A completely meaningless match in terms of future bearing on the tournament will take place when fellow Spaniards Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer collide at the World Tour Finals on Friday. Nadal has already clinched the group, while Ferrer is out.
Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer will be facing each other for the 30th time in their careers when they wrap up their round-robin campaigns at the World Tour Finals on Friday afternoon.
Nadal is dominating the head-to-head series 23-6, but it stands at a far more competitive 5-4 in Nadal’s favor on hard courts. The two Spaniards most recently squared off in their only meeting of 2015 on the clay courts of Monte-Carlo, where Nadal survived a quarterfinal test 6-4, 5-7, 6-2.
Fast forward seven months and this is a strikingly different world No. 5. So far this fall, Nadal has finished runner-up in Beijing and Basel, made a run to the Shanghai semifinals, and reached the quarters in Paris. At none of those four events, however, did he perform better than he has through two London matches. Nadal cruised past Stan Wawrinka 6-3, 6-2 then erased Andy Murray 6-4, 6-1.
This is the first time since Rome in 2013 that the 14-time major champion has defeated two top-four players in the same tournament.
Ferrer also stormed into the O2 with plenty of momentum, having captured recent titles in Kuala Lumpur and Vienna. But once again a steep step up in competition has proven to be too much for Ferrer to handle. The seventh-ranked Spaniard lost his opener to Murray 6-4, 6-4 before blowing a 5-2 first-set lead against Wawrinka and falling 7-5, 6-2.
Ferrer’s baseline game has been solid this week, but his serve has given him no chance so succeed against the best players in the world. In two outings, the 33-year-old has combined for zero aces and 11 double-faults (eight against Murray, three against Wawrinka).
A proverbial “dead” match is not a particularly enthralling proposition for the fans, but if you could pick two players to contest such a match, Nadal and Ferrer would be the two. Their effort levels can never be questioned regardless of circumstances. Unfortunately for Ferrer, Nadal’s best effort vs. his own best effort is a significant mismatch right now.
Pick: Nadal in 2
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anyone NOT have Nadal in 2?
i have ferrer winning this at 80% confidence rate. They both have nothing to play for. If ferrer plays hard just because he wants to win, i dont see Nadal giving 100%because why waste so much energy and risk injury for no reason? Might as well save his energy for the quarter finals
This all depends on if Ferrer wants to give 100%. If Ferrer gives 100% there is absolutely no reason why nadal should wear himself out for a pointless win. If both of them don’t care and not giving 100% then nadal ftw
definitely not a POINTLESS win! extra 200 points mean a lot to Rafa…
nats beat me to it. Rafa needs matches at high level and the points are nothing to snub.
Rafa has one mode: try his best.
Same as Ferrer.
Quarter finals????????? Nadal is already in the SF.
Points Oh yeah. That really matters.
Think for a moment, Rafa beats Djokovic and Fedrer to win this. So he have to beat top four in the world in one single tournament.
I agree! There are points on the line. Also, I don’t see Rafa giving less than his best. I don’t think he can do otherwise. Ferrer will be playing for pride and trying to salvage something from this tournament.
I am picking Rafa to win in 2 sets. I would like to see him get this done as quickly as possible, so he can be fresh and ready for Novak. That’s the big one.
There is no way I see Ferrer winning this match.
This will be a strenuous extended practice session for Rafa. How long it lasts will depend on how much Ferrer wants to salvage his pride. Fortunately his serving problems will be the deciding factor.
Rafa in straight sets
#Exho match
I wonder what percentage of the O2 spectators understand the RR format and that they will be watching a dead rubber.
Keep your mind sharp, remain confident and stay strong, Rafa!
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CUPu-O8UkAEYd24.png:medium
I really don’t care who wins this match.
Chris Kermode will be on SKY Sports tonight. Sky has invited question from viewers on twitter @SkySportsTennis #AskTheAtp.
https://twitter.com/hashtag/AskTheATP?src=hash
Ferrer seems to be serving first, who won the toss? (can’t bloody watch it at work)
Ferrer did
Thx ed!
Okay Rafa, let’s go 3-0!
A couple of great rallies already. Both went Rafa’s way.
He came out hitting well. Now we see where his serve is today.
native, do you mean 3-0 or 30-0 in a game? my score board is showing 30-0
shireling, rafa is playing fantastic!! is up 2 breaks and whipping his forehand like a lion tamer…
this is the rafa of old!!!
His DTLF firing today.
Shireling.
Sorry, I was referring to the fact that if Rafa wins this match, he will be undefeated 3-0 winning all three.
I can see how that would be confusing if you are following the live score! 🙂
oh, thx, I was wondering if it was lag from my pc
Now it’s 3-0 in set 1 and Rafa is on his way for a 3-0 clean sweep 🙂
Great start for Rafa! Up two breaks. Now it’s really 3-0!
Shireling,
We both said it at the same time!