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Preview: 2013 ATP World Tour Finals

Roar Guru
3rd November, 2013
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Roar Guru
3rd November, 2013
1

The draw for the 2013 ATP World Tour Finals has been released and there are some exciting matches that we should watch out for over the coming week in London.

This tournament begins with a round robin format, which splits the eight finalists into two groups of four.

Each player within their group plays each other once, and the two leading players from each group then progress to the semi-finals, from where the standard knockout system then takes effect.

The top two seeds cannot meet each other in this stage – neither can players three and four, five and six, or seven and eight.

It is possible, however, that a top seed in any group can finish as the second-best player. So the top two seeds could end up meeting in the semi-finals, as was the case when Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal met in the penultimate match in 2006 and 2007, when this tournament was then known as the Tennis Masters Cup.

Let’s now have a look at each of the two groups.

Group A
Group A is headlined by none other than Rafael Nadal, enjoying the most successful season of his career after  well-documented knee injuries sidelined him between last year’s second round exit at Wimbledon and this year’s Australian Open, inclusive.

Nadal will face David Ferrer, who recently got the better of him in the semi-finals of the Paris Masters. This denied the younger Spaniard the chance to win his first ever title at Bercy, having won eight titles at the nearby Roland Garros, the most recent of which came at Ferrer’s expense.

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Also on the menu for Nadal will be Tomas Berdych, his victim in the 2010 Wimbledon final, and Stanislas Wawrinka, against whom he tasted victory three times this year, including in the quarter-finals of the French Open.

With a combined 47-8 record against all three players in his group, it’ll be hard to back against Nadal reaching the semi-finals for the first time since 2010, when his bid to complete the Super Slam was denied by Roger Federer in the championship match.

Nadal versus Ferrer
Head-to-head: Nadal 20-5
Last meeting: Ferrer 6-3, 7-5, semi-finals, 2013 Paris Masters

Nadal versus Berdych
Head-to-head: Nadal 16-3
Last meeting: Nadal 4-2 ret., semi-finals, 2013 China Open

Nadal versus Wawrinka
Head-to-head: Nadal 11-0
Last meeting: Nadal 7-6 (12-10), 6-1, quarter-finals, 2013 Shanghai Masters

Ferrer versus Berdych
Head-to-head: Ferrer 8-3
Last meeting: Ferrer 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, quarter-finals, 2013 Paris Masters

Ferrer versus Wawrinka
Head-to-head: Ferrer 7-4
Last meeting: Wawrinka 6-1, 6-4, final, 2013 Portugal Open

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Wawrinka versus Berdych
Head-to-head: Wawrinka 7-5
Last meeting: 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (8-6), 6-2, fourth round, 2013 US Open

Predicted finish
1. Nadal
2. Ferrer
3. Wawrinka
4. Berdych

Group B
As with Group A, this group will pair Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic together in another rematch of a semi-final from the soon-to-be-completed Paris Masters. That contest was won by Djokovic, who will aim for his 50th ATP World Tour title against the defending champion, David Ferrer.

Djokovic will also reprise two of his most memorable meetings against Juan Martin del Potro from Wimbledon (where Djokovic won the longest Wimbledon semi-final in history) and Shanghai (where the Djoker won the title in a championship set tiebreak), while Federer will also keep his rivalry against his 2009 US Open nemesis in this stage.

Richard Gasquet, the forgotten man of the last six years, will also ensure that he is not here to make up the numbers, but his poor record against the other three players could be exposed if he does not lift his game in what will be his first appearance at the ATP season ender since 2007.

Djokovic versus del Potro
Head-to-head: Djokovic 10-3
Last meeting: Djokovic 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), final, 2013 Shanghai Masters

Djokovic versus Federer
Head-to-head: Federer 16-14
Last meeting: Djokovic 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, semi-finals, 2013 Paris Masters

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Djokovic versus Gasquet
Head-to-head: Djokovic 10-1
Last meeting: Djokovic 6-4, 6-2, semi-finals, 2013 China Open

del Potro versus Federer
Head-to-head: Federer 14-5
Last meeting: Federer 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, quarter-finals, 2013 Paris Masters

del Potro versus Gasquet
Head-to-head: del Potro 5-1
Last meeting: del Potro 6-2, 6-2, semi-finals, 2012 Swiss Indoors

Gasquet versus Federer
Head-to-head: Federer 10-2
Last meeting: Federer 6-3, 6-2, third round, 2012 Madrid Masters

Predicted finish
1. Djokovic
2. Federer
3. del Potro
4. Gasquet

As has already been explained, the top two seeds from each group then progress to the semi-finals, while the bottom two seeds from each group are eliminated and thus take no further part in the Finals.

If the results go as predicted above, the semi-final line-ups will be Rafael Nadal versus Roger Federer, and Novak Djokovic versus David Ferrer.

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Nadal and Djokovic would then be favoured to meet in the final, which would be their fifth meeting this year.

The pair have split their meetings this season, though it was Nadal who won the match that mattered the most – the US Open final – as well as a semi-final thriller at the French Open.

With the ATP season almost over, it’s now time to sit back, relax and enjoy the world’s top eight men fight it out for season supremacy at the ATP World Tour Finals.

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