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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ed, I don’t think either of them will hold back.
Rafa changed his mind. He wants some practice for tiebreaks đ
you got that right nadline, they’re deucing the s* out of each other in this game
Oh crap, TB
Why is Rafa nervous in a match that doesn’t matter? He will be mega nervous in the SF.
I don’t understand how Rafa let this set get to a TB. Unless it’s all about tomorrow.
I don’t believe that Ferrer is ahead in the TB. I so don’t want this to go three sets.
Rafa wants the crowd to get their moneysworth and will play three sets đ
Depending on the quality, that may not be such a good thing, no?
Hey Rafereer, Shazza called, she want’s her crappy serve back.
Fedole are laughing for five minutes each.
SIX service breaks???
I cannot believe how nervous Rafa is. Unbelievable.
Why?
This match doesn’t matter, why the nerves?
Anxiety is not logical.
He was nervous against Nole in an exhibition last month that everyone here claimed meant nothing.
rafa’s range has gone…either hitting short balls for ferrer to murder or going long….
true…
I truly do not understand this at all. Rafa losing a TB to Ferrer 7-2? Really? This is just unreal. He’s played so well this week.
now, this speaks a volume for tomorrow…I am very disappointed to hand the set to Ferrer like this…”Welcome back” Rafa of 2015… đ
Ferrer playing his part too. After a tentative start he was storming by the end of the set.
I’m sorry but Rafa simply cannot afford to slug it out with Ferrer when he has to play Novak tomorrow. I don’t know where this came from.
kind of glad I can’t see it at work…
This is what I fear about Rafa. He can come out and start hitting short, misfiring left right and centre. If he plays like this in the SF, he’ll be slaughtered by Djoko.
^Yes.
Rafa should just play freely against someone he virtually owns.
Rafa is owned ATM.
By anxiety.
Anxiety? Against Ferrer? What does he have to fear from him?
He doesn’t fear Ferrer.
He fears himself.
#Anxiety101
I don’t care how well Ferrer is playing, Rafa should beat him easily. Two breaks up and he loses both of them? This is concerning.
The 1st set stats, Part 1:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CUQ7izaXAAAZh19.png
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The 1st set stats, Part 2:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CUQ7lIsWwAA0z6Z.png
18 UEs from both is insanely bad tennis.