Tennis News

For just the third time this season, the Swiss stars Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka will cross paths on the professional tour, this time to determine who will advance to the final of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. Federer leads the overall head to head series 14-2.

Although this year’s championships has clearly not been the most competitive of tournaments, few anticipated that Roger Federer would trample over British No. 1 Andy Murray en route to the knockout stage of the prestigious event, particularly on Murray’s home soil. Federer maintained his perfect record this year at the O2 Arena with a 6-0, 6-1 beatdown of Murray in a “uncomfortable” contest that lasted a mere 56 minutes. Remarkably, it was also Federer’s 250th indoor victory and sent him into the semi-finals with a 3-0 record.

“I had the upper hand from the baseline, which hasn’t always happened against him,” said Federer. “But I definitely was able to play on my terms. For me, things went very well. I was able to put Andy under pressure very often, and I think the match couldn’t have gone any better for me really.”

In arguably the most competitive match of the tournament yet, Stan Wawrinka edged out Marin Cilic 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 to reach the semi-final round of the year-end championships. The Swiss No. 2 cruised through the opening set 6-3 in 32 minutes, mainly controlling the match with his dominance at the net. However, things began to get rocky in the second set and boiled over when Stan found himself down a break in the deciding set early on.

Ultimately, though, Wawrinka began to mix up his shots and decrease the unforced errors, and then broke to close out the match and set up a Saturday showdown with Federer.

This marks the 17th time that these two countrymen will meet on the professional tour, with this encounter taking place less than a week before they are scheduled to lead Switzerland in the Davis Cup final. Federer leads the series 14-2, but the pair have split their two previous matches in 2014. Based solely off their performances this week in London, Federer should have no trouble reaching the final.

Prediction: Roger Federer in Straight Sets

A rematch of the U.S. Open semi-final is scheduled to take place in the knockout stage of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals on Saturday in London, as Novak Djokovic and Kei Nishikori cross paths once again to determine who will reach the final berth of the season at the year-end championships. Djokovic leads the overall head-to-head series 3-2 after winning their most recent match in Paris.

Following up on his remarkably breezy matches in London so far this week, top seed Novak Djokovic cruised past Tomas Berdych to remain undefeated in the round robin stage of the tournament and officially cement his year-end spot atop the rankings. While the score line was not as bizarre as his recent 6-2, 6-0 win over Berdych at the China Open, Djokovic only surrendered four games throughout the entire match to win 6-2, 6-2.

Djokovic has now guaranteed the year-end No. 1 ranking for the third time in four years – just the seventh person to achieve that feat in the history of the men’s tour.

Although Nishikori was expected to meet Raonic in the third and final round robin match on Thursday, WTF alternate David Ferrer instead greeted him in a match that would mark the only three-set contest of the entire event this year. While Ferrer would start the match in fantastic fashion and would win the opening set with relative ease, Nishikori stormed back to win the second two sets in decisive fashion to close out the match 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.

Nishikori’s three-set victory over Ferrer was his fourth straight against the Spaniard and sets him up for a spot in the semi-final round of the tournament. After Andy Murray lost the first set to Federer, Nishikori officially qualified for knockout stage of the tournament on his first attempt.

“It’s never easy playing against David because he’s very consistent from the baseline,” said Nishikori. “If I want to win, I have to do something to break his tennis. From the second set, I was more aggressive. The final set was almost perfect.”

While Nishikori surprised many by defeating Novak Djokovic in four sets to reach his fist Grand Slam final, he was unable to follow up on that victory, as he lost to Djokovic in straight sets when they met several weeks back in the semi-final round of the Paris Bercy. Sadly, this will likely be another straight sets encounter, as Djokovic has been near unstoppable on the indoor surface this season.

Prediction: Novak Djokovic in Straight Sets

The last of the group stage matches will feature a rather disappointing culmination for both Stan Wawrinka and Marin Cilic. While the Swiss No. 2 has managed one victory in Group A, Cilic, the reigning US Open champion, has gone 0-2 since the start of his debut at the year-end championships. Now, he will look to end his lackluster campaign on a high note, against a player who bageled him in their only previous meeting on the tour.

After taking part in some of the best matches of the last couple of years against Novak Djokovic, Wawrinka was simply unable to kick start the latest chapter in their storied rivalry in successful fashion. While he held an immedialte break advantage for a 2-0 lead early in the match, Wawrinka would go on to lose 12 of the next 13 games to lose 6-3, 6-0 to his Serbian adversary.

“It was not my best match, that’s for sure,” said Wawrinka. “He’s playing really well. He’s (has) confidence. He’s not missing much. Today I think it was more about what I was doing. He put me in a position that I think a little bit too much. I was not really clear what I’m going to do, because he’s doing everything well and he’s returning well.”

Faced with an opportunity to remain in the running for a semi-final berth in London, Marin Cilic failed to do so and eventually lost his second round robin to Berdych 6-3, 6-1 in 75 minutes. It allowed Berdych to maintain his perfect record in second round robin matches at the event.

“It seems that the things that I’m doing that are all basically going in a wrong direction,” said Cilic. “Especially with these guys at this kind of level, even small mistakes, or if you’re not at your best performances, the outcome is not going to be going in your favor. It’s unfortunate. I was looking forward to play here, to do well, to play good matches on a high level. It’s tough to handle.”

This marks just the second time that these two competitors will meet on the professional tour, with Wawrinka leading the head-to-head series 1-0. Their last encounter went three sets, but Cilic only managed to win 1 of 13 games in the second two sets to lose the match 3-6, 6-0, 6-1. Based on his current form in London, it would be hard to imagine him winning many more games against Wawrinka this time around.

Prediction: Stan Wawrinka in Straight Sets

The final of the Group A round robin matches will feature a rematch of the lopsided China Open final between Novak Djokovic and Tomas Berdych. Their last indoor meeting was a disaster for Berdych and he will be faced with a similar task when he meets the inspired Djokovic again in 2014. Djokovic leads the Head to Head series 15-2 and will be looking to extend his indoor record.

Djokovic continued his winning ways at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals with a remarkably dominant showing against Stan Wawrinka on Wednesday afternoon. The Serbian star dispatched his Swiss adversary 6-3, 6-0 in 6 minutes to cement himself atop the Group A standings.

“I definitely didn’t expect it, but hoped that I can play this way again and the match result can go this way for me,” said Djokovic. “Obviously Stan wasn’t feeling his best today, made a lot of unforced errors and had a low percentage of first serves in. On my side, I just played very solid from all over the court. I think I covered the court very well, got a lot of balls back, mixed up the pace, got him off the comfort zone. That’s something that was part of my game plan.”

With his latest victory, Djokovic is now one win away from clinching the year-end No. 1 ranking. He also extended his indoor winning streak to 29 matches and has now managed two bagel sets against Top 10 players in the last month – one of which he will meet again here in London.

In a surprising statistic, Tomas Berdych maintained his undefeated record in second round robin matches at the WTF with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over reigning US Open champion Marin Cilic. Following his 6-1, 6-1 loss to Wawrinka in his opening match, this was a big step forward for the Czech No. 1.

“I felt much better on the court,” said Berdych. “But still it was not one of my best. That’s fair to say. But I think that’s the beauty of this event. One day you can be swept out from the court like I did and in two days’ time you can come up and you can play a different tennis.

This marks the 18th time that Djokovic and Berdych will meet on the professional tour, with the top seed holding a dominant 15-2 record against his adversary. Last month Djokovic demolished Berdych 6-2, 6-0 in the China Open final to hand the Czech his most embarrassing victory ever. While Berdych will likely find his way on the scoreboard this time around, he will be hard-pressed to penetrate the aura and confidence of Djokovic at this stage of the tournament.

Prediction: Novak Djokovic in Straight Sets

The latest chapter of the Roger Federer vs, Andy Murray rivalry will be written on Thursday evening at the O2 Arena in London, as the two top competitors cross paths for a 23rd time on the ATP World Tour. The head to head series is currently tied at 11-11, with Federer winning three of their last four meetings dating back to the semi-final round of the World Tour Finals in 2012. Much will be at stake in this coming encounter, as Murray looks to secure a semi-final berth, while Federer hopes to remain undefeated to add to his chances of reaching the year-end No. 1 ranking.

Six-time WTF champion Roger Federer lost only five games in his victory over Kei Nishikori. The second seed overwhelmed his Japanese opponent en route to a 6-3, 6-2 victory. He struck 11 winners, four aces and closed out the encounter in 69 minutes.

“There’s so much still at stake for me, wanting to beat a fellow rival and wanting to win the points that are at stake, go in with a clean sheet into the semis. I’m happy after two matches I’m standing here with two wins. It’s very positive.”

While he may not have enjoyed the brightest of starts to his World Tour Finals campaign this season, Andy Murray kept his hopes for a semi-final berth alive with a straight sets victory over Milos Raonic. The British No. 1, who is seeded fifth at the event, picked up his first win over the Canadian this season, and did so without even playing his best tennis.

The Scot exchanged breaks with Raonic early in the second set before he took command of the match to close it out 6-3, 7-5 with another late break of serve.

“I obviously played better tonight,” said Murray. “I hit the ball a lot cleaner than I did on Sunday from the beginning of the match. So that was pleasing.”

The British No. 1’s final round robin match-up will be contested against second seed Roger Federer, who leads Group B as the only undefeated player with a 2-0 record. Murray can secure the second spot but it is will all depend on his next match and that of Nishikori.

“It will be obviously a very difficult match [against Federer],” said Murray. “But it will be an exciting match. A good one to be part of. I hope I can play well. We’ve had some very good matches over the years. I hope on Thursday it will be the same.”

Of their previous 22 meetings on the tour, the series is dead even at 11 wins each. Both Federer and Murray will be motivated to pick up the victory for a variety of reasons beyond simple bragging rights. Given their current form, Federer should hold the advantage here, although Murray is more than capable of making it a tough encounter.

Prediction: Roger Federer in Three Sets