The format of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals weaves intricate patterns and there are seven possible outcomes today, with three of them seeing Novak Djokovic failing to qualify for the semi‑finals.
That puts added pressure on the world No1 to defeat Tomas Berdych in his last round-robin match tonight.
Victory would see him through as second in his pool and he would also survive if he loses in three sets and Roger Federer beats Kei Nishikori in the afternoon match.
Of the three ‘bad news’ scenarios for Djokovic, he would exit if he loses and Nishikori beats Federer. A straight-sets defeat would also see him out regardless of whether Federer won in two or three sets.
Having endured a “bad day at the office” while losing 7-5, 6-2 to Federer on Tuesday, Djokovic is adamant he can get into the semi-finals with the least amount of trouble.
Djokovic said: “In a way I want to forget about the loss, the way I felt and how I played. But I have had time to reflect on this match with my team and work on things that didn’t go the way I wanted them to go. In sport it is normal to have a down day. There is no specific reason.”
Berdych has only beaten Djokovic twice in 22 matches and said: “I am just going to try to go out there, play some good tennis, and that’s it.”
Meanwhile, Andy Murray faces a winner-takes-all clash with Stan Wawrinka tomorrow.
The British No1 was beaten 6-4, 6-1 by Rafael Nadal yesterday which means the Spaniard tops the group no matter what happens in his match with David Ferrrer.
That leaves Murray and Wawrinka, who beat Ferrer 7-5, 6-2 last night, battling for the chance to make the semi-finals at the O2.
Wawrinka bounced back from a dreadful first-match loss to Nadal to prove he still possesses the desire and game to be a contender at these finals. The French Open champion’s forehand was back to it’s booming best as he overpowered the Spaniard.
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Murray knows he has to rediscover his first serve — only 43 per cent of them were in against Nadal — and he admitted: “I served an extremely low percentage, maybe lowest percentage I served the whole year in any match. That’s not good enough against someone as good as Rafa.”
