It’s been ten year since Swiss master Roger Federer last failed to make it out of his group at the Nitto ATP Finals and he has it all to do against an in-form Kevin Anderson who incidentally knocked him out at the quarter finals of this year’s Wimbledon Grand Slam.
Group Lleyton Hewitt is still wide open for three of the four men except Dominc Thiem who has a very slim chance of progressing. Roger Federer opened his campaign on a false start losing in a straight sets to Kei Nishikori but recovered in the second game to beat Dominic Thiem in a comfortable 6-2, 6-3 victory. Federer meets big serving Anderson who dispatched Nishikori easily 6-0, 6-1 in a repeat of this year’s quarter final Wimbledon Grand Slam where the South African recovered from two sets down to record a famous victory.
There are various permutations and combinations in this group which still gives everyone a chance albeit an outside one for Thiem. A straight-sets victory over Anderson will almost guarantee a semifinal berth for Federer, but if Anderson wins a set, then a victory for Nishikori will see the Japanese player and the South African progress. The only scenario in which Anderson wins and Federer still makes it to the semifinals is if Federer has won a set and Thiem beats Nishikori in straight sets, while if both Thiem and Anderson win in straight sets, Anderson will be joined in the semifinals by the player with the highest percentage of games won among the other three. Anderson and Federer have a slight edge because by the time they would be meeting, Thiem and Nishikori would have finished their game which gives the 20-time Grand Slam winner enough room to work towards achieving his objective.
Federer played poorly against Nishikori and he admitted to struggling on the court but it was an almost complete turnaround against Thiem who put up a poor showing against the Swiss legend. Anderson has not had an indifferent start to his campaign at the 02 Arena, rather he has got better with each game. He beat the Austrian (Thiem) before producing a stellar performance against Nishikori. Anderson is playing with a kind of form and level of confidence which is a frightening prospect for anyone, but it will be a very different match against Federer, who has a far more effective serve than Nishikori and a much wider, indeed dazzling, array of ways to win points.
Roger Federer has always been able to win against Anderson by breaking his serve, and even that Wimbledon match was a close one throughout before the Swiss master tired out. Federer is not at his imperious best and his confidence isn’t top-notch at the moment but Anderson will still have to play at a very high level in order to put Federer in the kind of pressure situations where his lack of confidence might cost him.
Federer faces Anderson Nitto ATP Finals tennis at London’s O2 Arena tonight at 9pm WAT. Predict and win big in the match by visiting our Sports shop Babaijebu.ng. We have mouthwatering offers for all matches in the 2018 Nitto ATP Finals.