Andy Murray and the Bryan Brothers took part in the draw ceremony for the ATP World Tour Finals on Wednesday in a pod of the London Eye Ferris wheel. Here are the round robin groups for the singles and doubles competitions, which run from November 22 – 29:
2009 ATP World Tour Finals Singles Draw:
Group A
Roger Federer
Andy Murray
Juan Martin del Potro
Fernando Verdasco
Group B
Rafael Nadal
Novak Djokovic
Nikolay Davydenko
Robin Soderling
Group A: Based on head-to-heads, Murray rules Group A. He holds a winning record over everyone else, for a combined win-loss tally of 17-5. Roger has a 12-7 win-loss record over Group A, with 6 of those 7 losses coming to Andy Murray. All the players in this group have struggled with injury since the US Open, with Murray winning the group’s only title a couple weeks ago in Valencia. Based on the head-to-heads, recent form, and home-crowd advantage, Murray’s a shoe-in for the semis. And Roger Federer (apart from being Roger Federer) has the extra motivation of playing for the year-end No. 1. Group A matches up badly for Verdasco and del Potro is likely too gimpy to get through. But you never know – the tournament can’t be called the WTF for nothin’.
Your predictions:
Loading ...Group B: This is where the Mojo’s at! Based on their form, Nole and Kolya (the 2008 WTF finalists) are the guys to beat – not only in the Group but in the entire tournament. Nole, the defending champ, has been on a tear this fall, winning 3 titles: over Cilic in Beijing, Roger Federer in Basel and Gael Monfils in Paris (where he also took out Rafael Nadal in straights in the semis.) His only loss in the past months has been to Nikolay Davydenko in the semis of the Shanghai Masters. Kolya went on to win the title, beating Rafael Nadal in straight sets in the finals. Speaking of Rafa – he’s lost to all of the Group B players in their most recent meetings. The most painful loss was to Robin Soderling in the round of 16 at the French. Besides the possibility of retaking the no. 1 ranking from Roger, revenge may be the major motivator as the Spaniard progresses through Group B.
Your predictions:
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2009 ATP World Tour Finals Doubles Draw – Nestor and Zimonjic and the Bryan Bros are battling for the year-end No. 1 ranking.
Group A
Daniel Nestor – Nenad Zimonjic
Mahesh Bhupathi – Mark Knowles
Frantisek Cermak – Michal Mertinak
Mariusz Fyrstenberg – Marcin Matkowski
Group B
Bob Bryan – Mike Bryan
Lukas Dlouhy – Leander Paes
Lukasz Kubot – Oliver Marach
Max Mirnyi – Andy Ram
Tags: ATP, ATP World Tour Finals, Bryan Brothers, Davydenko, del potro, Djokovic, draw, Federer, Murray, Nadal, Soderling, tennis, Verdasco
i like your observations, but i vote for the most dynamic duo of fed and nadal to make the final! it would seem only fitting given what’s happened this season. whatever needs to happen so that they make it is fine by me.
as for the semis, fed must be there and murray should too. i’d like to see them battle it out- less talk, more ball striking!
kolya should make it through to the semis. i’ve been impressed with his game this fall, especially in shanghai. i’m also tired of seeing nole at the business end of tournies. spread the wtf love i say!
I’m so nervous.
And why did Murray do the draw, shouldn’t Djokovic have done it b/c he won the year end cup last year?
Ah,but Djoko isn’t British
Andy gets roped into all the promo events because ultimately that way the Brit TV channels and newspapers will then show the report/pics,not as many of them would for Nole,seems ridiculous but it’s true!Same goes for Bryans,I don’t think they’re defending champions(correct me if I’m wrong!)but they’re the only dubs players casual fans in the UK could name,if they could at all!
Am surprised there hasn’t been more hype surrounding the event here actually,most newspapers have had articles,but on TV have only seen the occasional ad,and Muzz is going to be on a daytime talk show tomorrow, but that’s about it so far!
Djokovic was extremely solid last week.
Federer was not very solid, but coming off break.
Although Murray will have home crowd advantage, Mr. Roger will meet Mr. Nola in the final. My prediction is Federer winning 57, 62, 64, because he wants number 1 ranking more than Djoko wants to win the tournament.
roger will win. it’s a tough draw for all, so it should be a great week of tennis. i really want to see a rafa/soderling match now that rafa’s feeling better. i think rog can take mopey murray since he’s feeling good. i think the final will be rog/davy.
So we get our long awaited Le Sod vs Rafa rematch!
Order of Play, Sunday 22 November, 2009
Centre Court, start 12:30 p.m.
[1] D Nestor (CAN) / N Zimonjic (SRB) vs [8] M Fyrstenberg (POL) / M Matkowski (POL)
Not before 2:15 p.m.
[4] A Murray (GBR) vs [5] J del Potro (ARG)
At 7:00 p.m.
[3] M Bhupathi (IND) / M Knowles (BAH) vs [5] F Cermak (CZE) / M Mertinak (SVK)
Not before 8:45 p.m.
[1] R Federer (SUI) vs [7] F Verdasco (ESP)
Order of Play, Monday 23 November, 2009
Centre Court, start 12:30 p.m.
[2] B Bryan (USA) / M Bryan (USA) vs [7] M Mirnyi (BLR) / A Ram (ISR)
Not before 2:15 p.m.
[2] R Nadal (ESP) vs [8] R Soderling (SWE)
At 7:00 p.m.
[4] L Dlouhy (CZE) / L Paes (IND) vs [6] L Kubot (POL) / O Marach (AUT)
Not before 8:45 p.m.
[3] N Djokovic (SRB) vs [6] N Davydenko (RUS)
Singles Round Robin Groups