It is ‘Super Saturday’ out in Turin as the semi-finals of the Nitto ATP World Tour Finals takes place in both draws in the Italian city where we have an absolutely red-hot schedule to keep us entertained throughout the day.
The top four seeds have all made it through in the singles so we are assured of two great semi-finals while four very competent doubles teams remain in the hunt for that title which should complement the singles nicely.
Day Session
Marcel Granollers & Horacio Zeballos vs Rohan Bopanna & Matthew Ebden
The opening doubles semi-final sees the winners of the Green Group in Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos taking on the Indian-Australian pairing of Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Edben for a spot in the final on Sunday.
Both of these sides have had excellent campaigns both this week and this year and that should ensure we get a very good semi-final to enjoy. Granollers and Zeballos have been particularly strong, winning all three of their matches and getting better the longer the competition has gone on. Bopanna and Ebden have the knowledge that they have already had a knockout match this week which they came out on the right side of and they can use that to their advantage. I don’t expect there to be much between these two because both pairs have held serve very well in these quicker conditions. I would give the edge to Granollers and Zeballos but they are my outright pick and they secure the place money with a win here so I’m happy to let that ride.
Jannik Sinner vs Daniil Medvedev
The home fans will be flocking into the arena in Turin for the singles match in the afternoon session as their star man Jannik Sinner looks to make the final of this event for the first time when he faces the former champion Daniil Medvedev in a potential blockbuster last four clash.
Sinner won all three matches to top the Green Group in the first phase of the competition and that included a win over Novak Djokovic and he should be very confident about his chances in this match. He has a quick court to work with and he goes into the battle having won the last two meetings with Medvedev. The Russian cruised into the semi-finals but then took his foot off the gas in his final group game on Friday, although that is understandable given the proximity between that match and this one. Medvedev looked in very good touch in the two matches that he won and he is sure to put in a real challenge in a match which looks to have three sets written all over it. Medvedev is also my outright pick and he can secure the place part of the bet with a win here so I don’t need to get involved in this one either.
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Night Session
Rajeev Ram & Joe Salisbury vs Santiago Gonzalez & Edouard Roger-Vasselin
The night session doubles also has the look of a cracking contest about it when the defending champions Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury take on the Mexican-French pairing of Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin.
This one should be a right treat. Ram and Salisbury have come alive in the latter part of the year and they seem to absolutely love it here having won the tournament last year and made it back to the semi-finals in their title defence but they are going up against a Gonzalez and Roger-Vasselin who have made five finals and won the lot including in Paris a couple of weeks ago. The latter pair have really grown into this tournament and knocked off the number one seeds Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek in an absolute pearler of a knockout match in their last group game so they know they can dig deep and win. Ram and Salisbury have cruised through with some good tennis but haven’t been tested yet and I wonder what they’ll have if they are. Gonzalez and Roger-Vasselin beat Ram and Salisbury in the semi-finals in Paris and I think they’re the value for a repeat here.
Carlos Alcaraz vs Novak Djokovic
We have very much saved the best for last on Saturday as the last of the semi-finals is a repeat of the Wimbledon final as the champion at SW19, Carlos Alcaraz, faces off against the defending champion Novak Djokovic in a meeting of the top two players in the world.
Djokovic for once doesn’t go into a semi-final unbeaten and he might feel rather fortunate to still be in the tournament because surely most would have been expecting Jannik Sinner to ease up and allow Holger Rune to beat him and knock him out but that wasn’t the case and you wonder if the Serb will gobble up his second chance. Alcaraz might feel he has something of a second life in this event having lost his opening match of the tournament to Alexander Zverev but he recovered to win his next two in straight sets to end up topping the Red Group. These two men have met on four occasions and it is currently 2-2 but Alcaraz could easily be 4-0 up. He won their first meeting, was on top in their second at the French Open earlier this year before the occasion got the better of him and he cramped up. Alcaraz then won the Wimbledon final and went down in the Cincinnati final in an absolute epic which Djokovic won in a deciding set tiebreak after nearly four hours. Unlike many, Alcaraz isn’t beaten before he walks out onto court against Djokovic and with the Serb having been slightly off it so far having needed three sets in both the matches he did eventually win, I think the Spaniard might be value to ensure the second life of Novak is a short-lived one.
Tips
Back S.Gonzalez & E.Roger-Vasselin to beat R.Ram & J.Salisbury for a 3/10 stake at 2.38 with Bet365
Back C.Alcaraz to beat N.Djokovic for a 3/10 stake at 2.20 with William Hill
Back him here:
