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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This is the third time rafa-roger are going to contest a semi at WTF but its the first time when Rafa has topped his group and federer has finished second in his!
I was confident Rafa would stay unbeaten at WTF even right after his loss to ferrer in Paris.
Federer actually had an underdog-like tone in the post match interiew when he talked about his match like rafa…’ I will try to make his life difficult ‘ ..hmmm….
Rafa’s backhand has been really up and down so he is gona have to keep a check on his backhand… Plus, in their last indoor meeting, fed killed rafa with his outwide serve to rafa’s backhand in the duece court. I hope rafa can get good rhythm on the return games unliek Cincy where he started reading federer’s serve after one set and a half.
My pick : rafa in 3. BREAK THE INDOOR SHACKLES, Rafa.
whooz everyone picking?
vamosrafa,
I do agree with you that Rafa’s backhand has been up and down. I think the cc backhand has been really good at times. At least the dtl forehand has been on fire.
I think this is Rafa’s best chance to beat Fed. He has the confidence of winning so much this year. He wants to win this tournament. He is fresh and healthy.
I am picking Rafa in 3 sets.
yes NNY, rafa is fresh and he wants this one badly. I hope he can score this win. Good to see federer playing well though
I meant that this is the first time in the build up to their semi final at WTF that rafa has topped his group and fed has finished second (unlike 2006,2007)
I just hope rafa comes out playing aggressive tennis….fed is playing well enough to punish a passive rafa and extend his indoors mastery of rafa to 5-0
who thinks Fed will be a little jaded? he does not have an off day and he played an emotionally draining match today..
argh , in my first post, I wanted to say : I was confident Rafa would stay unbeaten in RR stage at WTF
If someone were to write a script about Rafa’s comeback year, a fictional final act could not have been better than the real final act. Here it is, Rafa in the year end championship tournament, playing his long-time rival, Roger, and should he beat him, he’ll likely play his current and probable rest of his career rival, Novak. Rafa has a good chance to beat Roger for the first time on an indoor hardcourt, and then probably Novak, who will be the favorite, just as Roger has historically been on this surface. Should Rafa manage this double victory feat, I think we will see Rafa overcome with emotion as we’ve never seen him.
I also think that Rafa will be super motivated tomorrow. He certainly is expecting a tough match – Roger might not deliver but probably will, unless the match gets away from him early, but Rafa has got to know that if he is not tentative and fights as if it is a slam final the match will be his, no matter what Roger throws at him. Rafa has got to know he has a pretty good chance of winning the semi and final no matter how well Novak (assuming) will be playing. Worth playing his heart out for two matches. Rafa in three both times.