Juan Martin Del Potro and Roger Federer will contest a virtual quarterfinal match on Saturday in London. Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic and Richard Gasquet are facing each other despite having their fates already determined.
(4) Juan Martin Del Potro vs. (6) Roger Federer
Del Potro and Federer will be squaring off for the 20th time in their careers and for the the third time in three weeks when they collide during round-robin action at the World Tour Finals on Saturday. Federer leads the head-to-head series 14-5, including 9-5 on hard courts. Del Potro won a three-setter in the Basel title match last month before Federer returned the favor with a three-set victory in last week’s Paris quarterfinals.
This is effectively a quarterfinal match, because the winner will advance out of the group stage while the loser will be sent packing. Del Potro is 1-1 following a three-set win over Richard Gasquet and a three-set loss to Novak Djokovic. Federer fell to Djokovic in three sets before eliminating Gasquet 6-4, 6-3 on Thursday. Del Potro has been the second best player this fall behind Djokovic and the Argentine’s form has also been superior to that of Federer so far in London. The Swiss will want to keep points short, but that is a tough task on a court playing slower than usual.
Pick: Del Potro in 3
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(1) Novak Djokovic vs. (8) Richard Gasquet
Djokovic and Gasquet will be going head-to-head for the 11th time in their careers at the ATP level on Saturday. The second-ranked Serb has won nine of their 10 previous encounters, including seven of eight on hard courts. They have faced each other twice this season, with Djokovic prevailing 6-1, 6-2 in the Montreal quarterfinals and 6-4, 6-2 in the Shanghai semis last month.
This will be an interesting match because Djokovic is already through to the semifinals while Gasquet has already been mathematically eliminated. The underdog Frenchman played well in his opener against Del Potro but he was dreadful in his loss to Federer. Djokovic has not suffered a single loss since the U.S. Open, so he will be motivated to keep that unblemished fall streak going and carry momentum into the semis.
Pick: Djokovic in 2 losing 8 games or fewer
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