Saturday, November 28, 2009

World Tour Finals Day 7 Preview

by Craig Hickman

LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 27:  Nikolay Davydenko of Russia celebrates winning the match during the men's singles round robin match against Robin Soderling of Sweden during the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 Arena on November 27, 2009 in London, England.
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Group A has the advantage. Roger Federer and Juan Martín del Potro had a day off, Robin Soderling and Nikolay Davydenko did not.

The Russian has the shortest turnaround and the worst record of all against his opponent. I still don't understand why Kolya hasn't been able to defeat the world No. 1 even once. They have played tight sets, but Kolya always manages to find a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. I'm not sure Raja will be in any mood to even allow him to get close today. I'll be surprised if the Swiss doesn't win in straights.

LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 26:  Roger Federer of Switzerland celebrates a point during the men's singles round robin match against Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina during the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 Arena on November 26, 2009 in London, England.
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LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 25:  Robin Soderling of Sweden celebrates winning the match during the men's singles first round match against Novak Djokovic of Serbia during the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 Arena on November 25, 2009 in London, England.
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I, for one, am going to thoroughly enjoy watching the Rude Power boys duke it out. They've split their only two meetings with the Argentinean winning their only match in 2009. But that was way back in Auckland, which seems like a lifetime ago. The Swede won a set last night to avoid facing Raja in this round, so let's see what he has left to bring against del Potro. I see a third set breaker. Bring on the popcorn.

LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 26:  Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina celebrates winning the match during the men's singles round robin match against Roger Federer of Switzerland during the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 Arena on November 26, 2009 in London, England.
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Day 7 - Semifinals Order Of Play

Day Session: 12.30 pm GMT (7.30 am ET)

Mirnyi/Ram vs. Cermak/Mertinak

Followed by
[1] Roger Federer vs. [6] Nikolay Davydenko

Night Session: 7 pm GMT (2 pm ET)

Bhupathi/Knowles vs. Bryan/Bryan

Followed by
[8] Robin Söderling vs. [5] Juan Martín del Potro

There should be no night session for the semifinals. In both singles and doubles, it gives the day-session winners an advantage they don't need heading into the finals tomorrow.

3 comments:

cp said...

Fed had more rest, crowd screaming for him, and Davy was the pigeon. But no more. Can hardly believe it but Davy got one. Fed cool at the net and almost in tears walking out. Go all the way now Kolya.

duppie said...

PSYCHIC TV "SHE WAS SURPRISED"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxFrv3FVlkQ

Helen W said...

Yes, you would have thought that this great sportsman could have found a little warmth for Kolya at the handshake at the net, but no. None. Nada.

And over at his website, one of The Worshipful has this to say:

i believe since he had already clinched the number 1 spot, he chose to let the others play on for some fame and glory of their own.

There are none so blind, ...