ATP WORLD TOUR FINALS

It’s been a long year on the ATP World Tour, but there is one last event to be played and there are some tremendous story lines unfolding for the first edition of the Barclay’s World Tour Finals. Dubbed as the year’s 5th Grand Slam, there are 1500 ATP points up for grabs and players will be competing in the fabulous O2 Arena. The demand for the greatest tennis players in the world has never been higher with over 250,000 tickets sold, undoubtedly a testament to the diverse talent and personalities of the participants. The overwhelming theme of the event will be the quest to secure the #1 ranking. Roger Federer has a significant lead but a dominant performance from Rafael Nadal could catapult him into the premiere spot.

The round robin competition is divided into 2 groups. Group A has Federer, Murray, Del Potro, and Verdasco. Group B has Nadal, Djokovic, Davydenko, and Soderling. Group A starts things off Sunday with Group B beginning action Monday. The opening match today fittingly pits the pride of Great Britain, Andy Murray, against the US Open champion, Juan Martin Del Potro. Both of these young stars represent a new breed of tennis players. They are both big, strong guys that have the ability to combine offensive and defensive skills effectively. They have met 5 times with Murray winning 4 out of 5, including all 3 encounters on hard courts. Del Potro has struggled with motivation after his huge win at the USO while Murray has had some issues with a wrist injury. Regardless, this should be an exciting match of two of the games most talented and complete players (Update: Murray won 6-3, 3-6, 6-2).

The first evening session of the Barclay’s World Tour Finals gives us #1 ranked Roger Federer against a rookie to this competition, Fernando Verdasco. Federer has won all 3 of their matches to date, but an interesting development this week has Darren Cahill in London coaching Verdasco. Earlier in the year Cahill had a brief stint coaching Federer before they amicably decided it wasn’t the ideal fit. No one will know the Federer game as well as Cahill and it will be captivating to see if that familiarity yields dividends for the popular Spanish left-hander.

In the opening match for Group B on Monday, Nadal will seek revenge over Soderling who ended his supremacy at the French Open earlier this year. Nadal will need to keep the ball deep, mixing up spins and paces in order to keep Soderling off balance. Soderling excels on indoor surfaces, void of variables like the wind and sun. He is capable of hitting through any opponent with his uncanny power and accuracy. Djokovic and Davydenko close out the first round of matches on Monday night. They recently played in the semi-finals of the Masters 1000 event in Shanghai with Davydenko winning in a 3rd set tiebreak. However Djokovic has had success against the Russian including his final round victory over Davydenko at last year’s World Tour Finals. They have similar styles of play, hard-hitting ground strokes and nimble movement, but the variety of Djokovic should be the determining factor.

All and all the event should prove to be a combination of great tennis and exhilarating entertainment, exactly what tennis needs right now. I'll have more updates as the week unfolds. Tune into Tennis Channel to enjoy all of the coverage in the US.

~ Justin

Tour Finals website: http://www.barclaysatpworldtourfinals.com/

International broadcast schedule: http://tinyurl.com/ykgsyuc