It is a big day inside the o2 Arena on Wednesday when the number one seeds in both the singles and the doubles draws are in action in the ATP World Tour Finals. The second set of group matches conclude on the fourth day of the tournament and there is plenty to play for.
Things got a little more back to normal on Tuesday when the higher seeded players came out on top and the likes of Novak Djokovic will be hoping that trend continues on Wednesday when he is back in action.
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Afternoon Session
Oliver Marach & Mate Pavic vs Mike Bryan & Jack Sock
Arguably the two best pairings in the tournament meet to get the action underway on Wednesday when the number one seeds and the best pair in 2018, Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic take on the exciting American duo of Mike Bryan and Jack Sock.
Both pairs won their opening match in the group so whichever pairing wins here will put one foot into the knockout stages. I think this should be a cracking contest as it is a real clash in styles which always makes for more entertaining sport. If forced to pick a winner I’d go with the Americans but they are odds on which is a huge no no in the doubles here. I’m on them outright which is enough for me.
Novak Djokovic vs Alexander Zverev
The afternoon session sees the two winners from the singles draw in action as well when Novak Djokovic takes on Alexander Zverev who you would have to think is bang up against it here even allowing for his win on Monday.
Djokovic put in the best performance of the tournament so far in his opening game against John Isner and if he replicates that here he is going to be hard to beat. Sascha Zverev struggled for large parts against Marin Cilic but having come through he can at least relax here and lay it all out on the line for Djokovic. I expect Djokovic to win but I’m not one to jump on big handicaps here.
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Evening Session
Lukasz Kubot & Marcelo Melo vs Nicolas Mahut & Pierre-Hugues Herbert
The evening session gets underway with the match between the two losers from the opening round of matches as Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo, one of the best teams in the world, take on the French duo of Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert.
The first thing of note is to question how Mahut shapes up for his match after the horrible blow he took in the first match when he crashed into a sponsor board. Assuming he is fine we should have a competitive match here but one I expect Kubot and Melo to win. I thought the Brazilian-Pole pairing played the better tennis of the two pairs in the opening game and I’ve mentioned countless times how the French team have a rubbish record here. I don’t see that getting any better in this match.
Marin Cilic vs John Isner
The final match of a juicy looking day of action inside the o2 Arena on Wednesday will see big serves everywhere you look as Australian Open finalist Marin Cilic takes on the Wimbledon semi-finalist and Miami champion John Isner.
I’ve been waiting for this match to come around since the opening day because I thought Isner would be disrespected by the odds compilers and that is the case. I thought he played a really good match against Djokovic and he may well have beaten everyone else in the field on Monday night apart from the Serb.
That wasn’t the case for Cilic, whose mental fragilities played out in his loss to Alexander Zverev and his poor record here continued. For some reason Cilic just doesn’t seem to perform in this arena. Isner has shown signs that he can do and if he can produce the standard he had against Djokovic on Monday he can extend his recent run of three wins in the last four meetings between these two.
Tips
Back L.Kubot & M.Melo to beat N.Mahut & P-H.Herbert for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with William Hill
Back them here:
Back J.Isner to beat M.Cilic for a 4/10 stake at 2.80 with Betfair
Back him here: