2016 ATP World Tour Finals: 5 matches to look forward to

#2. Novak Djokovic vs Milos Raonic

Djokovic’s match against Raonic might well decide the winner of the Ivan Lendl group

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