A few weeks back, the WTA Finals in Singapore came to an enthralling end with a resurgent Dominika Cibulkova summing up her most consistent season by beating new World No.1 Angelique Kerber to lift the WTA Finals trophy. Now, it’s time for the men’s season-ending championships at London. This year has been a very eventful year in men’s tennis with Novak Djokovic completing a Career Grand Slam and Andy Murray becoming the only singles player, male or female, to win two successive Olympic golds before dethroning Djokovic as the World No.1, thus becoming the first British player to achieve this in the Open Era. The withdrawals of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal has opened doors for the likes of Dominic Thiem and Gael Monfils who will be taking part in their maiden World Tour Finals. The draw for the tournament has already been made with the John McEnroe group consisting of Murray, Wawrinka, Nishikori, and Cilic and the Ivan Lendl group consisting of Djokovic, Raonic, Monfils, and Thiem. Both the groups have some very exciting matchups on the cards. So without any further delay, let’s take a look at five matches to look out for in the 2016 ATP World Tour Finals.
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#5. Kei Nishikori vs Marin Cilic
Both Cilic and Nishikori share an intense rivalry, having played 12 matches with Nishikori leading 7-5. The intensity of their rivalry was at its peak in 2014 where they met in three ATP tournaments. Nishikori won their first two meetings at the Brisbane International and the Barcelona Open but Cilic won their third clash at the US Open final to become the first Croatian after his then-coach Goran Ivanisevic to win a Grand Slam singles title.
Both players have had a good run of form this year with Nishikori beginning with a third Australian Open quarter-final which was followed by a quarter-final appearance at Indian Wells and an excellent outing at Miami where he reached the final.
Nishikori had a strong clay-court season where he reached the final of the Barcelona Open and the semi-finals of the Mutua Madrid Open and the Italian Open before ending his clay-court season in the fourth round of the French Open.
After a relatively inconsistent grass-court season, Nishikori rebounded by reaching the final of the Rogers Cup and becoming the first Japanese tennis player to win an Olympic medal by winning the bronze at the Rio Olympics. After reaching the semi-finals of the US Open, Nishikori had an indifferent outing at the Asian swing but bounced back by reaching the final of the Swiss Indoors.Cilic did not have a very good start to 2016 but began to improve during the grass-court season as he reached the semis of the Aegon Championships and his third successive quarter-final at the Wimbledon where he nearly defeated seven-time winner Roger Federer.
After exiting the Rio Olympics in the pre-quarters, Cilic won his maiden Masters title by defeating Andy Murray in the final of the Cincinnati Masters and ending the Scot’s 22-match winning streak. After a disappointing US Open, Cilic had an inconsistent Asian swing, reaching the semi-finals of the Japan Open but exiting the Shanghai Masters in the second round.
He then won the Swiss Indoors and reached the semi-finals of the Paris Masters, beating Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals which eventually ended the Serb’s 223-week stay at the top of the ATP rankings (as of now) and also ensured that Cilic would qualify for his maiden ATP World Tour Finals.
Both Cilic and Nishikori have faced each other twice this year with Cilic being the winner on both occasions. However, one thing’s for sure is that regardless of the result, their third meeting this year’s promises a lot of excitement.
Prediction- Nishikori to win in three sets.
#4. Stan Wawrinka vs Kei Nishikori
Kei Nishikori and Stan Wawrinka have locked horns six times with the Swiss leading the head-to-head by 4-2. While Nishikori has had a good run of form for most of the year, Wawrinka did not have a very consistent year.
Wawrinka began the year by winning his fourth Chennai Open title before going down to eventual semi-finalist Milos Raonic in the fourth round of the Australian Open. He then won the Dubai Tennis Championships before a string of disappointing performances at Indian Wells and Miami where he exited in the fourth and second rounds respectively.
After a quarter-final appearance at the Monte Carlo Masters, Wawrinka disappointed at the Madrid and Italian Opens before winning the Geneva Open. He ended his clay-court season by reaching the semi-finals of the French Open before losing to Andy Murray, thus failing to defend his winners’ points from last year.
He had a poor grass-court season where he was knocked out in the opening round of the Queen’s Club Championships and in the second round of Wimbledon. After reaching the final of the Rogers Cup, Wawrinka lost in the third round of the Cincinnati Masters. This was followed by his crowning moment of the year as he won the US Open by beating defending champion Novak Djokovic in the final.
He was then shocked in the final of the St. Petersburg Open by emerging talent Alexander Zverev before a string of poor performances in the Shanghai Masters, Swiss Indoors, and the Paris Masters.Their meeting at the World Tour Finals will be the third time Wawrinka and Nishikori will be facing one another this year with their head-to-head for this year being 1-1 with Nishikori beating Wawrinka at the semi-finals of the Rogers Cup and Wawrinka avenging his defeat at the same stage of the US Open.
Even though both have been kind of patchy following the US Open, they will be expected to put up an enthralling showing at the World Tour Finals.Prediction- Wawrinka to win in three sets.
#3. Andy Murray vs Kei Nishikori
This year has probably been Andy Murray’s best year so far and becoming the new World No.1 is definitely the icing on his cake but winning the World Tour Finals would add the cherry on top. He began his year by reaching his fifth Australian Open final before being humbled by Novak Djokovic in straight sets. This was followed by a string of poor performances as he exited in the third round of both the Indian Wells Masters and the Miami Masters.
However, he bounced back by reaching the semi-finals of the Monte-Carlo Masters and the final of the Mutua Madrid Open. He won his first title of the year by winning the Italian Open after beating Djokovic in straight sets. He ended his clay-court season by reaching his maiden French Open final before being defeated by Djokovic in four sets.
Murray reunited with his former coach Ivan Lendl before the commencement of the grass-court season and went on to have a very successful grass-court season as he won a record fifth Queen’s Club Championships and a second Wimbledon title.
His good form continued as he won a second successive singles gold medal at the Rio Olympics, thus becoming the first player, male or female, to do so. However, his unbeaten streak came to a halt when Marin Cilic beat him in the final of the Cincinnati Masters. He was then shockingly ousted in the quarter-finals of the US Open by Kei Nishikori.
After the US Open, Murray had a brilliant Asian swing where he won every single tournament he played, namely China Open, Shanghai Masters, Vienna Open and the Paris Masters. At the Paris Masters, following Djokovic’s defeat in the quarter-finals and Murray receiving a walkover in the semi-finals, the Scot became the first Briton to attain the World No.1 ranking.
Nishikori and Murray have faced each other nine times with Murray leading 7-2. The two have faced each other three times this year with Murray winning the first two before Nishikori beat him in the quarter-finals of the US Open. Although Nishikori hasn’t been very consistent following the US Open, the fact that he is the last person to defeat Andy Murray this year (as of now) will definitely boost his confidencePrediction- Murray to win in straight sets
#2. Novak Djokovic vs Milos Raonic
After ending 2015 on a high, Djokovic began 2016 with a bang by winning his sixth Australian Open title which put him on level with Australian legend Roy Emerson for the most number of Australian open titles won. He followed this with a shock quarter-final exit at the Dubai Tennis Championships before rebounding with two successive Masters titles at Indian Wells and Miami.After a shocking second round defeat at the Monte-Carlo Masters to Czech Jiri Vesely, Nole won the Madrid Masters and reached the final of the Italian Open. He finally completed a career slam by winning his maiden French Open title and many entertained the possibility of Djokovic completing a calendar slam. However, his hopes of a calendar slam were crushed at the Wimbledon as he was knocked out of the tournament in the third round.
He rebounded by winning the Rogers Cup but was upset in the first round of the Rio Olympics by eventual silver medalist Juan Martin Del Potro who beat him for the second successive time in the Olympics, having previously beaten him in the bronze medal playoff of the London Olympics.
He reached the final of the US Open before losing to Stan Wawrinka. He reached the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters and the quarter-finals of the Paris Masters where he was humbled by Roberto Bautista-Agut and Marin Cilic respectively. His loss in the later tournament led to him losing the top spot in the ATP rankings.
Milos Raonic ended 2015 poorly owing to injuries. However, he began 2016 brilliantly by winning the Brisbane International, defeating Roger Federer in the final. He followed this with his maiden Australian Open semi-final where he upset 2014 champion and fourth seed Stan Wawrinka in the fourth round. He sustained an adductor injury during his semi-final against Andy Murray which not only led to his subsequent defeat but also kept him out of action for more than a month.
He returned to action at the Indian Wells Masters and reached the final where he was battered by Novak Djokovic. He continued his good form by reaching the quarter-finals of the next three Masters tournaments at Miami, Monte-Carlo, and Madrid. After a disappointing outing at the Italian Open, Raonic was shocked in the fourth round of the French Open by unseeded Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
Raonic had a good grass-court where he reached the final of the Queen’s Club Championships before reaching his first grand slam final at Wimbledon, having beaten Roger Federer in the semi-finals. On both occasions, Raonic was beaten by Andy Murray.
He began the US Open series by reaching the quarter-finals of the Rogers Cup and the Cincinnati Masters before being knocked out of the US Open in the second round. He reached the semi-finals of the China Open but withdrew due to an ankle injury. During the Paris Masters, he suffered a quadriceps in his quarter-final against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga which propelled him to withdraw his semi-final against Andy Murray.Raonic and Djokovic have met seven times overall with Djokovic winning all of them. Their face-off at the World Tour Finals will be the third time Djokovic and Raonic meet this year and this might well be the match that decides who will win the Ivan Lendl group.
Prediction- Djokovic to win in straight sets
#1. Andy Murray vs Stan Wawrinka
Wawrinka’s 7-9 head-to-head record against Andy Murray is the best he has against any of the “Big Four” players, having a 5-19, 3-18, and a 3-15 record against Djokovic, Federer, and Nadal respectively. Both Wawrinka and Murray have had contrasting performances in 2016. While Murray was consistent throughout the entire year apart from one or two glitches, Wawrinka had a rather inconsistent year with the US Open triumph and semi-finals at the French Open and the Rogers Cup being the silver lining on his cloud.However, that doesn’t mean that Murray will have it easy against Wawrinka because Wawrinka has bounced back from poor form quite a number of times. Take the US Open where Wawrinka was coming at the back of poor outings at Wimbledon and the Cincinnati Masters. He did not have it easy at the tournament as he was given a huge scare in the third round by Briton Daniel Evans and had to go through the likes of Juan Martin Del Potro and Kei Nishikori in the quarters and semis respectively before beating Djokovic in the final.
Wawrinka and Murray will meet for the second time this year after having met at the French Open semi-finals where Murray was the undisputed winner in four sets. This match could well decide the winner of the John McEnroe group.
Murray will definitely be given a tough fight by Wawrinka but the amount of consistency he has maintained this year just makes him an overwhelming favorite to win the season-ending championships.
Prediction- Murray to win in three sets
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