Breaking Down the Field – Day 4, Thursday

Written by: Staff on 8th November 2012

Breaking Down the Field – Day 4, Thursday

epa03460744 Spain's David Ferrer returns to Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina during their match at the ATP World Tour tennis finals in London, Britain, 06 November 2012. EPA/ANDY RAIN |

A closer look at the matchups on the fourth day of the Barclay’s ATP World Tour Finals being played at the O2 Arena in London, England:

But first this announcement…. The place was all giddy on Day 3 after the ATP announced the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals will be played in London at The O2 through 2015, and that Barclays has extended its title sponsorship of the tournament.

No better news for a tennis tournament during these stressful and often uncertain economic times. The Tour’s season-ending event, featuring the world’s best eight singles players and doubles teams, has enjoyed tremendous success in London since moving there in 2009, with more than 750,000 fans coming to watch the top players in the game over the past three years.

Thursday, at 12 Noon:

DOUBLES: Leander Paes / Radek Stepanek vs. Macrel Ganollers and Marc Lopez:

Paes and Stepanek opened their first match with a straight set win over No. 7 seeds Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi and Jean-Julien Roger in London on Wednesday. They go up against giant killers Granollers and Lopez of Spain in the day’s opener. Granollers and Lopez of course beat the Bryan Bros. in their opener after going down early 4-1 in the match tiebreak. But they battled back to make it 8-8 but then faced a match point at 9-8, usually meaning Game Over against the all-time winningest doubles tandem. But they staved off the match point and won it 11-9 for the biggest upsets so far.

Followed by SINGLES: Roger Federer vs. David Ferrer:

He’s on fire this week and just has that assassin look in his eye, but Federer knows more than anyone in the draw that Ferrer is a man who can beat you and who might well be the hottest player and most physically fit on Tour. Here’s what he had to say before London: “

“I am positive. Always am. You know, I am playing with very confidence with my game in the end of the season. I won in Valencia, Paris Bercy. I feel good. Of course, I am a little bit tired because I am playing lot of matches, I am running a lot. But, you know, when the player is going up, is win lot of victories, he has more confidence.”

Thursday, Evening Session:

DOUBLES: Mike Bryan / Bob Bryan vs. Max Mirnyi / Daniel Nestor vs. Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi/Jean-Julien Rojer:

Recently named by ESPN as the best sporting twins duo ever, you know the Bros. will come back with a vengeance after their first loss earlier in the week. It’s do or time now for the Bryans. Check out this quote from Bob recently: “We’re tight. We have that special [bond] that no one can break. Even our significant others get jealous of how close we are. When I got married, Mike and I had to get divorced.” How close are they? Mike is going to be married at the end of the month and Bob is trying to convince Mike and his girlfriend to move to Miami. “We’re going to ask him to be on the East Coast near me,” Bob Bryan said. “We like sharing our moments together.”

Followed by SINGLES: Juan Del Potro vs. Janko Tipsarevic:

Chris Chase of the USA Today had this funny line about all the colors of neon the players are sporting, saying that Andy Murrary “looked like the inside of a cracked egg.” He added this about Del Potro of his post-match handshake with David Ferrer: “They looked like a multi-pack of different-sized magic markers.” Del Potro faces the Twitter-happy Tipsarevic, who you can follow @TipsarevicJanko. He’s hinted that he hasn’t been feeling well physically. Tune in overnight to see if he lets out any other hints. Should be a good match.

Topics: Atp, Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, David Ferrer, English tennis news, Leander Paes, London O2 Arena, Macrel Ganollers, Marc Lopez, Max Mirnyi / Daniel Nestor, men tennis, Mike Bryan / Bob Bryan, Radek Stepanek, Roger Federer, Sports, Tennis News