ATP World Tour Finals

[Sir David Gray]

The world's best players are in London this weekend for the beginning of the season-ending tournament that will see the curtain come down on the 2011 season.

The draw for the group stage was made a couple of days ago and it is;

GROUP A

Novak Djokovic
Andy Murray
David Ferrer
Tomas Berdych

GROUP B

Rafael Nadal
Roger Federer
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Mardy Fish

There was never going to be an 'easy' draw for Murray but I think he'll be quite pleased with that result. Djokovic is clearly feeling the effects of his superhuman effort over the past season and is struggling with injuries. David Ferrer is a tricky opponent but Murray has won the last four times that they've played. Murray lost to Berdych just last week and I don't think he enjoys playing against him but I certainly don't think it will be a match that Murray will fear.

Murray kicks off his campaign against David Ferrer on Monday, whilst group B begins on Sunday.

This is the head-to-head stats for all of the players involved at the o2 this year.

-----------Djokovic-----Nadal-----Murray-----Federer-----Ferrer----Tsonga----Berdych----Fish
Djokovic---xxx---------13-16-----6-4---------10-14-------6-4--------4-5---------7-1----------7-0
Nadal-----16-13---------xxx------13-5--------17-8--------13-4-------6-2--------10-3----------7-1
Murray-----4-6----------5-13-------xxx---------8-6---------5-3--------5-1--------1-3----------4-4
Federer----14-10--------8-17------6-8----------xxx--------11-0-------6-3--------10-4---------6-1
Ferrer-------4-6---------4-13------3-5---------0-11--------xxx--------1-1---------5-2----------4-4
Tsonga------5-4----------2-6-------1-5---------3-6---------1-1--------xxx---------0-1----------1-0
Berdych-----1-7----------3-10------3-1---------4-10-------2-5--------1-0---------xxx----------0-1
Fish----------0-7----------1-7-------4-4---------1-6--------4-4---------0-1---------1-0---------xxx

[Sir David Gray]

It all kicks off tomorrow with Group B getting started.

As the defending champion, Roger Federer will begin tomorrow at around 2pm against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, in a repeat of the Paris Masters final from last week. Then, not before 8pm, Rafael Nadal plays his first competitive match for more than a month when he takes on Mardy Fish, who is playing in this event for the very first time.

I wouldn't have thought that there will be any upsets in either of tomorrow's matches but you never know!

Should be a good week of tennis.

Live coverage tomorrow will be on Sky Sports 4.

[Sir David Gray]

Roger Federer wins the first match of the tournament 6-2 2-6 6-4 against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Nadal vs Fish at 8pm tonight.

[Sir David Gray]

Rafael Nadal wins his opening match after a classic against Mardy Fish.

Nadal converted match point at 11.29pm and won 6-2 3-6 7-6 after almost 3 hours.

That means that the two favourites in Group B have both made winning starts and they will now play again on Tuesday with Fish playing Tsonga and Federer playing Nadal.

Tomorrow is the turn of the players in Group A and first up is Andy Murray vs David Ferrer at 2pm, with Novak Djokovic playing Tomas Berdych at 8pm.

[Sir David Gray]

Andy Murray due on in 10 minutes or so against David Ferrer.

Live coverage on Sky Sports 1 and BBC 2.

[Sir David Gray]

Murray lost the first set, 6-4, had treatment on a hip injury before the second set started and is currently 4-5 down in the second set.

Not looking great.

[Sir David Gray]

Ferrer wins 6-4 7-5.

Murray faces a massive uphill battle to qualify for the semi finals now, as he still has to play Novak Djokovic and Tomas Berdych.

[Sir David Gray]

Novak Djokovic saved a match point tonight to beat Tomas Berdych 3-6 6-3 7-6.

The result is another blow for Andy Murray's hopes of qualifying for the semis as he is the only player not to have won a set today, which will make it really hard for him.

His tournament may be over already anyway as he has hurt his groin. He has said that he will see how he is tomorrow before making a decision on whether or not to pull out but it's not looking great for him.

Tomorrow's line-up is;

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs Mardy Fish (2pm)
Rafael Nadal vs Roger Federer (8pm)

[Sir David Gray]

Andy Murray has pulled out of this year's tournament due to his groin injury. His place will now be taken by Serbian Janko Tipsarevic.

As for tonight's action, Roger Federer became the first man to book his place in the semi finals after a phenomenal performance against Rafael Nadal, dropping only three games on his way to winning 6-3 6-0 after exactly one hour.

Some of Federer's shots were amazing tonight and he actually made Nadal look silly at times.

After watching that tonight, I don't think there's any question of Federer being anywhere near finished.

[lyonhibs]

Your persistance on this thread is to be applauded but, emmmm, naebody's listening :greengrin

Nah, I saw some of the Federer vs Nadal game, and talk of Federer being on the downhill slope (even though only fools were seriously considering that in the first place) has been well and truly kyboshed for the time being.

As the saying goes, form is temporary, class is permanent, and Federer has more class than anyone else on the ATP tour IMO.

[Sir David Gray]

Your persistance on this thread is to be applauded but, emmmm, naebody's listening :greengrin

Nah, I saw some of the Federer vs Nadal game, and talk of Federer being on the downhill slope (even though only fools were seriously considering that in the first place) has been well and truly kyboshed for the time being.

As the saying goes, form is temporary, class is permanent, and Federer has more class than anyone else on the ATP tour IMO.

I was actually beginning to think that this event was a figment of my imagination and no-one else was watching it! :greengrin

I was expecting/hoping for a classic tonight so from that point of view, I was really disappointed with the way things went but from a tennis perspective, that was really some of the highest standard of tennis that you are ever likely to see. To dismiss someone of Nadal's quality in that manner was quite stunning. I know Nadal hadn't been feeling too well in his last match against Mardy Fish but Federer was just awesome, almost from the word 'go' and was really unplayable tonight.

He might be in his 30s now but, although his really dominant years are probably behind him now, there are still a lot of titles left in Roger Federer yet.

What he has achieved in his career is really unbelievable and it is something that I don't think will ever be surpassed.

[Sir David Gray]

Rafael Nadal vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has just started on Sky Sports 1 if anyone's interested.

It's winner-takes-all tonight to join Roger Federer in Saturday's semi finals and the loser of the match will be going home.

It's 1-1 in the first set.

[Sir David Gray]

Tsonga wins 7-6 4-6 6-3 in just under 3 hours.

Nadal is now out of the competition and Tsonga finishes second in Group B, behind Roger Federer. He'll now face the winner of Group A in Saturday's semi finals.

[Sir David Gray]

Novak Djokovic vs Janko Tipsarevic on right now on BBC2 and Sky Sports 1.

Djokovic has just won the first set 6-3 and really needs to win in straight sets today to feel really confident about going through to the semis. If he wins in 3 sets, he will go out if Tomas Berdych can beat David Ferrer tonight by any score.

If he wins in straight sets, he could still go out if Berdych also wins in straight sets.

Where it will get really complicated is if Djokovic loses in three sets and Berdych loses in straight sets.

[Sir David Gray]

Tipsarevic wins 3-6 6-3 6-3.

It means that Novak Djokovic will be going out of the competition, if Tomas Berdych can avoid a straight sets defeat against David Ferrer tonight.

If Ferrer does win in straight sets then that is when the calculators will have to come out!

[Sir David Gray]

Tomas Berdych vs David Ferrer on now on Sky Sports 2, if anyone's interested. Although judging by the lack of response on this thread, it would appear that no-one's too bothered! :greengrin

Anyway, just a wee update to what I posted earlier on. I was wrong about my information on what needs to happen for certain people to qualify.

Basically if Ferrer wins tonight then Novak Djokovic will qualify because he beat Berdych in his first match.

If Berdych wins then, not only does he qualify ahead of Djokovic but he also tops the group.

It's all or nothing for Tomas Berdych tonight. If he wins then he'll play Jo-Wilfried Tsonga tomorrow in the semis and David Ferrer will play Roger Federer. If Ferrer wins then he'll play Tsonga and Djokovic will play Federer.

[Sir David Gray]

First set to Ferrer, 6-3.

It's looking good for Djokovic.

[Sir David Gray]

Second set to Berdych, 7-5 and he's currently 3-0 up in the decider as well so it looks as if it is Berdych who will go through now and not Novak Djokovic.

[Sir David Gray]

Berdych wins 3-6 7-5 6-1.

He now tops the group and sends Novak Djokovic home.

So the semi final line-up for tomorrow is complete. It will be;

David Ferrer vs Roger Federer
Tomas Berdych vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

[Sir David Gray]

Roger Federer kept up his unbeaten run against David Ferrer by booking his place in tomorrow's final with a 7-5 6-3 victory.

He will now play the winner of the other semi final between Tomas Berdych and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Tsonga currently leads 5-2 in the opening set.

Live coverage on Sky Sports 3.

[Sir David Gray]

Tsonga wins 6-3 7-5 to set up tomorrow's final against Roger Federer.

It will be their 8th meeting this year (and their 2nd at this year's tournament) and Federer leads the head-to-head this year, 5-2.

Incredibly, tomorrow's match will also be the 100th final of Roger Federer's amazing career.

That is really an unbelievable statistic. He reached his first final as a professional as an 18 year old back in 2000, when he lost in the final in Marseille. In under 12 years, he has gone on to reach this milestone and I think that shows that he is the greatest tennis player of all time.

To average almost 10 finals per year for more than a decade is just consistency on a remarkable level.

By getting to the final, Federer also ensures that he will finish the year above Andy Murray in 3rd place.

Can he challenge Djokovic and Nadal in 2012 and return to the top of the rankings once again?

[Sir David Gray]

Roger Federer wins 6-3 6-7 6-3 against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

He has just won the 70th singles title of his illustrious career and becomes the first man to win the season ending championships on six occasions.

I think he will have a battle on his hands trying to get back to world number one but he is the greatest of all time and I certainly wouldn't put it past him.

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

Your perseverance with this thread is to be admired, must be a record!

[Sir David Gray]

Your perseverance with this thread is to be admired, must be a record!

Cheers.

Quite impressed with it myself! :greengrin

It's been quite lonely though!

[greenlex]

Well done Falkirk. I have read but obviously not contributed until now.:greengrin