RICKY DIMON’S TENNIS PREVIEW AND PREDICTIONS FOR THE 2016 BARCLAYS ATP WORLD TOUR FINALS

Written by: Staff on 12th November 2016

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RICKY DIMON'S TENNIS PREVIEW AND PREDICTIONS FOR THE 2016 BARCLAYS ATP WORLD TOUR FINALS |

No Roger Federer. No Rafael Nadal. No problem?

Well, the absences of Federer and Nadal are certainly an issue or the 2016 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, just as they would be for any event, but this week in London features a different duo to whet the appetite of tennis fans. The year-end world No. 1 ranking will all come down this tournament, as Andy Murray leads Novak Djokovic by only 405 points in the race. With 275 points soon to come off from the 2015 Davis Cup final, Murray’s lead is really just 130 points. That means whichever player–Murray or Djokovic–fares better at the O2 will be the year-end No. 1.

The top-ranked Scot has won an amazing seven of his last nine events, a stretch that includes Wimbledon, the Rio Olympics, and last week’s BNP Paribas Masters in Paris-Bercy. Djokovic, meanwhile, has slumped since winning the French Open for the first time in his career. The Serb triumphed at the Toronto Masters, but he fell to Stan Wawrinka in the U.S. Open final, to Roberto Bautista Agut in the Shanghai semifinals, and to Marin Cilic in the Paris quarterfinals.

One user on Twitter suggested the World Tour Finals groups be renamed Group Game of Thrones and Group Walking Dead. And why not? Murray is the undisputed king of tennis at the moment and he finds himself in Group A along with Wawrinka (the U.S. Open champion), Kei Nishikori (a U.S. Open semifinalist), and Cilic (the Cincinnati champion, the Basel champion, and a Paris semifinalist). Djokovic has been struggling both physically and mentally since Roland Garros and he is joined in Group B by Milos Raonic (suffered a quadriceps injury in Paris), Gael Monfils (withdrew from Paris with a rib injury), and Dominic Thiem (9-10 in his last 19 matches dating back to Wimbledon, including two retirements).

First alternate David Goffin has to like his chances of stepping into Group B, and even second alternate Roberto Bautista Agut should be ready to take the court.

Round-robin predictions:

Group B

Djokovic over Thiem in 2

Monfils over Raonic in 3

Djokovic over Monfils in 3

Thiem over Raonic in 3

Djokovic over Raonic in 2

Monfils over Thiem in 2

Group A

Murray over Cilic in 3

Nishikori over Wawrinka in 3

Murray over Nishikori in 2