The final day of round robin action forms the schedule at the Nitto ATP World Tour Finals in Turin on Friday and come the end of the day we will know the identity of the semi-finalists in both the singles and the doubles competitions.
There is just the one spot left in the semi-finals in the singles and that will be determined on Friday. The doubles action is a lot more complicated though and that is likely to force some fascinating tennis over the course of the day.
Afternoon Session
Rajeev Ram & Joe Salisbury vs Juan Sebastian Cabal & Robert Farah
The opening match of the day comes in the doubles competition where in all likelihood Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury are already through but Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah will be looking to make things interesting.
There is a chance of this group coming down to the tiniest of fractions so every game is going to count in this match. Ram and Salisbury know they are the group winners if they come out on top here but should the Colombians win then abacuses are going to be needed. Cabal and Farah go into this match off the back of a dominant showing against Bruno Soares and Jamie Murray last time out and they might be the team to be on here. These two pairs met in Vienna two weeks ago and it was Cabal and Farah who won emphatically 64 62. That will give them confidence and it might be that Ram and Salisbury ease up just a tough with them most likely through to the next stage. We saw that happen with Granollers and Zeballos and indeed Daniil Medvedev on Thursday. Odds against on the Colombian pair looks good enough to me here.
Andrey Rublev vs Casper Ruud
The singles match in the afternoon session on Friday is basically a quarter final in all but name as Andrey Rublev will go up against the debutant Casper Ruud in a knockout clash where the winner will face Daniil Medvedev in the semi-final on Saturday and the season will be over for the loser.
Both these men have a win to their name this week. Rublev saw off Stefanos Tsitsipas while Ruud outlasted Cameron Norrie and now it is crunch time for the pair. I think the Rublev performance against Tsitsipas was the standout display of the two so far but there is no denying that Ruud has had his good spells this week too. Rublev takes comfort into the match knowing he is 4-0 against the Norwegian and I’m hoping that becomes 5-0 as I’m on the Russian outright, and if he does win this he could be facing a jaded Medvedev in the semi-final so I’m getting excited about my outright bet all of a sudden. I’ll just ride that.
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Evening Session
Nicolas Mahut & Pierre-Hugues Herbert vs Jamie Murray & Bruno Soares
The final doubles match in the round robin section could be a huge contest for the French pair of Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert as they face an already eliminated duo of Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares.
You would have to say that Soares and Murray have been pretty disappointing in this tournament so far but no pair wants to end their season with three successive defeats at this event so they will have some fake motivation there. Things are totally different for the Frenchmen though. They know a win here will see them through to the next round but should Cabal and Farah have won earlier in the day then the French pair will be going home with a defeat. As with the singles match earlier on Friday, I’m on Mahut and Herbert outright so I’ll let that ride, especially with the draw opening up for them.
Novak Djokovic vs Cameron Norrie
The last singles match in the round robin stage of the tournament is a dead rubber as Novak Djokovic knows he has already won his group and will face Alexander Zverev in the semi-final on Saturday. Before he does that he meets Cameron Norrie here.
Norrie is making his debut in this tournament and gave a good account of himself in his first match against Casper Ruud but just lacked the poise to come through when it counted. Djokovic has powered to victories over Ruud and Rublev so far but the big question is how motivated he will be here and how much energy he will want to use up for no reason when he has a semi-final to play 24hrs later. That, as well as the fact that these two men have never met before, gives Norrie something to build on but I said before the Ruud match that he might have run his race this season and the way he faded suggests I’m not far from the mark. This is a dead rubber and they’re best left alone.
Tips
Back J-S.Cabal & R.Farah to beat R.Ram & J.Salisbury for a 3/10 stake at 2.25 with Betfair
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