Round-up of the 2018 ATP Finals round-robin matches

We move to the business end of the Nitto ATP Finals 2018 with the semi-finals scheduled to take place from today. It has been an eventful week of tennis with big-serving Kevin Anderson making it to the semi-finals and in the process becoming the oldest first-time contestant to do so at the age of 32.

Roger Federer, who is making a record 16th appearance at the year-end tournament, made the semi-finals for the 15th time and in the process became the oldest ever to do so at the age of 37.

World Number 1 Novak Djokovic continued his dominating run with a 3-0 win-loss record and in the process kept himself very much in contention to equal Roger Federer's record tally of 6 ATP Finals titles. Young-gun Alexander 'Sascha' Zverev became the youngest player since Juan Martin Del Potro in 2009 to make the semi-finals of the event.

We take a look at the 4 semi-final match-ups in both Singles and Doubles:

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#1 Mike Bryan / Jack Sock vs Jamie Murray / Bruno Soares

Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares at the Nitto ATP Finals 2018

Scot Jamie Murray and Brazillian Bruno Soares have been in resurgent form at the Nitto ATP Finals, winning all 3 of their round-robin matches and go into the semi-finals against the reigning Wimbledon and US Open Champions with a load of confidence.

Winning the Llodra/Santoro group meant that they would face runner-ups of the Mark Knowles/Daniel Nestor Group - American duo Mike Bryan and Jack Sock. Bryan and Sock are playing in what could possibly be their last ever tournament together as a pair.

This seems likely as Mike's twin Bob is back in training after a lengthy spell on the sidelines due to an injury. After winning their opening 2 matches in their group against Kubot/Melo and Pavic/Marach, they squandered the chance to top their group as they lost their 3rd group match in straight sets to the French pair of Herbert and Mahut.

After winning 2 back-to-back Grand Slams, the duo will look to sign off on a high as Mike Bryan attempts to become the oldest winner if the title at the age of 40.

#2 Herbert/Mahut vs Farah/Cabal

Farah and Cabal at the 2018 Nitto ATP Finals

The French pair of Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut have moved to the semi-finals of the Nitto ATP Finals for the very first time in their fourth consecutive appearance at the year-end event.

Herbert and Mahut only needed to win a single set in their final round-robin match to make the semis but they achieved more than that.

A straight sets loss to the top-seeds Pavic and Marach in their opening group-match did not deter their hopes as they grabbed two back-to-back wins in their final group games against Kubot/Melot and Bryan/ Sock.

Herbert and Mahut join fellow Frenchmen Forget-Leconte (1986), Delaitre-Santoro (1998), Llodra-Santoro (2003) and Benneteau-Roger-Vasselin (2014) to become the 5th French pair to make the semis at the elite competition.

Colombian duo of Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah also made history of their own as they became the first all South-American pair to move through to the semi-finals by finishing second in the Llodra / Santoro group with a 2-1 win-loss record. The pair have enjoyed a successful season, winning their maiden ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia earlier this year. The childhood buddies will look to make their country proud by going all the way to win the title.

#3 Roger Federer vs Alexander Zverev

Alexander Zverev - the youngest man to make the semis at the Nitto ATP Finals since Del Potro in 2009

A historic match of many sorts pits the 37-year-old 6-time champion Roger Federer against tennis Next Gen superstar 21- year old Alexander Zverev. It is remarkable to think that Federer has played in this competition for a record 16 times and will be up against an opponent who is only 21 years old.

Federer got off to the worst possible start by losing his opening group match to Japan's Kei Nishikori in straight sets. The Swiss however found his groove and took the next two matches in straight sets against Dominic Thiem and Kevin Anderson to top the Lleyton Hewitt group.

Zverev, on the other hand, had a more challenging path to the semis. After having won his opening match against Marin Cilic in two sets which both went to tie-breaks, the German lost comprehensively to a dominant Novak Djokovic in the second match.

It meant that he was in a must-win encounter against oldest first-time qualifier John Isner in his third and final group match. Zverev held his nerve to finish second in the Gustavo Kuerten group to book his place in the semis against Federer.

#4 Novak Djokovic vs Kevin Anderson

Novak Djokovic is the firm

favorite

to win the 2018 Nitto ATP Finals

The second semi-final will feature top-seed and 5-time champion Novak Djokovic battle against oldest first-time semi-finalist South African Kevin Anderson.

In what will be a repeat of the Wimbledon final match-up, Anderson will look to avenge his loss and extract revenge. Anderson has had a terrific year finishing runner-up at Wimbledon and cracking the Top-6 of the ATP rankings for the first time.

After beating Dominic Thiem and Kei Nishikori comfortably in his opening two matches, Anderson was in pole position to win the group. However, things didn't pan out as he expected as a resurgent Roger Federer beat him comfortably meaning that Anderson finished the Lleyton Hewitt Group in second place.

Djokovic who has been in sparkling form since Wimbledon has had a meteoric rise of sorts from being ranked outside the Top-20 to rising to the top of the ATP rankings. The Serb who is the only man in the tournament to have not lost a single match so far is gunning for history as he attempts to equal Roger Federer's record tally of 6 ATP Finals titles.