It all ends here. That’s the slogan used by the ATP World Tour Finals and how right it is. A whole season of tennis in all four corners of globe has provided us with the eight best singles players and doubles teams in the world and they all head to London’s o2 for the season finale this week.
This tournament seems to enhance its glamour and status year or year and the well introduced week off between the Paris Masters and this one should ensure we get the eight players at peak levels which will make for a fantastic showcase for the sport.
As always the eight men and pairs are split into two groups of four with the top two in each group going through to play the semi-finals ahead of the final. With only the top eight in the world here there is no easy match and every session is certain to be full of quality.
The Stan Smith group is headed by Novak Djokovic but he might not have it all his own way with Roger Federer and Kei Nishikori also in his group. The section is completed by Tomas Berdych who really looks to have drawn a short straw here.
The Ilie Nastase group looks an absolute belter with Andy Murray the main seed in it. He is joined by the French Open champion Stan Wawrinka and the man with many French Open titles to his name in Rafael Nadal. This group is completed by the man who will run all day – David Ferrer.
Two great groups then but however you look at this singles draw you have to appreciate that it would be a major surprise in the current climate if Novak Djokovic is not the champion once again come next Sunday.
He will face someone in the final though and with the outright market paying two places that is going to be my focus from a betting point of view.
Although Kei Nishikori is a dangerous player he’s in illustrious company here so I’m expecting Roger Federer to be the other man to qualify from the Smith group. The question would be who will the Swiss legend face in the semi-final once he has done so.
Andy Murray is the class act in the Nastase group and he will be looking to take some form and confidence into the Davis Cup final with him. Much has been made of his appearance here and how flat out he’ll be going but this is a massive tournament in its own right.
With doubts about Murray’s preparation and dare I say it interest in this tournament with the Davis Cup final so soon after it he could be worth taking him on with Stan Wawrinka. Wawrinka could easily win the Nastase group but if he doesn’t we know he is capable of causing Djokovic problems having beaten him in the French Open final earlier in the year.
The Swiss was a tie-break from making the final last year when it all kicked off with Federer’s wife saying something towards the end of an epic all-Swiss semi-final and Wawrinka no longer fears Federer. At 16/1 he’s the value in this field.
Looking at the doubles event and the tournament looks much more open. The odds reflects that too. Although the Bryan Brothers are the favourites to win the event they are as big as 10/3 which highlights how open it is.
This has been a rare year in doubles tennis because it is the first time in ages that the Bryans didn’t win any of the Grand Slams and that shows that they’re not quite the dominant force that they once were.
There’s some top teams in this tournament. Marcelo Melo and Ivan Dodig were the beaten finalists last year and are the French Open champions while the Wimbledon champions Rojer and Tecau are here as are the pair they beat in the SW19 final in Jamie Murray and John Peers.
Australian Open winners Fabio Fognini and Simone Bolelli are in the event as are the US Open champions Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert. The draw is completely by Marcin Matkowski and Zimonjic, who are yet to win an event in 2015, and Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea.
Since last year Melo has become the number one doubles player in the world and his partner Ivan Dodig has become an even better player himself. Having gone all the way only to lose a champions tie-break in the final last year the Brazilian-Croat pair will be highly motivated to go one further this year and I rate them a solid chance to do that.
Back S.Wawrinka to win Barclays World Tour Finals (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 17.00 with Paddy Power (1/3 1-2)
Back M.Melo & I.Dodig to win Barclays World Tour Finals for a 2/10 stake at 6.00 with Bet365
