The season closing Barclays ATP World Tour Finals is in full swing. The showpiece features the best eight players vying for the $1.92million prize. After the four Grand Slam Events, the World Tour Finals is the biggest tournament in the tennis calendar attracting over 260,000 fans yearly.
Novak Djokovic will be hoping that his return to London will be more enjoyable than his visit in the summer where he lost to Andy Murray in the Wimbledon final. The defending champion has already booked his place in the semi-finals after seeing off Roger Federer and Juan Martin del Potro. The tournament favourite loves playing on the hard courts with five of six Grand Slam titles coming on this surface. Djokovich is the favourite for a reason and as per usual he will be notoriously difficult to beat.
The mercurial Rafael Nadal will be itching to win the World Tour Finals as it is the only trophy that is yet to adorn his mantelpiece. Nadal’s 2013 has been incredible, after battling back from injury the Spaniard won the French and US Open as well as eight other ATP titles. Nadal has been in good form on the hard courts in 2013 with five of his ten titles coming on this surface. The world number one has already booked his place in the semi-final after seeing off David Ferrer and Stanislas Wawrinka in straight sets. Nadal will be hoping that this time he will be leaving London with the prize and apart from Djokovich it is unlikely that anybody will be able to stop him. Currently Nadal and Djokovic are two sides of the same coin, as the odds reflect it’s too hard to predict out of the two of them.
Everyone’s favourite Roger Federer battled until the last minute to book his place in London. The six-time champion has already produced two valiant performances, beating Frenchman Richard Gasquet and narrowly losing to Djokovic. For the first time since 2002 Federer has not featured in a Grand Slam final so you would expect him to be hungry to reach the final in order to silence his doubters.
Although not what he’s not what he once was, it takes a brave man to bet against Federer. The hard courts are perfect for the big serving del Potro, allowing him to hit balls at an unprecedented pace. The big Argentine’s service game can see him suffocate his opposing players as they run around the court trying to return his thunderous forehands. Roger Federer is the man who del Potro has to go through for a spot in the semis, whoever wins that epic match will face the winner of group A.
Stanislas Wawrinka recently reached the US Open semi-finals and will be hoping for another successful outing here. The Swiss has one of the best backhands on the tour. However, if he is to have any chance he needs to improve his record against the top players, he has never taken a set of Nadal let alone beat him; he fares slightly better against Djokovic though with two wins to thirteen defeats. Wawrinka is most definitely the dark horse of the competition.
Infographic source: Titan Bet
