Barclays ATP World Tour Finals 2014

[Denis]

Yeah, Novak basically owns his group - although he has lost to Stan in their last encounter, which was quite a biggie.

Then Stan is the next strongest and Cilic the weakest (going by the unscientific method of comparing H2H's) but I agree, Murat, it wouldn't be a surprise to see Cilic go through and Stan post a chubby ZERO.

Group B is more interesting because Fed has 2 guys he's tied with - and then Raonic, who beat him in Bercy. The rest of the group is tangled: Murray leads Nishi, Nishi leads Raonic, Raonic leads Murray.

These may not be telling in London, but there you have it...

Cilic has as a problem that he has barely played in the last few weeks and its his debut. I would not be surprised if Berdych makes it to the semis this time. He was clearly very eager to make it this year, and might be extra motivated to finally do something here. He also reached the semis in Paris and is quite good indoors (his toss doesnt suffer from the wind, for one).

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Draw ceremony will be at 15:00 GMT on Monday. Hardly, 16 hours to go.

Let us hope that Kei, Cilic and Berdych all end up in Novak's Group.

2 out of 3 ain't bad.

Group A:

Djokovic, Wawrinka, Berdych, Cilic

Group B:

Federer, Nishikori, Murray, Raonic.

Interesting times ahead...

I will take 2 out of 3. I am confident of Fed beating Raonic (despite what happened in Bercy)
and Murray. With Kei, it depends on whether we have a Kei with a WTA serve or a Kei with
an ATP serve. In the former case, he is no force to worry about.

Have you noticed that all GS winners are in the same group. That theoretically makes
Novak's group tougher. But, as you point out in the H2H analysis, Novak has dominant
record against everybody.

I want a undefeated Fed playing in semifinal against a one-loss Novak.
This is because, in that case, they will be playing for all the marbles.

 

[Kieran]

Stan looks so far adrift from his slam win, though, but it is interesting that they're all in Group A.

And Federer has 2 players who've never been involved in this tournament and Murray, who missed it last year...

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Of the three slam winners, at most two can reach SF as all of them are in the same group.

 

[Denis]

There are also doubles going on, which is actually fun to watch especially here somehow. This is the breakdown for the two groups there:

Group A

Bob Bryan / Mike Bryan
Alexander Peya / Bruno Soares
Jean-Julien Rojer / Horia Tecau
Lukasz Kubot / Robert Lindstedt

Group B

Daniel Nestor / Nenad Zimonjic
Julien Benneteau / Edouard Roger-Vasselin
Marcel Granollers / Marc Lopez
Ivan Dodig / Marcelo Melo

 

[Denis]

Schedule for Sunday:

Murray v Kei
Roger v Milos

http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2014/605/op.pdf

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Schedule for Sunday:

Murray v Kei
Roger v Milos

http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2014/605/op.pdf

I like the schedule. This means the old man will get a day off between his last RR match
and the semifinals.

The group A folks have to play the last three days in a row.

 

[Kieran]

I dunno why they do that. Why not call Novak's group "Group B" then, if it's starting second... :huh:

 

[masterclass]

I dunno why they do that. Why not call Novak's group "Group B" then, if it's starting second... :huh:

Group A
IF everyone were at their best it would be a tough group with all 3 of the slam winners playing. But somehow I don't think their slam form will be there for all.

For example, I don't know if Wawrinka has been putting all effort on clay practice behind the scenes and will not put in big enough effort here in London, or if he is finally going all in.

I also don't know how Cilic is doing with his arm. How good will his form be after almost a month since his Moscow win?

So this is hard to predict.

The easiest to predict is Novak Djokovic, who is in the best current form, but will he relax a little after Paris? I think not. Cilic is the only question mark here for Djokovic. He's never beaten Nole, but none of the 3 matches in 2014 were easy for Nole. Wawrinka might be a challenge if he were extremely motivated. But with Davis Cup coming? And Berdych? No. I see Nole 3-0 or 2-1 at worst.

Stan Wawrinka has a convincing H2H against all except Djokovic, he should go 2-1 if he is putting forth necessary effort, but I can see him under-performing due to Davis Cup focus.

Marin Cilic is up on Berdych this year beating him at the US Open and Wimbledon, losing in Rotterdam early in the year. If he is in form and physically ok, I think he'll beat Berdych. He's had a tough time against Stan, even this year, so I go with Stan in that match. He hasn't won against Nole, but he's been closer this year. So I think Cilic could go 1-2 or maybe 2-1 if he is really playing well.

I think Mr. Berdych is up against it here. He could go 0-3 unless he catches a break against an under-performing Stan, or not up to snuff Cilic.

I should say that if one of Cilic or Wawrinka drop out and Ferrer moves in, that Ferrer could mess things up a bit. He can be tough in London.

Group B
Federer: 3-0
Nishikori: 1-2 (Beats Raonic, loses to Murray and Federer)
Murray: 1-2 (Beats Nishikori, loses to Raonic and Federer)
Raonic: 1-2 (Beats Murray, loses to Nishikori and Federer)
----
(above pretty much based on H2H differences/performances in London WTF)

As GSaM mentioned Group B gets the extra day off between the last RR and the semis this year.
That will be good news for two of Federer, Nishikori, Murray, or Raonic.

If Federer makes it, it could bode well for him.
The last two years he did not have a day off between the last RR and semifinals, he lost in the final (2012), and in the semis (2013). Both of those times he had tough matches against Del Potro in the last RR.

The last two years he had a day off before the semis, he won the tournament (2010, 2011).

Respectfully,
masterclass

 

[Federberg]

It's interesting how Djoker and Roger share the WTF. They each win 2 in a row, then the other does the business. Wonder if it's Rogers time this time! Don't like his group though. If he does pull out a win it'll be very impressive, and could bode well for next year

 

[Front242]

Roger was also 3-4 years younger in 2010-2011. Methinks that's more the key than the day off Recovery doesn't get better with age so it's only logical for his best results to be in the past.

 

[Fiero425]

As usual, Nole gets hosed again; 2 other major winners in his group while Federer gets the leftovers! I just don't understand how this keeps happening? When Roger or Rafa are reigning #1's, they get qualifiers, wildcards, and over the hill "pigeons!" lol! Neither Kei or Andy are pigeons, but they've had a very long season and are coming off tough losses in the last couple weeks! Murray won a couple smaller events as well and should be exhausted by now!

 

[kskate2]

^ It's called a draw Fiero. That's how the cookie crumbles. Nole doesn't always get hosed. He's had some easier draws throughout his career. Besides, #1 should be able to beat anybody on any given day, right?

 

[Fiero425]

^ It's called a draw Fiero. That's how the cookie crumbles. Nole doesn't always get hosed. He's had some easier draws throughout his career. Besides, #1 should be able to beat anybody on any given day, right?

I'm not concerned; just stating how I feel about these so called random draws! lol! :laydownlaughing uzzled :nono

 

[Federberg]

^ It's called a draw Fiero. That's how the cookie crumbles. Nole doesn't always get hosed. He's had some easier draws throughout his career. Besides, #1 should be able to beat anybody on any given day, right?

I'm not concerned; just stating how I feel about these so called random draws! lol! :laydownlaughing uzzled :nono

I'm really surprised you think Novak's draw is tougher than Roger's. Cilic and Wawrinka have really stunk up the joint in the last month. And let's not even talk about what Berdych suffered against Novak in Beijing. On the other side you have arguably the 3rd best player in the draw, the guy who just beat Federer and a guy who always plays tough against Roger. Believe me if we could switch I would take Novak's side for Roger every day of the week and Sunday

 

[Fiero425]

^ It's called a draw Fiero. That's how the cookie crumbles. Nole doesn't always get hosed. He's had some easier draws throughout his career. Besides, #1 should be able to beat anybody on any given day, right?

I'm not concerned; just stating how I feel about these so called random draws! lol! :laydownlaughing uzzled :nono

I'm really surprised you think Novak's draw is tougher than Roger's. Cilic and Wawrinka have really stunk up the joint in the last month. And let's not even talk about what Berdych suffered against Novak in Beijing. On the other side you have arguably the 3rd best player in the draw, the guy who just beat Federer and a guy who always plays tough against Roger. Believe me if we could switch I would take Novak's side for Roger every day of the week and Sunday

I don't doubt what you say, it's "the moment" being such a big event that Nole has the VETS while Roger has some players that may be a little fragile because of it being their first appearance there; except for Andy who should be "bone" tired! :angel: :nono :dodgy:

 

[kskate2]

^ It's called a draw Fiero. That's how the cookie crumbles. Nole doesn't always get hosed. He's had some easier draws throughout his career. Besides, #1 should be able to beat anybody on any given day, right?

I'm not concerned; just stating how I feel about these so called random draws! lol! :laydownlaughing uzzled :nono

I'm really surprised you think Novak's draw is tougher than Roger's. Cilic and Wawrinka have really stunk up the joint in the last month. And let's not even talk about what Berdych suffered against Novak in Beijing. On the other side you have arguably the 3rd best player in the draw, the guy who just beat Federer and a guy who always plays tough against Roger. Believe me if we could switch I would take Novak's side for Roger every day of the week and Sunday

I don't doubt what you say, it's "the moment" being such a big event that Nole has the VETS while Roger has some players that may be a little fragile because of it being their first appearance there; except for Andy who should be "bone" tired! :angel: :nono :dodgy:

If these newbies could withstand a slam final, then they should be OK here. The only person I would consider a little green is Milos. He hasn't ascended to a slam final just yet and may succumb to nerves. We'll have to see to how it plays out.

 

[Denis]

Fiero, it's a great draw for Novak. I prefer Berdych over Murray, Stan over Kei, and Cilic over Milos. And it doesn't really matter in any event. All tough opponents, but ones he can handle.

 

[Denis]

The only draws that really got me worked up where the 2011 ones where they kept putting Federer in Novak's half and Murray in Nadal's. Not that it mattered that year

 

[Fiero425]

The only draws that really got me worked up where the 2011 ones where they kept putting Federer in Novak's half and Murray in Nadal's. Not that it mattered that year

I railed about that too! From 2011 on since Nole ascended to the top, I see these draws and wonder! :angel: uzzled - Rafa comes back aft4r one of his extended layoffs and even as a 4th or 5th ranked player, he was catching breaks in his draw! It was no wonder he cleaned up taking another FO, USO, those Masters, and the #1 ranking last season!