The Stan Smith group was put wide open on Tuesday following Roger Federer’s straight sets win against defending champion Novak Djokovic at the O2 Arena.
Federer’s ending of Djokovic’s 23-match winning streak has secured his position in the semifinals of the ATP Finals for the 13th time in his career. Since 2002 the Swiss player has only failed to reach the last four once, which was in 2008. The victory has also boosted Kei Nishikori’s and Tomas Berdych’s chances of qualifying. Despite having a 1-1 win-loss like Djokovic, Nishikori is ranked third due to having a poorer win-loss ratio in his first two matches (games and sets) compared to the world No.1. Nevertheless the final two matches of the group is all to play for with all three men still having the chance to join Federer in the last four.
What is required from each player
Novak Djokovic must beat Tomas Berdych to reach the last four without relying on the outcome of the Federer-Nishikori match. Regardless of if Federer Wins or loses, the Serbian will finish in second place. Djokovic has beaten the Czech in 20 out of their 22 encounters, with his last loss occurring in the quarterfinal of the 2013 Rome Masters. If, however Djokovic suffers another unexpected defeat, his future relies on Federer. The 34-year-old must defeat Nishikori to take Djokovic to the last four.
For Nishikori to make his second successive appearance in the last four of the tournament, he must defeat Federer regardless of the score. The world No.8 has defeated him twice in his career in 2013 and 2014. Could it be three years in a row? He also has to hope that Berdych defeats Djokovic. If this happens then the Japanese player will top the group followed by Federer in second.
Finally Berdych faces the daunting prospect of defeating a player he has loss to 20 times to keep his presence in the tournament. The 30-year-old has to defeat Djokovic in two sets to qualify. He has defeated the top seed in straight sets only once before which was in the semifinal of the 2010 Wimbledon championships. Federer will also be required to beat Nishikori to secure the qualification for the Czech. The last time Berdych progressed beyond the group stage of the year-end championships was in 2011.
Current Standings
- Roger Federer – Win-loss of 2-0 QUALIFIED
- Novak Djokovic – win-loss of 1-1.
- Kei Nishikori – win-loss of 1-1 (lower percentage of games and sets won than Djokovic).
- Tomer Berdych – win-loss of 0-2.
