RICKY’S PREVIEW AND PICK FOR THURSDAY @ NITTO ATP WORLD TOUR FINALS • FEDERER VS. CILIC

Written by: Staff on 15th November 2017

RICKY'S PREVIEW AND PICK FOR THURSDAY @ NITTO ATP WORLD TOUR FINALS • FEDERER VS. CILIC

epa06328917 Marin Cilic of Croatia in action during his men's singles match against Jack Sock of the USA at the ATP World Tour Finals tennis tournament in London, Britain, 14 November 2017. EPA-EFE/WILL OLIVER |

Ricky’s preview and pick for Thursday at the World Tour Finals: Federer vs. Cilic

By Ricky Dimon

Roger Federer and Marin Cilic will “only” be playing for 200 ATP ranking points and $191,000 in prize money when they wrap up their round-robin campaigns at the Nitto ATP World Tour Finals on Thursday night. Strictly from a tournament perspective, nothing is on the line. Federer is already through to the semis and Cilic is mathematically eliminated.

The two veterans have faced each other on eight previous occasions, with Federer leading the head-to-head series 7-1. Cilic famously prevailed 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 at the 2014 U.S. Open en route to his lone Grand Slam title, but he has otherwise struggled against the GOAT. They have squared off twice since that memorable 2014 meeting, with both of those encounters having come in London–albeit at Wimbledon as opposed to the O2 Arena. Federer survived a five-setter in 2016 before coasting through this year’s championship match 6-3, 6-1, 6-4.

Due in part to a back injury, the 36-year-old could not make mincemeat out of the rest of the tour during the hard-court summer like he did at the All-England Club. But now that he is 100 percent again, Federer is clearly the best player in the world at the moment. He is 12-0 this fall with titles in Shanghai and Basel. This week’s No. 2 seed has improved to an incredible 54-12 lifetime at the year-end championship with victories over Jack Sock and Alexander Zverev, dropping one set to Zverev in the process.

Federer’s Tuesday night defeat Zverev clinched the top spot in Group B while erasing Cilic’s semifinal hopes. The fifth-ranked Croat really sealed his own fate by squandering break leads in the third set against both Zverev and Sock. He lost his opener to Zverev 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 before falling to Sock 5-7, 7-2, 7-6(4).

“It is frustrating, absolutely,” Cilic commented. “Definitely (it was) disappointing in both matches in that third set, being in a good position, putting myself in a good position. But, unfortunately I didn’t close it…. I was quite motivated in both matches. I felt that I played well. I know that I wasn’t playing the best, especially in those critical moments I was not coming up with some great shots…. That was just a little bit unfortunate that I wasn’t able to close. I was putting myself in a really nice position.”

Cilic was in this same position at the 2016 World Tour Finals, where he was eliminated at 0-2 before picking up his first-ever win at the O2 Arena by beating Kei Nishikori. Motivation will not be a problem for Cilic, who could see Federer try out some different things as the six-time WTF champion prepares for semifinal Saturday.

The result should be a competitive contest, but Federer will also be motivated to keep his bid for an undefeated run through London alive.

Pick: Federer in 3