The final round of group matches at the ATP World Tour Finals end on Thursday when the first singles and doubles groups conclude inside the o2 Arena in London, meaning that the first two semi-final slots will be finalised.
We have a couple of knockout matches to enjoy over the course of the day including a mouth-watering finale to the day. The other two matches may not have anything on them competitively but they should still be good.
Afternoon Session
Marcelo Melo & Lukasz Kubot vs Rajeev Ram & Joe Salisbury
The doubles match in the afternoon session is a straight knockout as the number two seeds Marcelo Melo and Lukasz Kubot take on the fast improving number four seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury for a place in the semi-finals.
There are no mathematical equations to this one. Win and you come back on Saturday. Lose and your season is done. Neither of these sides have overly impressed me this week so I wouldn’t be surprised if this one goes to a match tiebreak and it becomes a bit of a lottery from there so I can’t say anything stands out to me in this one.
Dominic Thiem vs Matteo Berrettini
The afternoon singles match sees the man who has blown this tournament with open in Dominic Thiem, taking on the likeable and classy Italian star Matteo Berrettini in the final group game for both men.
Thiem is looking for a clean sweep to go into the semi-final with while Berrettini is looking for a first win before he departs the tournament. These two have met on three previous occasions and they have all been competitive and I fancy this one to be another one. I would imagine the confidence Thiem is showing will see him through but I hate backing a player who doesn’t need to win to do that because invariably the intensity drops which isn’t ideal. I’ll leave this one alone.
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Evening Session
Raven Klaasen & Michael Venus vs Ivan Dodig & Filip Polasek
The evening session begins with the doubles as ever and on this occasion it is a dead rubber for both pairs involved. Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus know they are in the semi-finals but before they play in the final four they have to take on the already knocked out Ivan Dodig and Filip Polasek.
To be fair to Dodig and Polasek although they have lost both matches, they could easily have won them on another day, only losing out in a couple of match tiebreaks in games they were on top in for large periods. Klaasen and Venus hold claims for being the team of the week to date but they’ll need to arrest a 0-2 record against their opponents to win this. Once again this is a dead rubber so I’m not really one to get involved here.
Novak Djokovic vs Roger Federer
When the draw was made one singles match jumped off the card at us and although we had to wait longer than expected for it, there is every chance it will be well worth the wait as Novak Djokovic takes on Roger Federer in a knockout clash.
As with the opening doubles match of the day, there is no maths involved here. It is win and progress or lose and go home so the focus and attention on this one will reach fever pitch at some point. Both men have eased past Matteo Berrettini and lost to Dominic Thiem so far this week but given the occasion and the meaning of the match you would expect to see the best of both men.
This is obviously the repeat of that quite amazing Wimbledon final from earlier in the year and if this one is 20% as good as that match was we are going to be in for some occasion. Three set matches are starting to become the norm in this tournament and there aren’t many matches left where I don’t expect that to be the case now. I fancy this one will go to a decider. This is important for both and these two fine champions will give their all to make it through. I don’t want to pick the winner of the decider so I’ll just back the match to go to a third set.
Tips
Back N.Djokovic vs R.Federer to go 3 sets for a 4/10 stake at 2.60 with Betway
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