After eight of the 12 round robin matches went to a third set, including all six Group A matches, the semi-finals of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals are set.
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World No. 1 Roger Federer takes a 12-0 career mark against No. 6 seed Nikolay Davydenko in the first semifinal and in the evening session, first-time semi-finalists No. 8 Robin Soderling and No. 5 Juan Martin del Potro battle it out (tied 1-1). Federer won Group A while del Potro was second and in Group B Soderling and Davydenko were No. 1-2. All four players went 2-1 inround robin play.
Federer is 29-6 lifetime in the year-end championships and he’s appearing in his seventh semi-final in eight tournament appearances. He is 5-1 in semi-final matches with his only loss coming in his debut in Shanghai in 2002 (l. to Hewitt). Federer is trying to win his fifth title
(2003-04, ’06-07. Davydenko, who was runner-up last year (l. to Djokovic), is 10-8 lifetime in the tournament and he’s making his third semi-final appearance (or better). He reached the
semi-finals in his debut in 2005 (l. to Nalbandian).
In the second semi-final, Soderling and del Potro are trying to reach their first final. Soderling, who took the place of injured Andy Roddick in the field, is making his tournament debut. He is the first Swede to reach the semi-finals since Jonas Bjorkman in 1997 (l. to Sampras) in Hannover. The last Swede to reach the final was Stefan Edberg in 1990 (l. to Agassi) in Frankfurt. Del Potro is trying to become the first Argentine to reach the final since David Nalbandian won the title in 2005 (d. Federer).
In the first doubles semi-final, Group B winner Max Mirnyi and Andy Ram, the No. 7 seeds, take on No. 5 seeds Frantisek Cermak and Michal Mertinak, who were second in Group A.
In the evening semi-final, Group A winner Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles, the No. 3 seeds, meet No. 2 seeds Bob and Mike Bryan, who were second in Group B. Like the singles semi-finalists, all four teams posted a 2-1 mark in round robin play.
The Bryans are the only remaining team to capture the year-end championship in the past.They won back-to-back titles in 2003-04 in Houston. The Bryans are also trying to finish as ATP World Tour Doubles Champions for the fifth time (2003, ’05-07). They need to win the title to finish No. 1.
Knowles and Mirnyi are the only other players to win the season finale. Knowles captured the
title in 2007 and was runner-up in 1998 and ’06 (all w/Nestor). Bhupathi was runner-up in 1997, ’99-2000 (w/Paes). Mirnyi earned the title in 2006 (w/Bjorkman). Cermak and Mertinak are making their tournament debut this year.
SATURDAY ORDER OF PLAY – Centre Court, 12:30 pm
• No. 7 Max Mirnyi (BLR)/Andy Ram (ISR) vs. No. 5 Frantisek Cermak (CZE)/Michal Mertinak
(SVK)
No. 1 Roger Federer (SUI) vs. No. 6 Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)
At 7:00 pm
No. 3 Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/Mark Knowles (BAH) vs. No. 2 Bob Bryan (USA)/Mike Bryan
(USA)
No. 8 Robin Soderling (SWE) vs. No. 5 Juan Martin del Potro (ARG)
