The Barclays Brawl—Nathan’s Blog
By: Nathan M. Cuny
Barclays is only one day away. Although it is not the last tournament of the season, with the Davis cup finishing 2011, it is the finals for both men’s doubles and singles. The tournament features the top eight singles players and doubles teams, but to make sure everybody gets a shot at the title, this tournament doesn’t use the general knockout format.
All players, singles and doubles, play three round-robin matches against opponents in their group. In case you don’t know what round-robin matches are, I’ll give you a quick breakdown. All the players of Group A, for example, play against all other members of the group.
This means No.1 Novak Djokovic will play against all three players Murray, Ferrer, and Berdych, and those three players will do likewise. The winner in round-robin matches is determined by head-to-head records, sets, games won, and number of matches. Once the factors have been added up a winner and runner-up from both Group A and Group B will be determined.
This is when the excitement begins as the knockout stage of Barclays begins. During the Barclays semi-finals Group B’s winner plays the runner up of Group A, while Group A’s winner plays the runner up of Group B. An interesting aspect of setting up the tournament in this manner is the finals could contain players from a single group, such as B, or from both.
Tomorrow’s matches feature Group B players. After 2:00 PM you can catch No.4 Federer and No.6 Tsonga go racquet to racquet in London’s O2 arena. After 8:00 tomorrow evening No.2 Nadal plays against No.8 Fish. Monday November 21st features Group A players No.3 Murray vs. No.5 Ferrer after 2:00 PM, then No.1 Djokovic vs. No.7 Berdych after 8:00 PM.
The group set ups for both A and B offer interesting prospects. Murray has been a favorite by many to win the tournament considering he isn’t suffering from as many injuries as Djokovic, and Nadal. In the upcoming days the Group A match between Djokovic and Murray will prove exciting.
Likewise, Barclays defending champion Roger Federer will vs his old rival Nadal. In a recent interview Federer Stated, “I always enjoy playing against Rafa; we haven’t played much against each other indoors. That’s something that’s very exciting. I enjoyed last year’s final, but I’ve also enjoyed other matches with Rafa: the Wimbledon final, the Roland Garros final. We’ve had some epic battles with each other and I hope we have another one here.”
Predicting the singles winners of the tournament won’t be easy. Obviously the top four are the favorites to win the tournament, but the No.5 to No.8 players will fight like hell for a spot in the finals. As the fearless Tsonga Stated, “The only person who intimidates me is my mother, when she is angry with me.” The top eight players aren’t likely to be intimidated or intimidate, they are what happens when the primal urge to win is the sole element of their game.
Topics: Barclays
Share this article:
Follow 10SBALLS.COM on:
10sBalls Top Stories
- No Key Biscayne, No Problem; New Site, Same Great Miami Open Tennis Event
- 10SBALLS SHARES FAVORITE EPA TENNIS PHOTOS Of 2018
- THE PERFECT HOLIDAY GIFT FOR ANY TENNIS PLAYER & FAN
- ATP MEN’S TENNIS • WILL IT MOVE FROM LONDON TO MANCHESTER OR TOKYO OR SINGAPORE? OR TURIN?
- ALIX RAMSAY WRITES TO “TENNIS SANTA CLAUS” WITH HER WISHES • ANDY MURRAY!
- CALIFORNIA CHAMPIONSHIPS AT THE JACK KRAMER CLUB – DECEMBER 15 TO 22 2018 • UTR • ORACLE • AND AN AWESOME NEW TENNIS EVENT
- 10sBalls.com Shares Alix Ramsay’s Rambling On About Tennis and The Holidays
- ROGER FEDERER JOINED BY RAFA NADAL FOR THE 2019 LAVER CUP FESTIVITIES IN GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
- TENNIS PLAYERS’ UNION – IS IT NEEDED? BY MARK WINTERS
- Tennis News: Wilson’s Revolution Is Here – THE CLASH
- ROTTERDAM TENNIS TOURNEY DIRECTOR RICHARD KRAJICEK ANNOUNCES DAVID GOFFIN TO PLAY IN 2019 ABN AMRO
- JELENA VEMIC’S PHOTO GALLERY
- TENNIS NEWS FROM LONDON • 10SBALLS REPORTS ON THE LAWN TENNIS WRITERS HOLIDAY LUNCHEON AT WIMBLEDON’S DEBENTURE CLUB
- 10sBalls.com Shares a Great Gift For A Tennis Player – The Functional Tennis Match Journal
- BNP PARIBAS TENNIS OPEN NAMED 2018 WTA PREMIER MANDATORY TOURNAMENT OF THE YEAR FOR FIFTH STRAIGHT YEAR
In Case You Missed It
EUGENIE BOUCHARD NAMED 2018 TENNIS CANADA FEMALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR / EUGENIE BOUCHARD NOMMÉE JOUEUSE DE L’ANNÉE 2018 DE TENNIS CANADA
Tennis Canada announced on Wednesday that Eugenie Bouchard is the winner of the 2018 Excellence Awards in the Female Player of the Year and Singles Player of the Year categories.
TENNIS NEWS • CALIFORNIA CHAMPIONSHIPS • TOMMY HAAS, TAYLOR FRITZ, STEVE JOHNSON, MARDY FISH AND MORE
Time to get tickets to watch! Surly you have heard about The Largest Open Tennis Event in America!
TENNIS NEWS • RAFA NADAL CONFIRMS RETURN TO PRACTICE, EYES ABU DHABI EXHIBITION AND AUSTRALIAN SUMMER
According to Uncle Toni, Rafael Nadal was supposed to be back at practice on either Dec. 4 or 5. Well, better late than never!
Conchita Martínez prepara la temporada 2019 de Karolina Pliskova en Tenerife
Española y checa ya trabajaron juntas durante el pasado Open de Estados Unidos