The second day of the Nitto ATP World Tour Finals sees the other group of players gracing the court at the o2 Arena in London for the first time this week. Although nobody gets eliminated first up we’ve seen in the past the advantages of an opening win so we should be in for some competitive tennis.
The tournament has already suffered a major shock with Roger Federer losing on the first night so that will have everyone on edge over the course of Monday’s action, which promises to be fantastic right from the start.
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Afternoon Session
Oliver Marach & Mate Pavic vs Nicolas Mahut & Pierre-Hugues Herbert
The opening doubles match on Monday should be a cracker as the current number one ranked pairing of Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic, the Australian Open champions, take on the former top dogs in the French pair of Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert.
Historically the French pair haven’t had the best of times of it at the o2 Arena. We will find out on Monday whether that was down to the expectation that they were under heading in or whether they just don’t feel comfortable on the court. They will need to play well against the team who were miles clear of anyone else on the rankings this season.
I’m really surprised Marach and Pavic are the outsiders in this match. I get that the French pair are 3-0 up on head to head record but the French Open win aside they’ve been ordinary this season. Marach and Pavic ended the campaign with three semi-final runs and they can pile more o2 misery on Mahut and Herbert here.
Alexander Zverev vs Marin Cilic
The closest singles match of the tournament so far in terms of bookmaker odds gets things going on the solo front on Monday when Alexander Zverev and Marin Cilic meet inside the o2 Arena for the second year in succession.
Zverev took care of Cilic in three sets last year to continue the poor run the Croatian has had inside the London venue. It will be interesting to see if Zverev repeats that feat here because he has been thrashed in the last two tournaments by opponents who never looked like being here. Cilic ran hot in Paris until Novak Djokovic got in his way and with the Davis Cup final next weekend he shouldn’t be winding down his season just yet.
Zverev actually leads the career meetings between these two 5-1 but what really stands out is that none of their matches have gone under the 23.5 games line which is on offer in this one. All three of their straight sets matches have had at least one tiebreak in them and the other three have gone the distance. That isn’t a surprise given the power of the serves here. Over 23.5 games looks and feels right in this one.
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Evening Session
Lukasz Kubot & Marcelo Melo vs Mike Bryan & Jack Sock
The best has very much been saved for last in terms of the doubles competition as the finalists of last year in Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo take on the American dream team pairing of Mike Bryan and Jack Sock in what should be a top quality match up.
The only time these pairs have met in the past was in the final of the US Open where Bryan and Sock won 63 61 in no time at all. I’m expecting this one to be a little closer but that is the outcome I think will be replicated although the bookmakers firmly agree with me. I’ve got an outright ticket on Bryan and Sock so I don’t need to be on them at a short price here.
Novak Djokovic vs John Isner
The world number one Novak Djokovic gets another o2 campaign underway in the evening session on Monday when he takes on the tournament debutant, Wimbledon semi-finalist John Isner in a clash of both contrasting experience of this stage and styles.
Isner has got the better of Djokovic in the past and considering they have not met since 2015 and Isner is a whole lot better now you can’t completely write him off in this one but you’ve got to think at some point Djokovic will break through and come out on top. He’s absolutely no price though and while Isner is getting a generous handicap it doesn’t feel juicy enough to get stuck into. I’ll sit this one out.
Tips
WON – Back O.Marach & M.Pavic to beat N.Mahut & P-H.Herbert for a 3/10 stake at 2.10 with William Hill
Back them here:
WON – Back A.Zverev vs M.Cilic – Over 23.5 games for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Bet365
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