2018 ATP World Tour Finals: Roger Federer vs Dominic Thiem, Preview and Prediction

Roger Federer and Dominic Thiem face each other in a must-win encounter at the 2018 World Tour Finals. They are both coming off opening round losses, and it will be curtains for whoever loses this match.

Federer looked uncharacteristically rusty in his opening encounter. His usually reliable serve was often off-target. And he failed to seize several openings he created against Kei Nishikori, whom he had defeated twice in the last month.

On the other hand, Thiem gave a close fight to Anderson despite having a rough day with his serve. He was not blown away by the powerful serve of the South African, but he could never break him either.

After losing their opening matches in straight sets, both Federer and Thiem need to lift their game a notch in this must-win encounter. Though Thiem has a reputation of being a clay court specialist, he has taken some giant strides this year, especially with his performance on the hard courts of the US Open, towards being seen as an all-court player.

Though on paper, Thiem may come across as the underdog against the six-time World Tour Finals Champion, he surprisingly has a winning record against the Swiss maestro. He has defeated Federer in two out of the three matches they have played, including one on grass!

But they played all those three matches in 2016, a year in which Federer was struggling mightily with form and fitness. Since the 2017 Australian Open, Federer has looked a better and fitter player. However, in recent times, he has struggled with consistency, though he looked quite sharp in his previous two tournaments at Basel and Paris.

He has lost in the opening round in this event in previous years, but has still managed to come back. It is difficult to see Federer losing two consecutive matches on his favoured indoor hard court at an event he has won a record six times.

Prediction: Federer to win in straight sets