Yesterday we outlined part I of the 2013 ATP World Tour finals. Today we look at some of the other contenders.

David Ferrer
Current world ranking: 3
2012 year-end ranking: 5

Titles this year: Auckland, Buenos Aires

Grand Slam results this year
Australian Open: Semi-finals
French Open: Final
Wimbledon: Quarter-finals
US Open: Quarter-finals

ATP World Tour Finals history
5th qualification (third consecutive)
Best result: Finalist (2007)
Last year: Round robin

After the phenomenal season he had last year, whereby he won more titles and matches than any other man or woman during the season, David Ferrer has continued to perform up to his standards, defying his ripe old age of 31 to also finally make his Grand Slam breakthrough at the French Open.

Ferrer’s season started with a successful defence of the title in Auckland, and again his Australian Open campaign ended in a heavy defeat to eventual champion Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals.

That came after he was forced to dig his way out of trouble in the quarter-finals against fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro, whereby he was several points away from losing the match.

After flopping at Indian Wells (a second round loss), Ferrer then reached his first Masters 1000 hard court final since Shanghai in Miami, losing a thriller to Andy Murray after holding a match point late in the third set.

He then endured a frustrating clay court season, losing to the eventual champion at four consecutive tournaments: in Portugal to Stanislas Wawrinka, and then in Madrid, Rome and the French Open to Rafael Nadal.

The latter tournament, though, marked Ferrer’s breakthrough at the highest level of men’s tennis, a decade after making his Grand Slam debut at the 2003 Australian Open.

He had reached the final without the concession of a set, including defeating home favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the semi-finals, but it was Nadal’s experience which proved to be the telling factor as Ferrer succumbed in straight sets.

Wimbledon then rolled around, and once again Ferrer reached the quarter-finals, only to fall to Juan Martin del Potro despite the Argentine suffering a knee injury early in the match.

He then fell in the quarter-finals of the US Open to Richard Gasquet in five sets, missing a chance to meet Rafael Nadal in the semis. Few could have given him a bit of a chance, as Ferrer has never lost to Nadal at a hard court Grand Slam tournament (namely, the 2007 US Open and the 2011 Australian Open).

After those, he then lost back-to-back finals in the indoor swing, losing to Grigor Dimitrov and Mikhail Youzhny in Stockholm and Valencia respectively.

Now, he finds himself in with a chance to triumph in London for the first time, which would better his effort from 2007, when he lost in the final to Roger Federer in straight sets.

Ferrer is likely to be grouped with Rafael Nadal, so he could find it tough trying to reach the semi-finals. Whether he gets to the final four could also depend on if Roger Federer is also grouped with them as well.

Prediction: Round robin

Juan Martin del Potro
Current world ranking: 5
2012 year-end ranking: 7

Titles this year: Rotterdam, Washington, Tokyo, Basel

Grand Slam results this year:
Australian Open: Third round
French Open: Did not play
Wimbledon: Semi-finals
US Open: Second round

ATP World Tour Finals history
4th qualification
Best result: Final (2009)
Last year: Semi-finals

Another player who enjoyed a solid season this year was former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro.

The Argentine’s season didn’t start well, suffering an upset five-set loss to Jeremy Chardy at the Australian Open, but he rebounded well to win his first title of the year in Rotterdam, defeating Julien Benneteau in the final there.

A first Masters 1000 final since 2009 then followed, where, despite winning the first set, he fell victim to Rafael Nadal’s launched comeback.

Illness then hampered his clay court season, culminating in his absence from the French Open, where he was a quarter-finalist last year.

The grass court season then rolled around, and after losing to Lleyton Hewitt at Queen’s, he then became the first Argentine since David Nalbandian to reach the semi-finals at Wimbledon since 2002, where he lost to Novak Djokovic in the longest Wimbledon semi-final in history.

That disappointment was then soon quickly forgotten, as he then won his second title of the year in Washington. He then reached the semi-finals at Cincinnati, but could not carry that form into New York, where he fell in the second round to Hewitt in five sets.

He then entered Tokyo as a wildcard entry, replacing Andy Murray who would eventually call time on his season due to injury, and the late entry paid off as he scooped his third title of the year.

He then fell agonisingly short of landing his first Masters 1000 title, falling in a final set tiebreak to Novak Djokovic in Shanghai after thrashing recently re-crowned world number one Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals. But nevertheless, his good form also saw him win Basel, marking for a second consecutive four-title season.

This will be Juan Martin del Potro’s fourth appearance at the season-ending event, having previously reached the final in 2009, which was lost to Nikolay Davydenko.

Given his good form throughout the season, you can once again expect him to do very well in London, a city which brings back some good memories for the Argentine.

Prediction: Semi-finals

Roger Federer
Current world ranking: 6
2012 year-end ranking: 2

Title this year: Halle

Grand Slam results this year:
Australian Open: Semi-finals
French Open: Quarter-finals
Wimbledon: Second round
US Open: Fourth round

ATP World Tour Finals history
12th consecutive qualification
Best result: Won (2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011)
Last year: Final

If the second half of Roger Federer’s season is anything to go by, then his time at the top could soon be as good as over.

After more than a decade inside the world’s top four, the great Swiss dropped out of the elite four for the first time since 2003 as his streak of 36 consecutive Grand Slam quarter-finals came crashing to a shuddering halt.

This season has also seen suffer his worst season since 2002, as his age and successes finally caught up to him, as well as his inability to beat Rafael Nadal in big matches.

Thrice the Swiss has lost to his long-time Spanish rival, thrice Nadal has gone on to win a tournament.

The first signs of his decline came at the French Open, when he fell in the quarter-finals in straight sets to a fired-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the same man who came back from the dead to beat Federer at Wimbledon two years ago.

Though he was able to win his solitary title at Halle, the downfall that many had feared then began at Wimbledon, where Federer fell victim to little-known Sergiy Stakhovsky on Black Wednesday.

Federer’s upset loss headed the long queue of former top-ranked players who also fell on that day, including flambouyant Frenchman Tsonga and Russian glamour girl Maria Sharapova.

At the US Open, he then missed a chance to meet Rafael Nadal in New York for the first time, by surprisingly losing to Tommy Robredo in straight sets. That came after he lost to Nadal for a third time in the quarter-finals in Cincinnati.

He then suffered an upset defeat to Gael Monfils in Shanghai, but was able to rebound and reach the final in front of his home fans in Basel, where, despite the disappointment of a defeat to Juan Martin del Potro for a second straight year, he was given a loud, standing ovation in honour of the difficult year he has had so far.

Federer is currently staring down the barrel of his worst season titles-wise since 2001, the last time he did not win more than one title in a single season. Having now reached the quarter-finals in Paris, he will need to avenge the defeat to del Potro there, before possibly facing Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals.

By defeating Kevin Anderson in the second round in the French capital, Federer has guaranteed his presence in London, where two of his six season-ending titles have come. Perhaps a return to his favourite city can inspire a seventh World Tour Finals title, and cap off what has been a tough season for the Fed Express.

Prediction: Semi-finals

Tomas Berdych
Current world ranking: 7
2012 year-end ranking: 6

Titles this year: None

Grand Slam results this year
Australian Open: Quarter-finals
French Open: First round
Wimbledon: Quarter-finals
US Open: Fourth round

ATP World Tour Finals history
4th consecutive qualification
Best result: Semi-finals (2011)
Last year: Round robin

As the only player in the field not to win a title this year, Tomas Berdych could find it tough trying to break his title duck this year.

The Czech’s Grand Slam results have also been very inconsistent, as highlighted by a first round loss at the French Open, sandwiched in between quarter-finals in Australia and at Wimbledon.

However, he was able to reach a few finals this season – in Marseille, where he lost to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and in Dubai, where he fell to Novak Djokovic after defeating the defending champion, Roger Federer, in the semi-finals.

He has also had some other significant results throughout the year – apart from the aforementioned quarter-finals at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, he also reached the semi-finals at Indian Wells, Rome, Cincinnati and Beijing, losing on each occasion to Rafael Nadal, the latter occurring when the Birdman had to retire due to injury.

In Rome, he came back from the dead to knock off Djokovic, but also lost to the same opponent in those aforementioned Grand Slam quarter-finals.

He also scored a double victory on Andy Murray, knocking him off in the quarter-finals in Madrid and at Cincinnati.

This is the fourth consecutive year in which Berdych has qualified for the season-ending championships in London, but given his poor season, it’d be hard to back against him winning here.

Prediction: Round robin

Stanislas Wawrinka
Current world ranking: 8
2012 year-end ranking: 17

Titles this year: Portugal

Grand Slam results this year
Australian Open: Fourth round
French Open: Quarter-finals
Wimbledon: First round
US Open: Semi-finals

ATP World Tour Finals history
First qualification
Best result: N/A
Last year: N/A

If there’s one player who has significantly improved over the last twelve months, it’s Switzerland’s other Master, Stanislas Wawrinka.

“Stan the Man”, as he is affectionately known, is the only debutant in this year’s field and has had a massive breakout season this year, despite only being able to capture one title (in Portugal).

He started the year by reaching the fourth round at the Australian Open, falling to eventual champion Novak Djokovic in a match which lasted more than five hours and with the final set stretching out to 12-10.

Wawrinka had threatened to complete a black day for the Serbians after two players had fallen earlier in the evening, but Djokovic would save some grace for the country and demonstrate why he remains as one of the great ironmen in the game today.

Link: http://www.theroar.com.au/2013/01/21/novak-djokovic-the-ironman-toughs-out-wawrinka/

His impressive season has seen him notch up seven top ten victories, including doubles over Andy Murray and Tomas Berdych, as well as a defeat of David Ferrer to win his only title for the year in Portugal.

He was also able to reach his first Grand Slam semi-final, losing in five sets (again) to Djokovic after thrashing an out-of-sorts Murray in the quarter-finals. He also reached the final eight in Paris for the first time, at the expense of home hope Richard Gasquet, against whom he came from two sets down to defeat in five sets.

As the only debutant in the field, Wawrinka will be the least experienced of the eight qualifiers. But just how he fares will be one big question.

Prediction: Round robin

Richard Gasquet
Current world ranking: 10
2012 year-end ranking: 10

Titles this year: Qatar, Montpellier, Kremlin Cup

Grand Slam results this year
Australian Open: Fourth round
French Open: Fourth round
Wimbledon: Third round
US Open: Semi-finals

ATP World Tour Finals history
second qualification (first since 2007)
Best result: Round robin (2007)
Last year: Did not qualify

One man who has continued his solid progress this year is French number two, and soon-to-be French number one, Richard Gasquet.

After winning only two titles since September 2007, Gasquet started his season by defeating resurgent Russian Nikolay Davydenko in Qatar; that then preceded his fifth straight fourth round loss at a Grand Slam tournament, when he fell to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the Australian Open.

A run to the semi-finals in Miami followed, where he fell to the tournament’s eventual champion, Andy Murray. He also reached the quarter-finals at Monte Carlo and Montreal, losing to Fabio Fognini and Novak Djokovic, respectively.

He also suffered a heartbreaking fourth round loss to Stanislas Wawrinka at the French Open after winning the first two sets, and also fell to Bernard Tomic in the third round at Wimbledon.

But very importantly, he was able to reach his first Grand Slam semi-final since 2007 at the US Open, where after defeating Spanish nemesis David Ferrer in five sets, he lost to eventual champion Rafael Nadal in straight sets.

He then repeated the dose on Ferrer in Beijing, this time in straight sets, before losing again to eventual champion Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals. That preceded his third title for the year, when he won the Kremlin Cup to follow earlier successes in Qatar and Montpellier.

This will be his first trip to the World Tour Finals since 2007, and there’s no doubt that he has come a very long way after allegations of cocaine use and injury sent his ranking plummeting to 68 in May 2010.

He still remains far off his best world ranking (#7, achieved in July 2007) and he will have to raise his level up to that of the world’s elite if he is to do well in his first appearance here in six years.

Prediction: Round robin