Stanislas Wawrinka needs a win on Friday in order to keep his London semifinal hopes alive. His opponent, David Ferrer, has already been mathematically eliminated.
David Ferrer and Stanislas Wawrinka will be facing each other for the 12th time in their careers when they meet on the final day of Group A action at the World Tour Finals on Friday afternoon.
Ferrer leads the head-to-head series 7-4, but it is tied at 2-2 on either indoor carpet or hard courts. They have squared off twice this season (both times on clay), with Ferrer prevailing 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 in the Buenos Aires final before Wawrinka got revenge with a 6-1, 6-4 victory in the Oeiras title match.
Ferrer has already been eliminated from London semifinal contention following straight-set losses to Rafael Nadal and Tomas Berdych. It appears the third-ranked Spaniard simply ran out of gas in his seventh tournament in as many weeks. Ferrer finished runner-up in Stockholm, Valencia, and Paris leading up to the World Tour Finals.
Wawrinka, meanwhile, is making his debut appearance in the year-end championship. The Swiss boasts a 50-22 record for his 2013 campaign, including 1-1 so far this week. After getting the best of Berdych in three sets on Monday, Wawrinka fell to Nadal in a pair of tiebreakers on Wednesday.
While the court surface in London slightly favors Ferrer because it is playing slow, that may not make the difference. It is producing long points, which are the No. 3 seed’s specialty, but with the current wear and tear on his tires it may backfire on him. Look for Wawrinka to capitalize on his opponent’s fatigue and showcase just a little bit too much firepower.
Pick: Wawrinka in 3
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Unlike Gasquet, WaWa has proved himself at the O2 by beating Berdych and keeping it tight with Rafa. Another win and reaching the SFs would be a feather in his cap and just rewards for how hard he has worked this year.
Wawa loses another TB………….cue the tears/complaints about on-court coaching…..
Wow. For anyone who thought that David didn’t care about this match, they’d sure be wrong. Not only did he win the first set tie-break, but he’s just smashed his racquet in anger after being broken in the second set. Not sure I’ve seen that before.
I wonder whether he is frustrated for not making it to the semis probably on account of playing so many weeks in a row (and playing well).
RT @SI_BTBaseline: “Wawrinka serves it out and takes second 64. Motions to his box that he’s ready for a drink. Of water, I presume. #FinalShowdown”
Tut, tut Stan, that could be mistaken for on-court coaching you know………….
If Rafa wins, Wawrinka is in.
Karma is truly a biatch, now Stan NEEDS Rafa to beat Berdy for him to be assured of a semi berth…..
Well Stan, Uncle Toni is not going to be coaching Rafa from the sidelines after your admonition yesterday, and we know Rafa cannot win without Uncle T’s court-side coaching, which, according to you, he always does.
So, if you fail to make the WTF semis, you know who to blame, no?
#NotRafa
#NotUncleToni
#You
#ShouldaKeptYourBigSwissMouthShut