ATP World Tour Finals: Do not expect the unexpected

This has been the most weird tennis season which has provided some indifferent results all the way. Even on the surfaces, best suited to them – we saw most of the top players going down cheaply. And then there is Rafael Nadal who surprised everyone by not only making a strong comeback after a seven month long injury layoff but also by becoming World No.1 for the third time in his career. Barring the first two Grand Slams which have been captured by the same set of individuals, as it has been for the last few years, there were no more expected results this year. By capturing three hard court masters titles plus the coveted US open, Rafa has indicated to the entire world that his name should not be made synonymous to clay courts alone. On Djokovic’s part, he has proved that his 2011 form was not just a fluke by winning three titles in a row in the lead up to the world tour finals in London. Speaking of Tennis Masters cup, in the year in which he finally realized his Wimbledon dream, Andy Murray was unlucky not to have been playing in it, despite getting qualified. While the other participants of the prestigious tour finals have been Del Potro, Berdych, Gasquet and Wawrinka, the six time champion Roger Federer, rather surprisingly, qualified at the last moment as the sixth entrant.

So, the stage is set for the last of the serious tournaments of the year to begin in a few hours from now. Let us see who would go deeper into the week long extravaganza and who is likely to win this tournament, which is almost equivalent to winning a Grand Slam.

Group A:

Rafael Nadal vs David Ferrer vs Thomas Berdych vs Stanislas Wawrinka

More than ever, this is the year Rafael Nadal has the better chance of pocketing the entire 1500 points from World Tour Finals. Although he has not done well in a couple of tournaments after winning the US open, he has been flawless on harder courts. Plus the group in which he is aligned looks very friendly with the rest of his opponents having a very horrible losing record against him. Of course, Ferrer shocked the world two days ago in Paris beating him in straight sets but that does not mean the upsets are going to be repeated. Rafa, whenever he faces his Spanish compatriot, always has held the edge and it is not going to be anything different in London, given the form in which the former is in. As far as Berdych is concerned, not only he is yet to beat the southpaw in the last seven years but also he has not even looked like beating him. Above all, it is the presence of Stanislas Wawrinka in the group which makes it friendlier for the Spanish Armada. The Swiss has not even taken a set of Rafa in any of his encounters, let alone winning any of them. Rafa, to me, will top the group winning all the three matches and will also eventually finish the year as No.1 player in the world.

So that leaves the rest of the three players not afford to lose any of the matches. Well, whoever loses first, following their defeat to Rafa, will have a mountain to climb to make it to the last four. Among the three, Ferrer has been one of the consistent players since the last couple of years. Last year in fact, he had the most number of ATP titles and made amends to the absence of Rafael Nadal. He is expected to beat Wawrinka and would hold a slight edge over Berdych when both of them meet. The odd man out in this group would be Stan although quite recently he was successful in showing the door to the Czech in this year’s US open. Should the group matches go without any upset, then Ferrer will most likely accompany Rafa as the other semifinalist.

Group B:

Novak Djokovic vs Juan Martin Delpotro vs Roger Federer vs Richard Gasquet

This group should, no doubt, be termed as a group of death since it looks to be a highly competitive one. Barring Richard Gasquet, who in all fairness, is expected to do a Tipsarevic role of the last year, the rest of the three are evenly matched although Novak Djokovic will start as a slight favourite against both Federer and Delpotro. He would be totally motivated to do well since he is required to win all his matches in this year’s tour final and Davis Cup if he has any chance of usurping his No.1 position from Nadal. In current form, he looks very much capable of doing it although the results of Nadal’s matches are not in his hands to ensure the same. He will have a tough fight against Delpotro more than Federer but still he may just manage to pull it off. Like Nadal from Group A, he would be topping his group and would be meeting, in all probability, Ferrer in the semis.

Leaving Richard Gasquet aside, let us see the fortunes of Delpotro and Federer. The Argentine who will take on the Frenchman in an hour’s time from now, would be leading the group today with a resounding victory, before Djoker starts breathing fire. Luckily for Federer, he has been playing some amazing tennis in the last couple of weeks and so when he meets Delpotro it would be a mouth-watering contest to watch as both of them have had a victory apiece over one another in the last one month, starting from Swiss indoors. However, since the Swiss Maestro has been a six time champion here it is difficult to overlook him even though Argentine is ranked above him in ATP rankings. The No.1 Swiss, in my view, will join the World No.2 Serb, in the semifinal from this group.

Semifinals: Rafael Nadal vs Roger Federer Novak Djokovic vs David Ferrer.

Final: Rafael Nadal vs Novak Djokovic. Winner: Rafael Nadal