And then there were four, with every man out for himself in London we will see an in-form Rafael Nadal take on the might on Novak Djokovic, whilst its an all Swiss battle with Roger Federer taking on Stanislas Wawrinka. With 4 of the world’s top 5 players in the world all battling it out for a place in Sunday’s final it’s perhaps the dream line-up, with all four players looking in top form, ahead of their matches on Saturday.
In the first of the semi-finals it’ll be the renewal of the formidable world #1 Djokovic against former #1 Nadal in what will be their 46th meeting, the most competitive rivalry of all time. Nadal narrowly has the upper hand in their rivalry- the longest of all time, leading 23-22. It will be the first time Djokovic could level the tie, and with the Serb winning 7 out of the last 8 matches they’ve played it could be a relative walkover.
Djokovic has had an almost smooth journey to the semi-finals, dismissing Japan’s Kei Nishikori 6-1, 6-1 on Sunday as well as dismissing Tomas Berdych 6-3 6-7 on Thursday, it was the Belgrade natives match with Roger Federer on Tuesday which caused headlines, losing to Federer 7-5, 6-2, it was the Swiss’ third victory over the world #1 this year. His loss to Federer broke his 38 consecutive indoor match wins, 23 overall this season and an impressive 15 straight wins at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals- Djokovic is trying to win in London for the fourth time in a row.
Former world #1 Nadal opened his campaign on Monday with a straightforward 6-3, 6-2 win over Wawrinka, the Spaniard followed it up by producing another impressive display to thrash Andy Murray 6-4, 6-1 on Wednesday. His unbeaten group record nearly fell under threat when he had to come from a set down to defeat countryman David Ferrer 6-7(2), 6-3, 6-4 on Friday to qualify for his fifth semi-final in the season finale- Nadal has reached two finals, and never won the season ending championships.
The second semi-final will be a repeat of last years semi-final match, a highly anticipated clash between Federer and Wawrinka. Federer and Wawrinka fought for an epic two hours and 48 minutes at this stage in 2014 at The O2. Wawrinka held four match points in the final set, before Federer emerged with a 4-6 7-5 7-6(6) triumph in the drama soaked clash.
The 34-year-old Federer begun his quest for a 6th season ending crown against Berdych, winning 6-4, 6-2 on Sunday and followed with and extremely impressive win over Djokovic 7-5 6-2 before narrowly scraping a victory against Nishikori, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4- His win saw him notch a record 13 semi-finals in 14 years at the season ending championships.
The French Open Champion Wawrinka opened on Monday with an underwhelming loss to Nadal before finding his form to record an impressive 7-5, 6-2 win over Ferrer on Wednesday and followed it up with a winner takes all match against Murray, winning 7-6(4), 6-4 on Friday- Hs victory over a somewhat unenthusiastic Murray means he reached his third consecutive semi-final at the season-ending championship.
With Djokovic and a resurgent Nadal once again resuming their rivalry and Federer and Wawrinka giving us a rematch of last year’s semi-finals it’s anyone’s guess who will be battling it out in Sunday’s final, it could be one of the best day’s of Tennis at this year’s championships and will not be one to miss.
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