While the round-robin portion of the 2014 ATP World Tour Finals essentially delivered nothing of real consequence and many a one-sided match, it appears as though there is still a chance that this year’s season ending extravaganza could still be salvaged with a weekend of quality tennis.
In a semi-final showdown that will feature the tournament’s top four seeds, there is no question that both Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer will be heavily favoured heading into their respective matches against Kei Nishikori and Stan Wawrinka.
With that said, both men will be going into this one knowing full well that they are more than capable of pulling off the upset. Nishikori has already shown the necessary game and mental toughness to take out the No. 1 player in the world in a pressure pact situation, knocking the talented Serb out of this year’s US Open in four fantastic sets and has actually looked fairly solid throughout most of his matches.
When it comes to Wawrinka, the No. 3 seed may hold a dreadful 14-2 career mark against his fellow countryman but has managed to hold his own against the Swiss Maestro in 2014. While Federer got the better of him during their quarterfinal showdown at Wimbledon, Stan the Man was stellar in earning a comeback win over the seventeen-time Grand Slam champ in the finale of the Masters 1000 event in Monte Carlo this summer.
As far the current week goes, it truly has been a two man show. Djokovic had absolutely no problem whatsoever in dismissing the trio of Tomas Berdych, Marin Cilic and Wawrinka in his three matches, losing a grand total of nine games.
Federer was equally impressive, dropping all of thirteen games in beating Andy Murray, Nishikori and Milos Raonic in straight sets, the highlight being his 6-0, 6-1 thrashing of the two-time major winner.
In short it has been an absolute tennis clinic from the top two players in world and here is hoping we get to opportunity to see them go head-to-head one more time before the weekend is out and hopefully closeout the 2014 ATP Season in style.
