ATP World Tour Finals 2017, London, UK

[britbox]

DATE: Nov 12-19,2017
SURFACE: Hard
FIELD SIZE: 8
DEFENDING CHAMPION: Andy Murray

Seeds:

[1] Rafael Nadal (ESP)
[2] Roger Federer (SUI)
[3] Alexander Zverev (GER)
[4] Dominic Thiem (AUT)
[5] Marin Cilic (CRO)
[6] Grigor Dimitrov (BUL)
[7] David Goffin (BEL)
[8] Jack Sock (USA)

The Tournament:

The ATP World Tour Finals (also known as the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals for sponsorship reasons) is a professional men's tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts and is held annually in November at the O2 Arena in London, United Kingdom. The ATP World Tour Finals are the season-ending championships of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) World Tour, featuring the top eight singles players and doubles teams of the ATP Rankings. The tournament was first held in 1970.

Unlike all other singles events on the men's tour, the ATP World Tour Finals is not a straightforward knock-out tournament. Eight players are divided into two groups of four and play three round-robin matches each against the other players in their group. The two players with the best records in each group progress to the semifinals, with the winners meeting in the final to determine the champion. Though it is theoretically possible to advance to the semi-finals of the tournament with two round-robin losses, no player in the history of the singles tournament has won the title after losing more than one round-robin match. Src: Wikipedia


About London

London, the capital of England and the United Kingdom, is a 21st-century city with history stretching back to Roman times. At its centre stand the imposing Houses of Parliament, the iconic Big Ben clock tower and Westminster Abbey, site of British monarch coronations. Across the Thames River, the London Eye observation wheel provides panoramic views of the South Bank cultural complex, and the entire city.

Tourism Guide:

 

[britbox]

The Draw is out:

Singles – Group Pete Sampras
[1] Rafael Nadal (ESP)
[4] Dominic Thiem (AUT)
[6] Grigor Dimitrov (BUL)
[7] David Goffin (BEL)

Singles – Group Boris Becker
[2] Roger Federer (SUI)
[3] Alexander Zverev (GER)
[5] Marin Cilic (CRO)
[8] Jack Sock (USA)

 

[britbox]

Lookig at the draw, I think Fed and Rafa would both have an easier ride if they swapped places.

 

[Federberg]

You think so? I think that objectively Roger's group is just tougher. If Rafa's knee isn't ok then Thiem and Dimitrov represent a serious threat to him

 

[DarthFed]

I'd say Rafa clearly has a way better draw there. Still no reason Fed shouldnt go 2-1 or better but it's actually a tough group. If you switch them then Roger goes an easy 3-0 and Rafa healthy knee or not could be in trouble.

 

[Moxie]

I'm inclined to agree with Federerbergmeister...B is tougher. But Goffin and Thiem will make him run more, if he lets them.

 

[brokenshoelace]

If Rafa is healthy that's not a very difficult draw. But he's not healthy and he's not great on this surface. Still don't understand why he played here considering even in a best case scenario, I don't like his chances against Federer at all. I guess this post would look stupid if he won it, but then again, there's a reason he never did.

 

[Federberg]

I'm inclined to agree with Federerbergmeister...B is tougher. But Goffin and Thiem will make him run more, if he lets them.

Lol! That name's not going to go away...

 

[Busted]

Just as I knew would happen - Roger has Zverev and Cilic in his group (and Sock) and Nadal gets the powder puff group of Thiem, Goffin and Dimitrov. Forget a bum knee. Nadal should be able to beat those guys from a wheelchair... It's rigged! Rigged I tell youse! Gonna be even worse when Nadal plays 1 match and has to drop out and Carrena Busta is the alternate...

 

[Busted]

I'd say Rafa clearly has a way better draw there. Still no reason Fed shouldnt go 2-1 or better but it's actually a tough group. If you switch them then Roger goes an easy 3-0 and Rafa healthy knee or not could be in trouble.

It's like every tournament Nadal has won this year - no difficult players until he got to the final...and even then the only difficult player he played was Roger...who he lost 3 finals to... Roger could be looking at at least 2 3-setters - Zverev and Cilic. Don't really think Sock can take him 3 but you never know. The good news is that Roger's super-motivated to win so hopefully he'll be in Beatdown Mode against Zverev and Cilic and Clinic Mode against Sock.

 

[Moxie]

Lol! That name's not going to go away...

I just couldn't resist it one more time.

 

[Busted]

Lookig at the draw, I think Fed and Rafa would both have an easier ride if they swapped places.

Really? The only guy I see in Nadal's group who can take him 3 is Dimitrov - and that's only if Nadal's still injured. If he's even 75% all I see is 3 scorelines of 6-3, 6-4 - or worse... Hopefully I'm wrong and one of these guys pushes him or his injury gives them a better chance than they'd normally have. Of the 3 the fact that it's indoor hard court probably only works in Dimitrov's favor.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Clearly a tough draw for Federer and a much easier draw for Rafa. Fed should get an easy win over Sock (despite his current momentum).
However, the matches with Sasha and Cilic could be tricky.

Despite sore knees, Rafa should get easy wins over Thiem (his hard court skills are not good and he is on a downward spiral currently) and Goffin (is very harmless generally). Dimi might give some
trouble, if he plays like he did at AO this year.

So, there is a very good chance that Rafa can win his group and Fed finishes second in his group. So, Fedal won't happen in SF.
Fedal will probably also not happen in finals, as Sasha or Cilic would finish Rafa off in semifinals. Sadly, one more chance to redeem
H2H might go down the drain..

 

[Carol]

The way that Cilic and Zverev are playing now are not more dangerous than Dimitrov and Thiem but anyway I don’t see why the Roger’s fans can be concerned, Rafa probably is not going to play or if he plays which would be crazy he obviously is not going to be at 100%

 

[GameSetAndMath]

The way that Cilic and Zverev are playing now are not more dangerous than Dimitrov and Thiem but anyway I don’t see why the Roger’s fans can be concerned, Rafa probably is not going to play or if he plays which would be crazy he obviously is not going to be at 100%

We are not (at least I am not) concerned about his chances of winning WTF, but am little concerned about his chances of winning his group and also about his chances of facing Rafa.

Rafa will play, he will not drop out. His injuries are not serious, but just a case of overuse.

 

[El Dude]

The only reason for Rafa not to play is if he's seriously injured (which we don't know, but doesn't seem to be the case) and he wants to save his body for the Australian Open. But that's two and a half months away, so I would be surprised if he doesn't give this a shot.

 

[DarthFed]

Seeing that draw id be surprised if he drops out. You have two cupcakes and then Dimitrov. If the groups were reversed and the knee isn't 100% it'd be smart to sit it out. With this group he will never get a better chance to win this event. And there is a small but legit chance Roger doesn't even make it out of the round robin.

 

[Moxie]

It's like every tournament Nadal has won this year - no difficult players until he got to the final...and even then the only difficult player he played was Roger...who he lost 3 finals to... Roger could be looking at at least 2 3-setters - Zverev and Cilic. Don't really think Sock can take him 3 but you never know. The good news is that Roger's super-motivated to win so hopefully he'll be in Beatdown Mode against Zverev and Cilic and Clinic Mode against Sock.

Again with the whining about Nadal's cupcake year. It doesn't look good on you, @Busted. Now even complaining about this draw. I agree with most here that Rafa got the easier group, but it is the top 8 of 9 ranked. It does make a huge difference that Novak, Andy and Stan are out for the year. It's not like either group is formidable, compared to the other.

 

[mrzz]

It all depends on how fast (or slow) the courts will play. I also think that people are dismissing Goffin too fast, but anyway Federer's group is tougher. I will go out in a limb and say we will have a Fedal semi.

 

[Moxie]

It all depends on how fast (or slow) the courts will play. I also think that people are dismissing Goffin too fast, but anyway Federer's group is tougher. I will go out in a limb and say we will have a Fedal semi.

Doesn't the court at the O2 tend to play fast? I agree it's wrong to dismiss Goffin. He's a tricky player. Played Rafa tight on clay, earlier in the year, though this would be completely different. Goffin has been up and down since the mishap with his ankle at RG this year.