The last semi-final berth in Group B is still up in the air and it will be determined on Friday on the sixth day of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.
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Robin Soderling has already secured a semi-final berth and Rafael Nadal has already been put out of contention so the last spot in the final four will go to No. 3 Novak Djokovic or No. 6 Nikolay Davydenko, who are both 1-1 so far.
For Djokovic to qualify he must beat Nadal and Soderling must beat Davydenko. In all other situations, Soderling and Davydenko will qualify.
In the first singles match of the day, No. 2 Rafael Nadal and No. 3 Novak Djokovic meet for
the 21st time. Nadal is 14-6 lifetime against the Serb, including 9-0 on clay and 2-0 on grass.
But Djokovic is 6-3 on hard courts, winning their past two meetings in straight sets, in the
semi-finals of ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events in Cincinnati and Paris (61 64 and 62 63, respectively). This is their seventh meeting of the year and Nadal has won four of the
previous six.
Nadal, who is one win away from 400 in his career (399-90), looks to turn things around
against Top 10 opponents. He is 1-8 against Top 10 foes since his loss to Federer in the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Madrid final on May 17. His lone Top 10 win since then came over No. 9 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarter-finals of the BNP Paribas Masters on November 13.
Djokovic could take over the No. 2 ranking at the end of the tournament if he wins the title (for that he’ll first need today’s scenario to work out so he reaches the semi-finals, then he’ll need to win two more matches). There is currently a difference of 1295 ranking points between Nadal and Djokovic (which Djokovic would make up by winning the title). Should this happen, Nadal could still regain No. 2 if he plays the Davis Cup final and wins two live singles rubbers.
In the evening session, No. 6 seed Nikolay Davydenko plays No. 8 seed Robin Soderling
for the 10th time (Soderling leads 6-3, 3-3 on hard). If the Russian wins, he will join the Swede in the semi-finals (no matter what happens in the first match of the day). They have split both matches since the US Open, with Davydenko winning at Kuala Lampur and Soderling prevailing at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Paris; they went to three sets both times. Soderling is the first Swede in the semi-finals of the year-end championships since Jonas Bjorkman, who achieved the feat in Hannover in 1997.
With Fernando Verdasco losing to Andy Murray on Thursday, Soderling will rise to No. 8 in
the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings. This is the second year in a row (and fourth
time in the past five years) the No. 8 seed has reached the semi-finals or better here: last
year, alternate Gilles Simon (in place of Nadal) reached the semi-finals.
In doubles Group B action, No. 4 seeds Lukas Dlouhy and Leander Paes face No. 7 seeds
Max Mirnyi and Andy Ram while No. 2 seeds Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan face No. 6 seeds
Lukasz Kubot and Oliver Marach. If the Bryan brothers win their next RR match, advance to
the final round and win the title, they would become ATP World Tour Champions.
FRIDAY ORDER OF PLAY – Centre Court, 12:30 pm
No. 4 Lukas Dlouhy (CZE)/Leander Paes (IND) vs. No. 7 Max Mirnyi (BLR)/Andy Ram (ISR)
No. 2 Rafael Nadal (ESP) vs. No. 3 Novak Djokovic (SRB)
At 7:00 pm
No. 2 Bob Bryan (USA)/Mike Bryan (USA) vs. No. 6 Lukasz Kubot (POL)/Oliver Marach (AUT)
No. 6 Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) vs. No. 8 Robin Soderling (SWE)