The World Tour Finals draw ceremony was held on Wednesday morning in London. Rafael Nadal, who remains in the field but is questionable with a knee injury, headlines Group A along with Dominic Thiem, Grigor Dimitrov, and David Goffin. Roger Federer is in Group B, followed by Alexander Zverev, Marin Cilic, and Jack Sock.
Group Pete Sampras
[1] Rafael Nadal (ESP)
[4] Dominic Thiem (AUT)
[6] Grigor Dimitrov (BUL)
[7] David Goffin (BEL)
Group Boris Becker
[2] Roger Federer (SUI)
[3] Alexander Zverev (GER)
[5] Marin Cilic (CRO)
[8] Jack Sock (USA)
Nadal has already clinched the year-end No. 1 ranking, a feat he accomplished by winning his first match at last week’s Rolex Paris Masters. The Spaniard, however, eventually withdrew prior to the quarterfinals. In 2016, the year-end No. 1 ranking came down to the final match of the season between the the top two players in the world for the first time in history. Andy Murray toppled Novak Djokovic for both the World Tour Finals title and world No. 1.
Paris, meanwhile, determined the final two singles spots at the O2 Arena. David Goffin snagged the seventh seed, while Jack Sock made a miracle run to lift the winner’s trophy and steal the eighth and final place from Pablo Carreno Busta.
On the doubles side, Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo are in a battle with Henri Kontinen and John Peers to be the No. 1 team in the world in 2017.
Group Woodbridge/Woodforde
[1] Lukasz Kubot (POL) / Marcelo Melo (BRA)
[4] Jamie Murray (GBR) / Bruno Soares (BRA)
[5] Bob Bryan (USA) / Mike Bryan (USA)
[7] Ivan Dodig (CRO) / Marcel Granollers (ESP)
Group Eltingh/Haarhuis
[2] Henri Kontinen (FIN) / John Peers (AUS)
[3] Jean-Julien Rojer (NED) / Horia Tecau (ROU)
[6] Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA) / Nicolas Mahut (FRA)
[8] Ryan Harrison (USA) / Michael Venus (NZL)
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who ya got?
Rafas draw is good. If he was fit..he would surely have won 2 matches at bare minimum in group stage vs Thiem & Goffin.
Cilic and Zverev are good to land in Feds draw..
We have to see whether Rafa is playing or not. If Rafa is playing and his knee is not acting up, I like his chances to reach the SF at least.
I read that Fed’s group will start first on Sunday; maybe Rafa (if he’s playing) needs one more day for recovery of his knee.
Fed has all big hitters in his group, and when in the zone, they could do damage. At least two of them have wins over Fed; imagine he has Dimi, Sock and Goffin instead, they would have zero win over Fed entering this WTF!
Sock and Goffin couldn’t be in the same group
I’m just saying!
I’m watching the next gen ATP Finals, quite interesting. I like these youngsters, they look a pleasant lot. They seem to enjoy themselves there at Milan but do battle hard. I’ve to get used to watching them and liking them if I want to continue watching tennis when Rafa is gone from the scene.
The shot clock thing looks ok, when it only starts after the umpire calls the score. No line judge and hawkeye calls out or fault (a strange male voice) so there’s no need for players’ challenges. The umpire basically only needs to call the score and to warn and/or penalize players when they go over the time limit.
The first to win four games wins the set format looks rather rushed, players feedback that they feel rushed all the time and can’t afford to have lapses. I’m not sure such format is sustainable especially when the players get older and couldn’t keep up with the pace.
I hope Rafa withraws. But looks like he could be playing.
He can no chance against Fed here
atul1985 AT 3:27 PM;
If Rafa had withdrawn from every tournament you have wanted him to withdraw, he wouldn’t have been the year-end world No.1.
Vamos Rafa!
Why talk about Fed? Fed himself has to take care of his group first and be sure he won’t get beaten by the hard hitters in his group!
If Rafa is fit to play, any point gained will help him to hold on to his no.1 ranking longer next year; I’m sure Rafa knows what’s best for him and weighs in everything before making his decision.
Anyone watching the nextgen Final? Chung playing Rublev now and it’s a fantastic match, this Chung is simply incredible with his speed around the court and his retrieving, hitting unbelievable winners from everywhere. It’s no wonder Rafa had to play very well to put Chung away!
That match was honestly very entertaining and good and had lot of cat and mouse rallies . Rafa played well to wrap in straights.
Yeah, Chung has a really nice baseline game, he’s slowly becoming my favorite NextGen player. He is able and willing to take his backhand up the line to take control of a point and disrupt his opponent’s rhythm. At the earlier stages of his career, is forehand seemed an unorthodox stroke. He has been working on rebuilding his forehand technique over the past couple of seasons and right now it’s a pretty good shot and he can take advantage of it. He needs to improve his serve, especially the second, as it seems quite attackable. He can also improve his net game and I think it will get better as he gets older.
For all the Rafans hoping Fed would have the toughest possible RR group- you got your wish! 🙂
Yep
No, it not wishing for Fed to have the tougher group; it’s wishing for Rafa to have an easier group. It’s always about Rafa!
Roger will look even better when he mows them down. Honestly, Zverev, Cilic and Jack Sock?!? Fed’s playing great. If he stays healthy I don’t see a problem there!
no problem at all
Even though Fed has a tougher group he will still top the group easily and Rafa having an easier group may still struggle and end up being second best in the group. At the end he may face Fed in the semis.
Exactly!
Some crazy people will later complain or make excuses for M. Cilic, J. Sock, A. Zverev( I like AZ and it won’t be easy for R. Federer if this guy plays his game but Roger should win WTF) and others, forgetting that R. Federer is THE best tennis player this year.
Look at what R. Federer has achieved this year, how old is he? Look at what he did to Rafito this year, not once, not thrice but 4 times( 5 in a roll) he outclassed Rafito, he handled Rafa properly and every single time he won he did it with class and humility.
Roger Federer is THE best tennis player this year(2017) and the G. O. A. T.
#Whataplayer
😂🤣😎😜😋
Rafa will be fully fit… I’m sure that withdrawal last week wast just to be fresh next week…
I’m so happy that Rafa appears to be playing WTF. It would be a serious drag if he didn’t… Not that there aren’t some potentially great match-ups that don’t involve Rafa. I just think every tournament is better when at least Fedal are there. 🙂
Group Boris Becker for Feds is brutal. He can go down to just about anyone there http://www.138mph.com/tennis-will-federer-be-able-to-handle-the-lineup-of-heavy-hitters-in-his-round-robin-group-at-the-atp-finals-in-london/
IMO This wouldve been one of the most depleted fields ever at the WTFs had Nadal withdrawn, no Novak, Andy, Stan, Milos etc, the battle of the walking wounded, no disrespect to the guys that are there and the new generation, but we still miss the big names when they are missing ….
I Think Federer has to be the favorite, hes well rested, and the rest have killed themselves getting there, he can save himself by losing a match, and saving himself for the final, thats the beauty for some and a curse for the others regarding this system ….
A curse! But I don’t think Roger has EVER done that and I don’t think he will this year.
Mira Andi if your reading theres pictures on FB of my favorite popstar with Novak playing tennis, hes also good friends with Rafa and has donated to his foundation 😉