Barclays ATP World Tour Finals - Day 1

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

RE: Barclays ATP World Tour Finals - Nov. 4-11

I'm not really sure its rafa who is in "the group of cake",

stan the spam warinka seems to be able to raise his level in recent times, and burdych's flat shots on indoor hc won't be a laugh for rafa..

the semis might have a few surprises..i was expecting rafa to win today going for '6 of the best'..but his level seems lower. so was it a blip or a general trend downwards away from the awesomeness of earlier in the year.

 

[Front242]

RE: Barclays ATP World Tour Finals - Nov. 4-11

That's the thing. I also agree Berdych will be far harder to contend with on this surface, just as Ferrer proved tonight. But it's still an easier group than group b! It's like bookies basing odds on players but forgetting to analyze results on the surface in advance. People are underestimating a lot of players and overestimating one in particular.

 

[nehmeth]

RE: Barclays ATP World Tour Finals - Nov. 4-11

An in form Nole smashes Nadal on in London, IMO.

The way Rafa is playing now, an in-form Ferrer smashed him...

:snigger

Just got done watching their match. Ralf certainly didn't seem to put his best tennis into that one. I would guess he will put a lot more effort into playing well at the WTF.

 

[Didi]

RE: Barclays ATP World Tour Finals - Nov. 4-11

On a sidenote - looking at the live rankings with the points from last year's YEC already deducted, Del Potro is 5th with 5055 points behind Murray (5790) and Ferrer (5800). In order to finish the year as #4 and get a top 4 seed for Melbourne he'll need to win at least 2 group matches (2x200) and the semi (400) for a total of 800 points to jump over Murray. In a nutshell - beat Gasquet and Fed in your group and Rafa in the semis and you are there, Delpo. Easier said than done though...

 

[Moxie]

RE: Barclays ATP World Tour Finals - Nov. 4-11

Thanks for pointing that one out, Didi. Much to watch out for next week.

 

[Iona16]

RE: Barclays ATP World Tour Finals - Nov. 4-11

Just saw this on tennis.com and feel sorry for Del Potro as he seems a very religious guy and this was obviously a prized possession to him. He wore it in all his matches.

http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2013/11/del-potro-robbed-cherished-rosary-stolen/49665/#.UnVV8ydoM3M

I have to say Gard du Nord is a horrible train station. A few years ago my friend was just about to get on the train when she realised that someone had managed to slice through the leather of her bag (which had been across her shoulder) and steal what had been in it. It was nothing more than makeup but she said the most terrifying thing was that someone had been directly behind her with something sharp enough to slice clean through leather.

Poor Del Potro. I'm glad he was still able to gain entry to the UK. I hope Pope Francis sends another set of rosary beads to Juan.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

RE: Barclays ATP World Tour Finals - Nov. 4-11

Did you all notice the difference in scheduling of WTF matches this year.

Normally, on the first two days of WTF in each group seed 1 will play against
seed 4 and seed 2 will play against seed 3. This is to give the advantage of an
easy match to the top seed.

During the next two days, they will pit the two winners against each other
and the two losers against each other to make the event interesting for the
fans and the semi final slots remain open for a longer period.

Finally in the last two days, they will schedule the left out matches.

I really liked that format.

This year with Paris ending only on sunday and London starting on Monday,
they were forced to violate the abovementioned beautiful scheduling scheme.

I am glad that starting from next year, we do have a week gap again between
London and Paris. This week gap ensures that all players will be rested properly
before this important event and the scheduling can be done nicely (mentioned
above) as they always used to do.

 

[NADAL2005RG]

RE: Barclays ATP World Tour Finals - Nov. 4-11

On this surface he'd have a hard time against Del Potro and Fed too and nothing I've seen from him on indoor this year makes me change this viewpoint for now.

Federer looks too error-prone these days. Del Potro has probably overplayed (and this is only the beginning, now that Del Potro is in the same group as Djokovic/Federer). Even in 2010, Nadal was extremely good at the World Tour Finals, beating Djokovic, Murray and taking a set from an on-fire Federer. I rate 2013 Nadal above 2010 Nadal.

 

[NADAL2005RG]

RE: Barclays ATP World Tour Finals - Nov. 4-11

I'm not really sure its rafa who is in "the group of cake",

stan the spam warinka seems to be able to raise his level in recent times, and burdych's flat shots on indoor hc won't be a laugh for rafa..

That's what they always say about Berdych/Wawrinka. And its never true vs Nadal. And those guys aren't even playing well right now, even by their standards.

 

[Mastoor]

RE: Barclays ATP World Tour Finals - Nov. 4-11

I wonder what is Nadal's combined h2h with the players in his group. I imagine something like 70-3.

On the other hand No1e's fans guessed right last week that Fed and Delpo will be in his group.

 

[NADAL2005RG]

RE: Barclays ATP World Tour Finals - Nov. 4-11

Nadal leads Ferrer 20-5
Nadal leads Berdych 16-3 (but Nadal has won their last 15)
Nadal leads Wawrinka 11-0

Nadal really just needs to make sure he beats Berdych/Wawrinka as per usual. The Ferrer match is kind of optional. Nadal should not waste energy on the Ferrer match one way or another.

 

[Mastoor]

RE: Barclays ATP World Tour Finals - Nov. 4-11

OK then, 47-8, I wasn't far away, basically he was given 3 pigeons of his and he can chose any 2 to beat. From what I hear Wawrinka and Ferrer freeze in front of him like deers in headlights.

 

[tented]

RE: Barclays ATP World Tour Finals - Nov. 4-11

OK then, 47-8, I wasn't far away, basically he was given 3 pigeons of his and he can chose any 2 to beat. From what I hear Wawrinka and Ferrer freeze in front of him like deers in headlights.

He just lost to Ferrer in straight sets today -- hardly a deer in the headlights phenomenon.

 

[brokenshoelace]

RE: Barclays ATP World Tour Finals - Nov. 4-11

From what I hear Wawrinka and Ferrer freeze in front of him like deers in headlights.

Hmmm....

 

[Mastoor]

RE: Barclays ATP World Tour Finals - Nov. 4-11

So you reckon Ferrer finally learned how to beat Rafa. I doubt.

 

[Kieran]

RE: Barclays ATP World Tour Finals - Nov. 4-11

No1e's fans guessed right last week that Fed and Delpo will be in his group.

Can they tell me next weeks lotto numbers? Seriously, I'll give them half!

 

[tented]

RE: Barclays ATP World Tour Finals - Nov. 4-11

So you reckon Ferrer finally learned how to beat Rafa. I doubt.

Did you watch the match? Did you even see the scores?

Ferrer won. Period. He played a smart, clean match, and he won.

It wasn't the first time he's beaten Rafa on hards, and it probably won't be the last.

 

[brokenshoelace]

RE: Barclays ATP World Tour Finals - Nov. 4-11

So you reckon Ferrer finally learned how to beat Rafa. I doubt.

It wasn't the first time he beats him. And nobody is suggesting this is a turning point or anything.

 

[nehmeth]

RE: Barclays ATP World Tour Finals - Nov. 4-11

So you reckon Ferrer finally learned how to beat Rafa. I doubt.

It wasn't the first time he beats him. And nobody is suggesting this is a turning point or anything.

And no one was suggesting Ralf was putting his normally herculean effort into winning either. Had Roger won the first semi, who knows? He might have done his usual dusting of David in anticipation of expanding his h2h with the "goat".

 

[Kieran]

RE: Barclays ATP World Tour Finals - Nov. 4-11

So you reckon Ferrer finally learned how to beat Rafa. I doubt.

It wasn't the first time he beats him. And nobody is suggesting this is a turning point or anything.

And no one was suggesting Ralf was putting his normally herculean effort into winning either. Had Roger won the first semi, who knows? He might have done his usual dusting of David in anticipation of expanding his h2h with the "goat".

You think he's afraid of expanding his h2h with Nole? He's done that quite successfully these last two seasons...