An OOPS!!… An Apology… and A Prediction – Roger Federer Will Win

Written by: Tennischiro on 20th November 2011

An OOPS!!… An Apology… and A Prediction - Roger Federer Will Win

Roger Federer of Switzerland reacts after beating France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 in Group B of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals at O2 Arena, London, Great Britain, 20 November 2011. EPA/ROGER PARKER |

As we embark on Thanksgiving week, I’m looking forward to a nice helping of Pumpkin Pie and Whipped Cream, but first I need to gorge myself on a large serving of Humble Pie. About 9 days ago, I gave you a “scoop” on the standings going down to the determination of the final players qualifying for London’s Tour Championships which start tomorrow (today). I was wearing such a smug smile on my face as I watched the round of 16 matches because I KNEW who was already safely in the last 8 and it wasn’t who the ATP was telling us it was. I had discerned that the ATP wasn’t accounting for the points Berdych had won last year in Paris, unlike Tsonga and Fish who had no points to defend. I posted the news here on 10sBalls.com and was feeling sooo superior! I wondered why I didn’t hear from any of my friends at the ATP about what a good find I’d made. Well, they were polite enough not to tell me what a fool I was. I guess you get old and people think you are too soft to handle the truth…I can handle the truth, …I think. The question was moot once Berdych beat Tipsarevic in the round of 16s anyway, but if Tipsarevic had pulled off the miracle and won the whole event, he would have knocked Fish out of the top 8, not Berdych as I had written in my post. Not very significant now, but what a dummy!

How could I make such a mistake?! I checked and rechecked and still I made the mistake. Now I know how. And there is a little lesson for any of you out there who like to follow the points and the standings on the ATP website. If you hit the “Rankings” drop down menu on the ATP website, you will be taken to a singles rankings page, but not necessarily the one you think you are going to. There are two singles rankings pages selected by a tab at the left upper side of the page: South African Airways ATP Rankings and South African Airways 2011 Year-to-Date (which also include Challenger and Davis Cup points earned the previous year after the ATP Tour Finals). You can find a description of the differences in these rankings and what gets on or not by hitting the left bottom tab in the Rankings sections: Rankings FAQ. There is also one other point. If you click on a players’ individual listing and see his “Rankings Breakdown”, you will see the listing of his points for the previous 52 weeks. Earlier in the year, that would not be the right place to look to figure out actual standings for qualifying for the ATP Tour Finals. You need to look at the YTD Rankings.

Anyway, I blew it and I owe a big apology to Greg Sharko and all his helpers over at the ATP; they had it right. I was so sure…

As for putting my foot in my mouth again, my prediction for next week is Federer beats Djokovic in the semis and plays Murray in the finals after Murray beats Tsonga in the semis. I think Nadal will need another month to retool for Down Under after the shellacking he took in Asia. Federer and Murray clearly played the best tennis the last six weeks. Murray played the most impressive tennis I saw in that span, especially in Asia, but Federer showed signs of his old focus in Basel and Paris. There have been too many injuries the last 3 months for Berdych, Djokovic, Fish. The little niggling injury to Murray is enough for me to pick Federer in the final. Everyone in this field is capable of upsetting the apple cart if they are 100%, especially Tsonga and Berdych. In his first round match in Paris, I thought Fish was playing some of his best tennis of the year, going to the net and absolutely pounding volleys. But they are all a little too fragile right now. Roger’s career long devotion to fitness and preparation set him apart as my favorite next week! What do you think?!

PS Remember that if you watch the matches on TennisTV.com, all you have to do is tune in sometime while the matches are being broadcast and put the streaming video on pause; you’ll be able to come back to that feed later in the day and look at whatever you missed. But if you don’t sign in while the broadcast is taking place, it’s gone. They’ll also be streaming the doubles matches for free. Of course, if you have access to the Tennis Channel, they will be broadcasting the entire tournament. But if, like me, you don’t get the Tennis Channel, you can watch TennisTV until Jan 2, 2012 for just $19.95. And no commercials!!

Topics: Mardy Fish, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer