Legends pick World Tour Finals winner
Six legends of the game, including John McEnroe, Mats Wilander and Goran Ivanisevic, pick out their favourites to win the World Tour Finals at the o2 Arena.
John McEnroe: "I would pick Rafael Nadal if this were the Australian Open because I think he's much tougher to beat in longer matches. If he remains healthy he's the guy I would pick for every major right now until proven otherwise. But in the best of three it remains to be seen; I would give Roger Federer more of a chance in a shorter match, and then I'd have to see how it pans out with the guys who are there. But it would be nice to see one of the other guys, whether it's Novak Djokovic or Andy Murray or somebody else, really step up and make an impact... but then be able to follow it up into the next year and go and win some majors. I think that would be important for tennis. But I would still pick those two guys, leaning towards Roger in shorter matches and Nadal in longer ones."
Goran Ivanisevic: "I would go for Nadal. He's had a great year, he hasn't played for the last couple of weeks but I think he is preparing himself and he wants to do well. He has put a lot of things that he has never won before in his basket this year. It doesn't matter what surface it is as long as he is fit and playing well. You also can't count out Andy Murray because he can beat anyone, anywhere, any time."
Patrick Rafter: "I'm going with Robin Soderling. He's playing really well, he's coming off a great week in Paris, he's serving well and winning the tight matches. I like to go for dark horses - I think it's going to be really tight and he's playing well."
Mats Wilander: "You maybe have to go with Roger Federer to win. I think Federer is on to something. He's playing better now, since the US Open this year, than he has in the last three or four years. He's just not winning - although he won the Australian Open, he made the quarters of the French Open, he made the semis at Wimbledon, it's not like he had a horrible year. And I think he wants to cap it off winning the ATP Tour finals."
Stefan Edberg: "Rafa, the way he's playing, is going to be the favourite. There's probably a few players you can't count out - Roger is probably one of the ones who could win it, and I think Robin Soderling actually could also be a winner at the o2 Arena. I think he has the potential, and I think it might be a good one for him to win in order to (go on and) win a Grand Slam. So maybe I'll go for a surprise pick: Robin Soderling winning."
Yannick Noah: "Nadal is in great shape. When this kid is healthy he's unbeatable because mentally he's so strong. It's amazing to watch. Would I say the same for the Australian Open? I would say the same forever - anywhere."
The legends were speaking to the ATP Champions Tour.
Comment 21 - 40 of 40
If Murray is at his best I don't see anybody touching him! I don't see him losing to Nadal on hard courts!
Anyone but Murray, too big for his boots, or is mouth! Thinks he is great!
sorry mats federer did not make semis of wimbledon he lost in quarters to berdych who then beat djokovic in semis it staggers me theex player experts how much they get wrong then yahoo post it murray thistime one of the best 3 set players if only hean get better in gs
Nobody beats Nadal. Too much mediocracy on Tennis
Head to head: Andy Murray 8 RF 5
Del Po 2 RF 6
And here rests my case.
@Tennismaniac Kid
Well, I think you've found yourself a perfect nick. Even if you are a grown up (which I highly doubt) your brain is not developed above the age of, say, 1. Really try going to kinder garden before arguing with me. It would do you the world of good.
As for Katy, I said she's gone beyond the point of no return and that's because RF never losses on purpose. She thinks the world is centred around her idol Andy and everything begins from him and ends with him. Sorry to burst your bubble, it's not true. Fed handled him very well indeed and I am sure he would not have minded beating him again in the final. So, once again, Katy you can't be saved, sorry.
"RF preferred to play Del Po rather than Andy and he had already qualified for the semi finals. After all he has a losing record against Andy."
Katy, your logic still doesnt make any sense. Federer lost to del potro in their last two encounters whereas he beat Andy convincingly at Cinci 2009 and O2. Why whould he choose to eliminate Andy istead of Del potro? And BTW, Andy knocked out Roger in 2008 @#$% and not 2009
Tennismaniac, why don't you read what I said instead of flying off the handle? I did say that RF beat Andy in the round robin and deservedly so. Andy said "I served pants" AND I'm not blaming RF for what he did, anyone else in his position would have done the same. Were you there? I was. Maybe you have forgotten that in the finals in 2009 Andy knocked out RF in the round robin.
Tennismaniac, why don't you read what I said? I did say that RF beat Andy in the round robin and deserved to do so because as Andy said "I served pants" Were you there? I was. AND I don't blame RF for what he did anyone else in his position would hav
soderling.will.shock.murray.in.the.opener.and.roger.wil l.eliminates.him
Katy you are beyond any doctor's reach. I am really sorry for you.
It's not difficult to understand. RF preferred to play Del Po rather than Andy and he had already qualified for the semi finals. After all he has a losing record against Andy.
I would pick Federer and Soderling. This surface is too quick for Nadal and in shorter matches he's reachable.
Hopefully Roger will step up for the AO. I'd like to see him defeat Nadal in a 5 set thriller in the final... but this will be very hard with such a player like Nadal.... let's enjoy it that's all we can say!
Is Katy saying that Roger Federer threw a match so that DelPo could win????? Never, not in a month of Sundays. Roger wants to win all the time and does so honestly.
S
Katy, you sure are one megalomaniac fan. You definitely are crazy to think RF would throw away a match so your precious little Andy won't make the semis.
As for the @#$%. I can't wait. RF playing his best since 2007, Nadal definitely focusing on this a lot more than in previous years, and Soderling coming off his first Masters 1000 win (only his 10th win in 25 or 26 finals). The disappointing fact is none of the other seem to be on form. Maybe Murray is saving something special for London.
As James W has stated he has wild swings in form and on-court behaviour, and I am not sure how he'll be able to cope with these factors when playing against the top 7 of his profession in the world. Hopefully he'll come all guns blazing but not too much so my man Roger can win the group :).
i don't think i read anything here surprised me, so normal that most of them goes with Nadal because he had a very good year and he is the no.1 right now, so why won't he ? besides don't forget he is Rafael Nadal. and to put Federer in the picture ofcorse they are right. he proved that you can't count him off any tournament evenif he plays so badly (reaching QF at RG & wimby is a dream for the other top 8) and because of his winning percentage at the world tour fainal and Nadal losing percentage and because he (Federer) has the best run over the top 8 after wimby even better than Nadal. and ofcorse you can't underestimate Djokovic or Murray who can beats anyone of the top8 including Nadal and Federer if they are at thier bes form. same as Roddick or Soderling who can beat anyone at thier best form may be excluding Federer, and about the dark horse, i think he will be Berdych because it is his first time as i think . Ferrer made the final before so he can be another dark horse.
but finally i foung all thier opinions reasonable. and about Federer is better now in the shorter match, yes this is right at least for this tournament because he is a bit tired right so the longer matches will affesct him very badly. but Nadal didn't play alot since USO so he is bit fresh and need longer matches to get in to his rythem.
I agree with all the legends.
I was there last year so I'll share my thoughts after that experience. When Andy played RF his serve went walkabout and he lost. In the end it was down to games and points as to whether he went through or Del Po. When RF lost to DelPo they had to wait at the net while they did their sums and RF was heard to ask Del Po if he had made it. That was after RF had thrown the last game. It couldn't have been more obvious. So Del Po went through to the semis and had to play Soderling. It was a huge long difficult match especially 'cos I thought that Soderling had been the best player all week. Result of that was that Del Po had nothing left for the final. Rafa played really badly without any enthusiasm and said he was saving himself for the DC final also that he hadn't come to win. But this year? I'm sure he's come to win. He'll be fresh and for sure he's been preparing these last weeks and we all know that what Rafa wants he gets! Of course Andy M can beat everyone who's there on a good day!
webbski
bulls.hit, Wilander has been in Nadal's as.s for the last 2 years, so is McEnroe (used to be a huge Federer supporter), well all I can say is that the old pro champions are nothing but a bunch of glory hunters, you'll see that once a new champions shows up, they'll start critisizing Nadal and praising the new lad.
Nobody knows what Nadal has been up to since Shanghai, but we can be sure he hasn't been contemplating his navel. He's rested, and he wants it. All this year he has lost a lot of matches in Master's 1000 series (except on clay) then used the platform to win 3 of the 4 slams. Maybe that puts Tokyo and Shanghai into some kind of perspective. Masters series events are no longer a guide to his real form. Maybe it tells us his priorities have changed since 2009. Before, he wanted to win everything. Now, he only really wants the big ones. He uses the others to try out new stuff, like the way his crosscourt backhand improved at Indian Wells and Miami and his serve developed during Toronto and Cincinnati. Seems like he uses these as testing grounds. The real Nadal on hardcourt this year was only revealed in the GS tournaments. I've got a feeling there will be some further improvement of his hardcourt performance in London. If there is, who will be able to hack it?
Rafa has always said that for him the first match in any tournament is never easy because one has to adapt to the court and the atmosphere because no matter how much you're on the practice courts, it is never the same on centre court. One has to get used to the conditions; the court might be slightly slower or faster, the arena, generally the whole atmosphere. He's so specific lol.. Anyway, that"s why it always helps when your first opponent has a signifcantly lower ranking. Clearly, that's not the case here - its straight into the fire lol. This is partly why i won't be surprised at all if he loses his first match..regardless of who he plays in the group . They're all tough opponents for a first competitive match in a while
l expect him to play better from match 2 onwards. He hasn't played since Shanghai..this might sound like a good thing because he has had plenty of rest, but, for Rafa maybe its not because he is used to playing a lot...he may have lost a bit of rhythm. However, he has been practising hard for this tournament and he is determined to play better than he did last year. if you have doubts about his drive because maybe he has already achieved so much this season, or because he has the world no. 1 ranking in the bag, think again.
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