The final tournament of the ATP Tour season begins on Sunday when the leading eight singles players and the top eight doubles players head to the o2 Arena in London for the ATP World Tour Finals.
Grigor Dimitrov won the biggest tournament of his career here last year when he took care of David Goffin in the final. Neither man made it back this time around though so we will get a different champion for sure.
Recent Winners
2017 – Grigor Dimitrov
2016 – Andy Murray
2015 – Novak Djokovic
2014 – Novak Djokovic
2013 – Novak Djokovic
2012 – Novak Djokovic
2011 – Roger Federer
2010 – Roger Federer
2009 – Nikolay Davydenko
2008 – Roger Federer
The Format
Both the singles and the doubles draw sees the eight men or pairs drawn into two groups of four in the first round. Each player or pair plays the other three in their group once with the top two at the end of the group phase progressing to the semi-finals. The winner of one group plays the runner-up of the other. The two semi-final winners battle it out for the last title of the year next Sunday. Each match is the best of three sets with a tiebreak in the third set. In the doubles the third set is a champion tiebreak.
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Kuerten Group
The number one seed and world number one Novak Djokovic goes in search of a fifth o2 title this week and he is in the Kuerten Group. The third seed Alexander Zverev makes his second appearance in the tournament this year and is seeded to be his main danger. Big servers Marin Cilic and the tournament debutant John Isner are the other men in what looks like a competitive group in behind Djokovic.
Hewitt Group
Roger Federer headlines the Hewitt Group this week. Amazingly he hasn’t won this title since 2011 and after a couple of failures in Asia and Paris recently he will want to end the year with another win. Kevin Anderson makes his debut in the tournament and is seeded to be the man to give him his closest challenge. Dominic Thiem and the returning Kei Nishikori are the two men who will be looking to cause upsets along the way.
Doubles
As ever eight very strong doubles teams complete the line up at the o2. They are headed by the leading pair in the year in terms of the rankings in Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic while the Colombian pair of Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah will be seeded to meet them in the final. British interest in the tournament lies in the doubles with Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares in the field while Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo are a solid pairing.
The Wimbledon and US Open champions Mike Bryan and Jack Sock are only ranked as the fifth seeds this week but they look to have every chance with the other three pairings of Raven Klaasen & Michael Venus, Nikola Mektic & Alexander Peya and the classy French pairing of Nicolas Mahut & Pierre-Hugues Herbert will all be out to ensure they are not just making up the numbers.
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Singles Betting
If you take Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer out there are not too many players who arrive in London playing their best stuff. Djokovic is an overwhelming favourite to win this tournament but this has never been an event for taking an odds on shot with a massive amount of confidence. It concerns me greatly that Federer hasn’t won here in six years so I’ll look elsewhere.
The obvious man to take for a bit of value is Kei Nishikori. He has been in superb form since Wimbledon and there isn’t really anyone else that can say the same thing. At this time of the year form really can be pivotal with heavy legs and the lure of the holiday going strong. Nishikori has often got here with nothing left but the fact that he was easing himself into the year as he returned from injury he should still have plenty left in the tank. At 22/1 he’s the value here.
Doubles Betting
I’m expecting one of the most competitive doubles competitions that we’ve ever had at the o2. I say that because we have four top class pairings in the top four seeds and then at least two of the lesser seeds are either in fantastic form or have shown their class in big tournaments in the past. I think we are going to see a barrel load of champions tiebreaks and some really great matches.
In terms of the winner I like Mike Bryan and Jack Sock. They have won the last two Grand Slams and in Jack Sock the pair probably has the best doubles player in the world right now. Their clash in styles make them tough to beat and while this tournament is going to take a lot of winning the fact that Sock has stunk the place out in singles this year makes me think he’ll be bang up for making up for a terrible singles year by taking this down. Bryan and Sock have made it here in just half a year. They might have been the number one seeds with a full campaign. They can prove they are the best here.
Tips
Back K.Nishikori to win ATP World Tour Finals (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 23.00 with William Hill (1/3 1-2)
Back him here:
WON – Back M.Bryan & J.Sock to win ATP Doubles World Tour Finals for a 2/10 stake at 6.00 with Betfair
Back them here:
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