Despite all the fuss about injuries, form and fitness heading into the ATP World Tour Tennis finals in London this week, Britain’s Andy Murray was the only one of the top four to lose their opening matches. Both Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic both had to struggle their way to victories though, and only defending champion Roger Federer rattled off an opening Round Robin victory with ease. Andy Murray apparently strained a muscle ahead of his group opener against Spaniard David Ferrer, and upon losing the match, the Scot said that he would assess on Tuesday whether or not he would be able to carry on in the tournament. If he withdraws it will be a big disappointment to the home crowd of course, and already his back is against the wall, sitting in the same group as Novak Djokovic. Murray will likely have to win his next two matches to fight his way through to the semi finals, it will all be dependant on other results of course. Novak Djokovic had to endure a slow start against Czech Tomas Berdych, losing the first four opening games, before finally winning the encounter in a final set tie break. It was a steady entry for world number one Djokovic, who wasn’t serving all that strongly throughout the match, and looks to be playing at about 90%. As for Rafael Nadal, he had to hang on with all his might as well in his opening match against American Mardy Fish, needing a final set tie break as well to pick up his first victory. Just like Djokovic, Nadal did not look completely on top of his game in the first match, but where Djokovic and Nadal hung in, Murray couldn’t. So that leaves the outright favourite in the ATP World Tour Finals tennis betting, Roger Federer with the easiest win in the first round. Federer, who won the Paris 1000 Masters ahead of this, looking well in control for the most part, as he edged out Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in three sets to earn his first victory. Now we get to see one of the greatest ever tennis rivalries revisited, as Roger Federer v Rafael Nadal betting takes centre stage on Tuesday.
We can start off our Roger Federer v Rafael Nadal tennis betting with a look at the head to head record. Nadal leads here strongly, with a 17-8 lead over Federer. They have met three times this year, and it is the Spaniard who has won out on each of those occasion, two of them being on clay though where he excels. However, it is worth just getting behind Roger Federer for your tennis betting here because the Swiss superstar is the man in form. Nadal looked pretty beaten up in his opening match against Mardy Fish. There were questions about his form heading to London, as he suffered a shock loss to Florian Mayer in Shanghai a month ago, and has just not quite been at his best since the final of the French Open. Nadal is making mistakes at the moment, and he doesn’t look physically strong. He was also suffering from stomach problems which saw him take a lengthy bathroom break in the third set against Fish. Nadal actually looked very sharp for stretches of the match against Fish, but his standards will need to be a bit higher against Federer. Federer looks to be serving well and very powerful in his ground strokes, and the Swiss star will naturally try and move Nadal around the court as much as possible to tire him and take him out of his comfort zone. If anything Federer must have learnt from his encounters with Nadal this year, is that he cannot afford to let chances slide, not to let Nadal off the hook. While Nadal has a lot to offer still, Federer is the stronger of the two in form right now and that is where your tennis betting should go towards. This match is a repeat of last year’s final here at the ATP World Tour Finals, which Federer won in three sets. While Federer is looking for his 6th ATP World Tour Finals title, Rafael Nadal is still seeking his first. A victory for either one here would send them through to the next round.
So what is the tennis betting looking like for Federer v Nadal? It is Federer who is edging things as favourite with the bookmakers for this Group B encounter. Federer is trading at 1/2 with Ladbrokes to beat Nadal, while the Spaniard is out at a best price of 15/8 with Paddy Power to overturn form. Either way it should be a classic, as encounters between these two are always full of excitement and drama. Don’t be surprised to see this one go all the way!
Online bookmaker Victor Chandler are worth heading to for your ATP World Tour Finals tennis betting. The popular bookie has a great tennis promotion running, which offers refunds if your selection loses in the final set tie break. With both Nadal and Djokovic already edging their way through their first matches in final set tie breaks, the coverage their promotion provides is great. It means that you can take a match bet and if your backed player loses in the final set tie break, that means you will get your lost stake refunded as a free bet. So if you had bet on Mardy Fish against Nadal, or Berdych against Djokovic at Victor Chandler, you would have received your lost stake refunds! The highly rated online bookmaker offers a free £25 for new customers as a welcome bonus. The bookie will match the value of your first bet up to the maximum value of £25!
Barclays ATP World Tour Finals Outright Winner Odds
Roger Federer: 7/5 at Stan James
Novak Djokovic: 9/4 at Totesport
Rafael Nadal: 11/2 at SkyBet
Andy Murray: 15/1 at Stan James
Jo Wilfried Tsonga: 21/1 at Stan James
Tomas Berdych: 21/1 at BetFair
David Ferrer: 22/1 at Bet365
Mardy Fish: 80/1 at SkyBet
Tuesday’s other match from Group B at the ATP World Tour Finals, is Jo Wilfried Tsonga v Mardy Fish. With both of these tasting defeat in their first matches in the group, this is a must win affair for both of them. On paper it looks as if Jo Wilfried Tsonga, who has been in pretty decent form over the last month or so, is favorite to take the match. They have only faced each once before, and the head to head stands in favour of Frenchman Tsonga a 1-0. That meeting came at this year’s US Open, which Tsonga won in a mammoth five setter after being 2-1 down.
Jo Wilfried Tsonga 4/1, Mardy Fish 11/8 at William Hill
