Roger Federer is a six-time champion of this tournament, but it’s been eight years since he last prevailed. Sascha Zverev is the defending champion, but 2019 has been a disappointing year with only one title at a 250 event. Dominic Thiem elevated his hard court game this year with three titles on this surface, and is now just two wins from the biggest title of his career. And 2019 has been a breakthrough year for Stefanos Tsitsipas with 51 match wins to date, but can he recover from a physically and emotionally draining loss to Rafael Nadal just 24 hours ago?
Roger Federer (3) vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas (6)
This will be their fourth career meeting, all of which have occurred this year. Back in January, Tsitsipas made a name for himself by defeating Federer on his way to the Australian Open semifinals. But in their last two matches, both on faster-paced hard courts, Federer won all four sets by a score of 6-4. Roger played magnificently against Novak Djokvoic on Thursday, defeating him for the first time in four years. He’ll certainly be the fresher of the two, as Tsitispas played for nearly three hours in a competitive loss to Nadal just yesterday. Even though Stefanos is 17 years younger than Roger, he certainly won’t be the fresher player today. Federer has lost in the semifinals of this event two years in a row, but he should be favored to break that pattern and advance to his 11th championship match at the ATP Finals.
Dominic Thiem (5) vs. Sascha Zverev (7)
Thiem owns a commanding 5-2 record against Zverev, though they haven’t played in nearly 18 months. And three of Dominic’s victories came while Sascha was still a teenager, and before Zverev had ascended to the top of the game. Thiem was most impressive in defeating both Federer and Djokovic during the round robin stage, but did not play his best on Thursday, losing in straight sets to Matteo Berrettini. Darren Cahill on ESPN said Thiem has been battling flu symptoms over the past few days. Zverev meanwhile looked sharp in taking out Daniil Medvedev last night in straight sets with his tournament life on the line. If Sascha can continue serving well, I like his chances to return to the final at the O2 for the second straight year.
Other Notable Matches on Day 7:
In the first doubles semifinal, Wimbledon and US Open champions Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah (1) vs. Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus (5), champions at Halle and Washington this year.
In the second doubles semifinal, Winston-Salem champs Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo (2) vs. Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut (7), champions at the Australian Open and the Paris Masters.
