Tennis News

The final of the Group A round robin matches will feature a rematch of the lopsided China Open final between Novak Djokovic and Tomas Berdych. Their last indoor meeting was a disaster for Berdych and he will be faced with a similar task when he meets the inspired Djokovic again in 2014. Djokovic leads the Head to Head series 15-2 and will be looking to extend his indoor record.

Djokovic continued his winning ways at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals with a remarkably dominant showing against Stan Wawrinka on Wednesday afternoon. The Serbian star dispatched his Swiss adversary 6-3, 6-0 in 6 minutes to cement himself atop the Group A standings.

“I definitely didn’t expect it, but hoped that I can play this way again and the match result can go this way for me,” said Djokovic. “Obviously Stan wasn’t feeling his best today, made a lot of unforced errors and had a low percentage of first serves in. On my side, I just played very solid from all over the court. I think I covered the court very well, got a lot of balls back, mixed up the pace, got him off the comfort zone. That’s something that was part of my game plan.”

With his latest victory, Djokovic is now one win away from clinching the year-end No. 1 ranking. He also extended his indoor winning streak to 29 matches and has now managed two bagel sets against Top 10 players in the last month – one of which he will meet again here in London.

In a surprising statistic, Tomas Berdych maintained his undefeated record in second round robin matches at the WTF with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over reigning US Open champion Marin Cilic. Following his 6-1, 6-1 loss to Wawrinka in his opening match, this was a big step forward for the Czech No. 1.

“I felt much better on the court,” said Berdych. “But still it was not one of my best. That’s fair to say. But I think that’s the beauty of this event. One day you can be swept out from the court like I did and in two days’ time you can come up and you can play a different tennis.

This marks the 18th time that Djokovic and Berdych will meet on the professional tour, with the top seed holding a dominant 15-2 record against his adversary. Last month Djokovic demolished Berdych 6-2, 6-0 in the China Open final to hand the Czech his most embarrassing victory ever. While Berdych will likely find his way on the scoreboard this time around, he will be hard-pressed to penetrate the aura and confidence of Djokovic at this stage of the tournament.

Prediction: Novak Djokovic in Straight Sets

The latest chapter of the Roger Federer vs, Andy Murray rivalry will be written on Thursday evening at the O2 Arena in London, as the two top competitors cross paths for a 23rd time on the ATP World Tour. The head to head series is currently tied at 11-11, with Federer winning three of their last four meetings dating back to the semi-final round of the World Tour Finals in 2012. Much will be at stake in this coming encounter, as Murray looks to secure a semi-final berth, while Federer hopes to remain undefeated to add to his chances of reaching the year-end No. 1 ranking.

Six-time WTF champion Roger Federer lost only five games in his victory over Kei Nishikori. The second seed overwhelmed his Japanese opponent en route to a 6-3, 6-2 victory. He struck 11 winners, four aces and closed out the encounter in 69 minutes.

“There’s so much still at stake for me, wanting to beat a fellow rival and wanting to win the points that are at stake, go in with a clean sheet into the semis. I’m happy after two matches I’m standing here with two wins. It’s very positive.”

While he may not have enjoyed the brightest of starts to his World Tour Finals campaign this season, Andy Murray kept his hopes for a semi-final berth alive with a straight sets victory over Milos Raonic. The British No. 1, who is seeded fifth at the event, picked up his first win over the Canadian this season, and did so without even playing his best tennis.

The Scot exchanged breaks with Raonic early in the second set before he took command of the match to close it out 6-3, 7-5 with another late break of serve.

“I obviously played better tonight,” said Murray. “I hit the ball a lot cleaner than I did on Sunday from the beginning of the match. So that was pleasing.”

The British No. 1’s final round robin match-up will be contested against second seed Roger Federer, who leads Group B as the only undefeated player with a 2-0 record. Murray can secure the second spot but it is will all depend on his next match and that of Nishikori.

“It will be obviously a very difficult match [against Federer],” said Murray. “But it will be an exciting match. A good one to be part of. I hope I can play well. We’ve had some very good matches over the years. I hope on Thursday it will be the same.”

Of their previous 22 meetings on the tour, the series is dead even at 11 wins each. Both Federer and Murray will be motivated to pick up the victory for a variety of reasons beyond simple bragging rights. Given their current form, Federer should hold the advantage here, although Murray is more than capable of making it a tough encounter.

Prediction: Roger Federer in Three Sets

Following contrasting trajectories in their opening two matches in their respective Barclays World Tour Finals debuts, Kei Nishikori and Milos Raonic will cross paths in the final round robin clash to determine whether the Japanese No. 1 will remain in the running for a semi-final berth in London. This marks their fourth meeting in 2014, with Kei leading the overall head-to-head series 3-1.

After winning his WTF debut against Andy Murray, Nishikori was unable to sustain the momentum and was eventually downed by Roger Federer in a fairly straightforward encounter on Tuesday. The fourth seed was unable to find his best tennis on this occasion and lost to the six-time champion 6-3, 6-2. While Nishikori had strapping placed on his wrist during the match, he revealed that he was simply unable to get a foot in on Roger’s service games.

“He didn’t give me a chance to come back,” said Nishikori. “I didn’t play really bad. “I never feel that he’s 33 right now. He still looks young and plays amazing tennis.”

Milos Raonic, however, was not as lucky as his upcoming opponent. Faced with the task of toppling Federer for a second time in two weeks, Raonic faltered and was unable to replicate his efforts. His second encounter was against another Grand Slam champion in Andy Murray, who allowed for a slightly more competitive match but still edged out the win in straight sets.

The Canadian lost to the fifth seed 6-3, 7-5 to join Marin Cilic with an 0-2 record at the event.

“I haven’t served well,” said Raonic. “I’ve been too passive on the court. I’ve been trying to beat the two guys playing their tennis, and that’s not going to work for me.”

This marks the fifth time that Nishikori and Raonic will meet on the professional tour, and the fourth time so far this season. Nishikori leads both the overall series (3-1) and the annual series (2-1), with Raonic’s win taking place in his breakthrough run at the Wimbledon Championships earlier in the season. Based on their respective performances so far this week in London, Nishikori should hold the advantage.

Prediction: Kei Nishikori in Three Sets

After going a combined 24-4 against their respective opponents to start their World Tour Finals campaigns, Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka will renew their rivalry once more when they cross paths for a 19th time on the professional tour. Djokovic leads the series 15-3, but Wawrinka won their only meeting in 2014 back at the start of the season in Melbourne en route to his maiden Grand Slam title. Check out the Djokovic v Wawrinka Head to Head.

Coming off a successful title defense at the Paris Bercy, Djokovic found his form early in the first group match against Marin Cilic and maintained command en route to a 6-1, 6-1 victory over the reigning US Open champion. It was an impeccable showing from the Serb, and a disastrous display from the Croat.

While all their previous matches this season went to deciding sets, including a five-set marathon at Wimbledon, Djokovic took advantage of Cilic’s poor serving and timid shot making to pressure the Croat and force him around the court in awkward angles. The win advances his undefeated record against Cilic to 11-0.

“Winning in straight sets helps a lot for the rest of the tournament,” said Djokovic, who is riding a 28-match indoor winning streak. “But I’m going to try to win every match I play.”

In the opening match on Monday, Wawrinka stormed past Czech No. 1 Tomas Berdych to pick up one of his most impressive victories of the season. The Swiss No. 1 needed only 58 minutes to dispatch Berdych 6-1, 6-1. According to ATPWorldTour.com, it was the fewest number of games he has lost against a Top 10 opponent all season.

“I didn’t expect to win that easy,” said Wawrinka. “But I was ready to play well. I had a great week of preparation. Even if the result wasn’t there in Basel and Paris, I was feeling the ball really well on the practice court.

“When I feel good on the court, I’m ready to beat everybody. It’s never easy, but you have to fight for it.”

While Wawrinka has not had the most inspiring of seasons post-US Open, his destruction of Berdych breathes new life into Group A and puts heft expectations on his coming encounter with Djokovic. The two competitors have taken part in some of the most memorable matches of the past two seasons, and could add another epic to their series on Wednesday afternoon.

After a humdrum few days of matches, this one promises to live up to expectations.

Prediction: Novak Djokovic in Three Sets

Following dreadful starts I their respective encounters on Monday, US Open champion Marin Cilic and Czech No. 1 Tomas Berdych will be looking to redeem themselves with better performances in their second matches in Group A. A loss here would almost surely mean the end of their run at the prestigious year-end championships – something neither man will be looking forward to. Berdych leads the head-to-head series 5-4 but they split their only two previous indoor meetings, which only adds to the overall selling point of the match. In their last encounter, the Croat overcame the Czech in the US Open quarter-finals in straight sets.

Follow the match live here: Tomas Berdych v Marin Cilic

Although he had pushed Djokovic in all three of their previous meetings this season, including a five set thriller at the Wimbledon Championships, Marin Cilic was unable to assert himself in his World Tour Final debut and simply crumbled against an aggressive Djokovic. While Cilic appeared promising in his opening service game, he was unable to win more than two games in the entire match, and didn’t even hold serve in the second set.

“I felt that Novak played really, really solid today,” said Cilic. “I felt a little bit uncomfortable on the court, rusty… I felt that I was not hitting it clean. That’s always difficult, especially against Novak, to get away with a win when you’re not playing so good.”

Another pair of breadsticks occurred in the Monday match-up between Tomas Berdych and Stan Wawrinka, as the Czech No. 1 was blown off court by his Swiss adversary with a 6-1, 6-1 end result. Berdych, who struck 20 unforced errors, admitted that it was quite possibly his worst match of the season. This is made particularly worse when you consider Wawrinka’s terrible 1-4 run throughout the Fall.

“Unfortunately, it was my worst match of the whole season and I kept it for the start here,” said Berdych. “Today, I didn’t really feel anything right. I can just keep fighting and try to play good tennis.”

This marks the tenth time that Cilic and Berdych will meet on the professional tour and will likely serve as one of their more pivotal encounters yet. Both were embarrassed in their WTF openers and will be looking to avenge themselves with sharper performances and a victory to keep their hopes alive.

Prediction: Marin Cilic in Three Sets