matches against Kei Nishikori. This year Nishikori beat Federer in the Miami quarter final but Federer took his re-match against the Florida based Japanese player in Halle.
The young Japanese player won four titles in Memphis, Barcelona, Kuala Lumpur and Tokyo and reached the final in Madrid against Rafa Nadal. He came close to winning his first Master 1000 Tournament but he was hampered by a back injury. At the US Open he beat Novak Djokovic in the semifinal to become the first ever Asian Grand Slam finalist. If he is fit without injury worries Nishikori could be a threat for every player. Last week Nishikori reached the semifinal in Paris Bercy where he lost to Djokovic after a marathon match against David Ferrer.
Federer won six career matches against Milos Raonic but the young Canadian broke his losing streak against the seventeen-time Grand Slam champion last week in the quarter final at Paris Bercy. This defeat put an end to his winning streak of 17 consecutive matches. Raonic played his second career Master 1000 one year after Toronto. Raonic showed consistency throughout the year reaching the semifinal in Rome and at Wimbledon.
Murray will have time to rest after playing 23 matches in six consecutive weeks winning three titles in Shenzhen, Vienna and Valencia after dropping out of the top 10. The reigning Olympic champion and 2013 Wimbledon winner lost his most recent match in the quarter final in Paris Bercy against Djokovic. .
“Winning the ATP World Tour Finals would be the goal but I know it will be difficult. A lot of guys, especially Novak and Roger are going in with a lot of motivation and would go in as the strong favourites. The guys with big serves Raonic, Berdych and Cilic enjoy playing indoors. It’s going to be an interesting tournament. If I play well, I give myself a good chance. I am definitely match fit. I won’t go in there undercooked”, said Murray.
Nishikori leads 4-1 on his head-to-head matches against Raonic this year. Murray has won all his three matches against Nishikori but he won only one of his four clashes against Raonic.
