Novak Djokovic and David Ferrer will battle for the Abu Dhabi championship on Saturday. Rafael Nadal and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga are going up against each other for third-place honors.
(2) Novak Djokovic vs. David Ferrer
Ferrer no longer has coach Javier Piles in his corner, but he already has two wins at the 2013 Mubadala World Tennis Championship under his belt. The third-ranked Spaniard beat Stanislas Wawrinka 7-5, 6-1 in his opening match before upsetting top seed Rafael Nadal 6-4, 6-4 on Friday. Djokovic, who got a bye to the semifinals along with Nadal, scraped past Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6(5), 6-3.
The second-ranked Serb is 11-5 lifetime against Ferrer following a pair of straight-set victories in 2013. It’s impossible to gauge just how much either man wants this title, but Djokovic’s 24-match winning streak (all on hard courts) to end last season is something to consider. He barely knows what it’s like to lose right now and he will likely want to maintain his winning ways heading into the official start of 2014.
Pick: Djokovic in 2
(1) Rafael Nadal vs. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Tsonga is contesting his third match in three days, having defeated Andy Murray 7-5, 6-3 on Thursday prior to his setback against Djokovic. The Frenchman is 3-8 lifetime against Nadal and they have faced each other only twice since 2011.
Abu Dhabi is a borderline exhibition event, especially with nothing more than third place at stake in this particular match. Nadal–and to some extent Tsonga, as well–is simply fine-tuning his game for Australia. Under these circumstances and on a fast hard court, Tsonga should have a good shot at pulling off his second win of the week.
Pick: Tsonga in 3
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