RICKY’S PICKS FOR DAY 6 OF THE WORLD TOUR FINALS: DJOKOVIC VS. BERDYCH, WAWRINKA VS. CILIC

Written by: Staff on 13th November 2014

RICKY'S PICKS FOR DAY 6 OF THE WORLD TOUR FINALS: DJOKOVIC VS. BERDYCH, WAWRINKA VS. CILIC

epa04487240 Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland reacts after losing a point to Novak Djokovic of Serbia during their Round Robin match for the ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 Arena in London, Britain, 12 November 2014. EPA/FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA |

By Ricky Dimon

Round-robin action will conclude and the semifinal matchups will be set by the time play at the World Tour Finals ends on Friday. Group A is wrapping up with Novak Djokovic vs. Tomas Berdych and Stan Wawrinka vs. Marin Cilic. Djokovic is already almost guaranteed to advance, while Cilic is likely on the way out of London regardless of his third singles result.

(1) Novak Djokovic vs. (6) Tomas Berdych

Djokovic and Berdych will be squaring off for the 19th time in their careers and the second time this fall when they contest their last World Tour Finals round-robin match on Friday afternoon. The head-to-head series stands at an overwhelming 16-2 in Djokovic’s favor. He most recently prevailed via a scoreline reminiscent of what has transpired this week in London, 6-0, 6-2 in the Beijing final. The world No. 1 has taken 14 of the last 15 meetings with Berdych dating back to the fall of 2010.

Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic serves to Marin Cilic of Croatia during their singles round robin game at the ATP World Tour Finals tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London, Britain, 12 November 2014. EPA/FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA

Novak Djokovic of Serbia serves against Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland during their Round Robin match for the ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 Arena in London, Britain, 12 November 2014. EPA/FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA

“I’m going to try to, you know, maybe three, four games,” Berdych joked, referencing the fact that he managed only two games in Beijing. “That would be better from the last time.”

That is not the only trend favoring Djokovic. He has captured this title on two consecutive occasions and has won 29 consecutive matches indoors. If someone can stop the top-seeded Serb now, it is not likely to be someone who lost to Stan Wawrinka 6-1, 6-1 on Monday. Berdych rebounded to crush an out-of-form Marin Cilic in his second match, but still did nothing to inspire confidence that he has a legitimate chance against Djokovic.

(3) Stan Wawrinka vs. (8) Marin Cilic

Cilic has been a disaster so far in London and he will likely be mathematically eliminated from semifinal contention by the time he takes the court on Friday night. Making his year-end championship debut, the U.S. Open champion appears to be out of his league though two matches. He lost his opener 6-1, 6-1 to Djokovic then succumbed to Berdych 6-3, 6-1. Cilic’s most recent event resulted in a title at the Kremlin Cup, but he skipped the Paris Masters citing an arm injury and has looked both rusty and uncomfortable.

Marin Cilic of Croatia returns the ball to Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic during their singles round robin game at the ATP World Tour Finals tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London, Britain, 12 November 2014. EPA/FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA

Wawrinka also got blown out on Wednesday, 6-3, 6-0 at the hands of Djokovic after leading 2-0 in the first set. However, the Swiss preceded that with a 6-1, 6-1 whitewash of Berdych. Whereas he slumped earlier this fall while Cilic was still in fine form, the roles are now completely reversed; it is Wawrinka playing the far more impressive tennis.

“Even if I got killed today, I still have a good chance to qualify (for the semifinals),” the world No. 4 said after losing to Djokovic. “I need to focus for the next match to play Cilic. I know if I can beat him, I have [a] big, big chance to qualify. I’m still playing great tennis.”

Wawrinka is dominating the head-to-head series against Cilic 7-2 and is 2-0 this season, including 4-1 in sets.

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Topics: Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, London, Marin Cilic, Novak Djokovic, Ricky Dimon, Stan Wawrinka, Tennis, Tomas Berdych

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10sBalls_com says:

November 13, 2014 at 2:36 pm

RICKY’S (@RD_Tennistalk) PICKS FOR DAY 6 OF THE #WORLDTOURFINALS: @DjokerNole VS @tomasberdych, #WAWRINKA VS #CILIC- http://t.co/l9Fd60V9Sd
RD_Tennistalk says:

November 13, 2014 at 2:37 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: RICKY’S (@RD_Tennistalk) PICKS FOR DAY 6 OF THE #WORLDTOURFINALS: @DjokerNole VS @tomasberdych, #WAWRINKA VS #CILIC- http…
cheeers1 says:

November 14, 2014 at 5:49 am

“I’m going to try to (win), you know, maybe three, four games,” Berdych joked… via @RD_Tennistalk http://t.co/CDxKqGwBJq
RD_Tennistalk says:

November 14, 2014 at 8:59 am

RT @cheeers1: “I’m going to try to (win), you know, maybe three, four games,” Berdych joked… via @RD_Tennistalk http://t.co/CDxKqGwBJq