The second set of round robin matches in the ATP World Tour Finals begins on Tuesday with four more fixtures in the year ending tournament. We see Sunday’s winners facing each other inside the o2 on Sunday as well as the losers matching up on what is really the first pivotal day of the competition.
We are still relatively early in the groups but already there are qualification criteria in play over the course of what is likely to be a fascinating day on the bank of the River Thames.
Afternoon Session
Henri Kontinen & John Peers vs Jean-Julien Rojer & Horia Tecau
It is the losers session in the afternoon with the two pairs who lost their opening match getting the action underway on Tuesday. The defending champions Kontinen and Peers take on the third seeds Rojer and Tecau in what should be a cracking contest with the losers likely to be out of the competition.
I didn’t think much to Kontinen and Peers on Sunday. Peers in particular let himself down when he let a line call get to his head in the first set and he never really recovered from that. Rojer and Tecau looked to be cruising to victory over the French pair in their first match but they hit the skids in alarming fashion.
Based on what we saw on the opening day the third seeds could be value in this one but with their titles on the line I expect to see more from the Aussie-Finn pairing so this is one to watch rather than bet on.
Marin Cilic vs Jack Sock
The afternoon singles sees Marin Cilic taking on Jack Sock with the loser highly likely to be out of the tournament. Sock is almost certainly out if he loses having lost his opening match 2-0 but Cilic isn’t in a much better position than that.
Marin Cilic looked to be heading to victory in his first match against Alexander Zverev but failed to convert despite being a break up in the third set. Jack Sock gave a pretty good account of himself against Roger Federer actually but predictably he was beaten in the end.
I thought Sock performed better than Cilic in the first round of matches and given that he has won both meetings against the Croatian and has won the last six sets between them I’m a little surprised that the American is odds against here. I like the extra dynamism Sock brings to the court and at the end of a long year that might be the difference here.
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Evening Session
Pierre-Hugues Herbert & Nicolas Mahut vs Ryan Harrison & Michael Venus
The two winners from Sunday meet to open up the evening session on Tuesday in a clash where the victors are likely to be through to the knockout stages with a match to spare. All will not be lost for the losers though so both sides basically have a free shot at this one.
The French pairing are much the more established of the two here and the way they fought back against Rojer and Tecau in the opening match should have given them plenty of confidence but their overall record here still doesn’t inspire me greatly. If Harrison can catch fire I wouldn’t be surprised if the French Open champions pull this out of the fire but nothing interests me from a betting point of view.
Roger Federer vs Alexander Zverev
Both Roger Federer and Alexander Zverev get their first chance to make it into the semi-final when they meet on Tuesday evening in a repeat of the Montreal final from earlier in the year. Zverev won that match, one of two wins he has over Federer with the Swiss star having the same amount of success against his German rival.
Federer eased his way into the competition on Sunday but still won in straight sets while Zverev looked tired at times in his victory against Cilic but found some inspiration to come from behind to secure a win on his debut in the competition.
If Zverev is fresh he could make a game of this but this is Federer’s back garden almost. His record in London is seriously good and now that his main rival has pulled out of the tournament he’ll be expected to win this event. He should take another step closer to doing that here but the lines and odds look about right with the potential dangers the German brings.
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Tips
WON – Back J.Sock to beat M.Cilic for a 4/10 stake at 2.25 with Betfair
Back him here:
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