The fifth  day of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals features the conclusion of Group A with all four players still in contention to make the semi-finals.

First up is No. 4 seed Andy Murray against No. 7 seed Fernando Verdasco, a head-to-head
that Murray dominates, 7-1. Murray is 1-1 in the round robin group so far and Verdasco is 0-2. Verdasco needs to win this match to have a shot at the semi-finals; if Murray wins, Verdasco is out of contention, but that doesn’t mean Murray has secured a spot just yet.

In the evening session, World No. 1 Roger Federer plays No. 5 seed Juan Martin del Potro
in a rematch of the US Open final this year. The Swiss leads their head-to-head series 6-1.
Federer is 2-0 in round robin play so far while del Potro is currently at 1-1.

By virtue of getting to 2-0 in his round robin group on Tuesday (and Rafael Nadal losing his
first match - the Spaniard also fell to 0-2 on Wednesday), Federer secured the year-end
World No. 1 ranking, his fifth in six years (tying him with Jimmy Connors and putting him one
year behind Pete Sampras, who finished No. 1 six straight years from 1993 to 1998).

Federer is not assured of his place in the semi-finals just yet, though, as he, Murray and del
Potro could all tie with a 2-1 match record in Group A – should del Potro defeat Federer and
Murray beat Verdasco. If there is a three-way tie then the first criteria to break the deadlock is sets won-lost. Coming into Thursday, Federer was 4-2 while del Potro and Murray were 3-3 in sets won-lost in the first two round robin matches.

To guarantee his place in the semi-finals, Federer must avenge his US Open final defeat to
del Potro, while Murray needs to beat Verdasco. Then Federer and Murray would qualify into the semi-finals. Verdasco also has a slight chance still to qualify for the semi-finals, but would need to defeat Murray in straight sets and hope that Federer dismisses del Potro in the same fashion.

In Group A doubles matches, top seeds Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic will take on No.
3 seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles in the afternoon session, while No. 5 seeds
Frantisek Cermak and Michal Mertinak meet No. 8 seeds Mariusz Fyrstenberg and
Marcin Matkowski in the evening session. Nestor and Zimonjic are 0-2 in the group and out
of semi-final contention while Bhupathi and Knowles are 2-0 and already into the semi-finals;
Cermak/Mertinak and Fyrstenberg/Matkowski are both 1-1 so far. The winner will qualify into the semi-finals.

THURSDAY ORDER OF PLAY – Centre Court, 12:30 pm
• No. 1 Daniel Nestor (CAN)/Nenad Zimonjic (SRB) vs. No. 3 Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/Mark
Knowles (BAH)
No. 4 Andy Murray (GBR) vs. No.7 Fernando Verdasco (ESP)
At 7:00 pm
No. 5 Frantisek Cermak (CZE)/Michal Mertinak (SVK) vs. No. 8 Mariusz Fyrstenberg
(POL)/Marcin Matkowski (POL)
No. 1 Roger Federer (SUI) vs. No. 5 Juan Martin del Potro (ARG)
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