The second round of group matches forms another outstanding schedule in the ATP World Tour Finals inside the o2 Arena in London on Tuesday, with the losers from the first set of games playing each other as well as the winners taking on each other.
We have Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer on court on Tuesday, but unlike expectation heading into the event, they do not face each other here. We have to wait until Thursday for that but we should get a great day of action despite that.
Afternoon Session
Rajeev Ram & Joe Salisbury vs Ivan Dodig & Filip Polasek
It is the losers who take to the court in the afternoon session which means that we see the Brit-American pair of Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury going up against Ivan Dodig and Filip Polasek, with both sides looking for a first win to most likely keep their campaign alive.
Ram and Salisbury were beaten by Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus in what was a bit of a disappointing display from them given the form and positivity they went into the tournament win. Dodig and Polasek looked to be cruising to an opening win over Melo and Kubot until an inspired period of play from the former number one team saw them turn things around. I think the European pair will win this and if I wasn’t on them outright I would probably get involved at odds against but I am on them outright so I’m kind of on them anyway.
Roger Federer vs Matteo Berrettini
The singles match in the afternoon session sees the great Roger Federer taking on the Italian rising star Matteo Berrettini, who meet for the second time in London this year after colliding at Wimbledon earlier in the campaign.
Federer won that match pretty convincingly when the occasion and the venue clearly got the better of the Italian. That was on grass too which may not be Berrettini’s best surface. On a hard court he should be a lot more competitive. Federer will hope that isn’t the case though as you would think he has to win this given that he faces Novak Djokovic on Thursday. My gut feeling is that Federer will win a couple of tight sets but there was something about him I didn’t like on Sunday night, even though I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was. I’m happy to watch this though rather than risking a handicap or such like.
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Evening Session
Raven Klaasen & Michael Venus vs Marcelo Melo & Lukasz Kubot
The evening session begins with Raven Klaasen and his partner Michael Venus taking on Marcelo Melo and his teammate Lukasz Kubot colliding in a match which could well decide the first semi-finalist in the tournament.
I thought the pairing of Melo and Kubot played the better tennis in the opening set of matches and I was going to consider siding with them but then I noticed that both their meetings in 2019 went the way of Klaasen and Venus which kind of puts me off a little. Klaasen and Venus seem to make a lifetime habit of proving me wrong and that in itself tells me this is a match I shouldn’t get involved in. I’m going to heed that warning here.
Novak Djokovic vs Dominic Thiem
The two winners from the opening day of the tournament meet in the conclusion to the Tuesday play when Novak Djokovic continues his quest for another o2 title when he meets Dominic Thiem, who shocked Roger Federer on Sunday evening.
Djokovic dominates the head-to-head between these two at 6-3 but Thiem is often competitive in the matches he loses to the Serbian, especially in recent years. He went down in three sets in their only previous meeting here back in 2016 but since then he has won three of their last four battles and lost the other in a pair of tiebreak sets. I suspect he is ready to take it to Djokovic here and might just have the conditions to get him. I’m not in the business of writing off Djokovic though so I’m happier taking over in games rather than backing Thiem. This is a match which could easily go to a third which Djokovic runs away with, thus killing the Thiem side of the handicap but not the over 21.5 games. That feels like the right way to play, especially with their last four meetings safely covering this number.
Tips
WON – Back N.Djokovic vs D.Thiem – Over 21.5 games for a 4/10 stake at 1.95 with 888sport
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