ATP Men's Finals London - Review

There were few surprises at this years ATP men's tour finals.

I was surprised by the notable improvement of Stanislas Wawrinka. I am not his great fan of his style of tennis but he did well to make the semi-finals. 

I was disappointed with Rafa Nadal's performance in the final. After playing well to reach the final, his below par performance was certainly a surprise and disappointment. 

I personally can't see Roger Federer winning anymore major titles. I think he has had his time and for him to beat either Rafa or Novak at any of the majors in 2014 sounds a tad unrealistic. 

Novak Djokovic performed better than I expected. But then I think losing the the world number one ranking motivated him to play even better. 

Overall it was a good tournament and it was good to see both the number one and number two players in the final. I was only disappointed that Rafa couldn't win it.

 

ATP Men's Finals London- Final

The men's ATP men's final took place yesterday and Novak Djokovic beat Rafael Nadal in straight sets. 

I was suprised with the ease in which Novak beat Rafa. However Novak seemed hungrier for the win and he was blasting winners from all over the court. 

Rafa did not come across as his usual focused self and was making a lot of unnecessary errors.

 It was only really towards the end of the second set that we started to see Rafa's brilliance.

 By that time it was too late and Novak was able to close out the set and the match. From Novak's perspective it was a great match and he was able to retain his title. 

From Rafa's perspective he played a poor match and may rue the chance to have picked up this trophy after such a great year. 

It wasn't really a great final and as Rafa fan I would have loved for him to win it but I guess it was not meant to be. 

Both players will be firm favourites for the Australian Open and for Rafa,  2014 could be the year he makes history. As he is only three grand slams behind Roger Federer. 

ATP Men's finals - Preview of the men's final

Today's ATP men's final will be between to great competitors in Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. 

This should be a great match and could become classic match. It is difficult to predict who will win this encounter. 

Novak will want to win as he has not won has many grand slam titles as he would have liked this year. 

He also would like his world number one status back so I think he will be hungrier for the win. 

Rafa has had a great year and his wins year have included two grand slam titles. 

As the current world number one he does not want to lose this status anytime soon, so he will be fighting to hold on to it. 

So I think Rafa will probably win this final but in three close sets. 

ATP Men's Finals - Semi - Finals

The ATP men's semi finals took place yesterday and Novak Djokovic beat Stanislas Wawrinka in straight sets. 

To be fair it was probably the expected result, whilst Stanislas has had good year  he probably needs to focus on winning his first grand slam. 

Novak has lived up to expectations to reach the final. He has additional motivation of wanting his world number one status back so he will be doubly motivated for the final. 

In the other semi final Rafael Nadal beat Roger Federer in straight sets. Rafa nows seems to have no problems beating Roger which is different to a few years back. 

Roger has achieved and won so much in tennis and if he wants to have a successful 2014. He is going have to dig deep to beat the likes of Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. 

Rafael Nadal has had a good year since coming back from injury. The current world number one will want to win this final to sign off on what has been a great year. 

ATP Men's Finals, London - Day six

Day six of the ATP men's final and Roger Federer beat Juan Martin Del Potro in three sets. 

This meant that Roger qualified for the semi finals and it knocked Juan Martin out of the finals. 

This was very good win for Roger as Juan Martin was a firm favourite for this title. However Roger now faces the World Number One Rafael Nadal.

This will be a good match and both men would really fighting hard to make the final. I do think Rafael has the edge but I suspect it will be three close sets.

Novak Djokovic beat Richard Gasquet in three sets and Novak will now play Stanislas Wawrinka in the semi finals.

This semi finals should be a good match as all the pressure is on Novak. Stanislas will be able to really go for it as Novak is the favourite. 

ATP Men's finals, London - day five

Day five of the men's final and Stanislas Wawrinka beat David Ferrer in three sets.  

Stanislas has worked had and very much deserves his place in the semi finals where he will play Novak Djokovic.  

 

This will be a big match because if he can beat Novak then anything could happen. 

Rafael Nadal beat Tomas Berdych in three sets and Rafa had already qualified for the semi finals. But this win knocked Tomas out of the tour finals.

 To be fair it always going to be a tough match for Tomas but he he pushed Rafa all the way. 

ATP Men's Final, London - day two

Day two of the ATP men's finals and Rafael Nadal beat a David Ferrer in straight sets. 

Rafa has had a great year since coming back from injury and a good result like this makes me think that he is more likely to reach the final. 

David Ferrer has always struggled when up against Rafa and I would be surprised if he makes it to the final of this tournament. 

Novak Djokovic beat Roger Federer in three sets. This was a good win for Novak and I can also see him making it to the final of this tournament. 

Roger dominated the men's tour for about six years and I feel now that it is going to be difficult for him compete at the highest level. 

Roger has an outside chance of claiming this title but ultimately, he will have to beat Novak or Rafa to have any realistic chance winning this title. 

ATP Men's finals, London - Day One

ATP Men's finals got under way yesterday and Juan Martin Del Potro beat Richard Gasquet in three sets. 

This was a tough match for Juan Martin against someone like Richard who has not had the best year. 

Juan Martin was probably relieved to have gotten the win. But there will be tougher matches for him to face and hopefully he will rise up to the challenge. 

Stanislas Wawrinka beat Tomas Berdych in three sets. If I am totally honest I am not really fan of either player. 

I will be somewhat surprised if either player makes it to the final and wins. 

However both Stanislas and Tomas are playing well and If I was a betting women I would say that Stanislas has the greater chance making it to the final. 

But neither plays the type of tennis I think will really help not only to win this tournament but to win grand slams. 

But at the same time they are both here so anything can happen. 

ATP World Tour Finals, London - Preview

The top eight men minus Andy Murray will be playing at London's O2 arena for the men's end of year championships. 

Unlike the women's end of year championships, the men's tournament is slightly more open. 

However Novak Djokovic, Juan Martin Del Potro and Rafa Nadal are my picks for men that are more likely to do well and win. 

Novak has not had a bad year but he will be frustrated about Wimbledon and the US Open finals and will want to make amends. 

Juan Martin Del Potro has not had a great year so winning the end of year title would set him up nicely for 2014. 

Rafael Nadal has had a great come back from injury this year. Two grand slams and host of other titles and so he will feel like this title belongs to him. 

Another outsider for the title would be Roger Federer and although by his own standards he has not had a great year. He just about managed to qualify for these finals. 

So a win for Roger would set him up for better 2014. Somehow I think it is unlikely  but with sports sometimes you never know.