The opening day of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals sees some very famous names gracing the centre court over the two sessions of play. The defending singles champion Novak Djokovic begins his title defence on Sunday while the doubles also gets underway in looks a top quality day of tennis.
Afternoon Session
Doubles – Bob Bryan & Mike Bryan vs Marcelo Melo & Ivan Dodig
The competition gets underway with a clash between two really good pairings in what is a repeat of the 2014 final of this tournament which the Bryans won in the Champions tie break. In fact they have met twice at the o2 with both matches going the distance which bodes well for a competitive beginning to the tournament.
In total the two pairs have met nine times with the American duo holding a 6-3 head to head lead. Five of their last seven matches have gone the distance though and I suspect there is every chance this one will too. With this being the tougher group neither will want to get walloped so I’m expecting a tight match and the 23/20 on this going all the way looks attractive to me.
Singles – Novak Djokovic vs Dominic Thiem
It is experience against youth in the first singles match of the event as the five time champion Novak Djokovic kicks off against the Austrian starlet Dominic Thiem who is always dangerous but lacks the consistency to move to the next level at the minute.
Djokovic leads their head to head 3-0 with three fairly comfortable wins and you’ve got to think this will be another but Thiem may well be inspired to play some decent tennis here so I’m not really wanting to mess about with any handicaps especially with the Serb not completely reliable at the minute. I’ll just watch this one.
Evening Session
Doubles – Jamie Murray & Bruno Soares vs Trent Huey & Max Mirnyi
The Australian Open and US Open champions kick off the evening when they take on debutants to the tournament as Trent Huey and Max Mirnyi have made it here for the first time. Murray and Soares will be looking to win this title and confirm their dominance in big events this year and if they are to do that you’d think they need to win this one.
This is the first meeting of the two pairs in competitive play so we’ve not got a lot to go on here. We know this is a tough group so neither will want to lose. You can get even money on the Murray/Soares combination winning 2-0 which feels the right play but this Mirnyi serve can be a pain to face and that puts me off enough to just watch this one.
Singles – Milos Raonic vs Gael Monfils
The first day concludes with the battle of the recently injured as Milos Raonic takes on Gael Monfils. Raonic recently pulled out of a Paris semi-final with Andy Murray citing a torn leg muscle so whether he will have recovered enough here remains to be seen. Gael Monfils missed Paris completely but is expected to be fit here.
Monfils leads 3-2 on the head to head and has won their previous meeting but he is a debutant in this tournament. I’m not too worried by that though. This is arguably the game’s greatest entertainer and playing up to a big crowd is what he is all about. I think the value has to be with him at odds against given his record against the Canadian and the fitness doubts surrounding Raonic.
Tips
Back B.Bryan & M.Bryan vs M.Melo & I.Dodig to go 3 sets for a 3/10 stake at 2.15 with Ladbrokes
Back it here:
Back G.Monfils to beat M.Raonic for a 4/10 stake at 2.05 with Betfair
Back him here:
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