Sports Blog 18/11/2015: Tennis Preview – ATP World Tour Finals, Sunday 15th to Sunday 22nd November 2015

The ATP’s season-ending World Tour Finals is well under-way, with some familiar faces in action this Wednesday!

Out of the two sets of players, only Group Stan Smith has thrown up a surprising result so far; largely running against the trend of the past season, Roger Federer made up for his withdrawal from last year’s final by beating Novak Djokovic 7-5, 6-2 in his 2nd match of the competition after having dismissed of Tomas Berdych 6-4, 6-2 in his opener. That leaves Federer, now guaranteed a semi-final spot, at an Outright Index spread of 26-29 (where the winner receives 50 points, the runner-up 25 and the losing semi-finalists 10 apiece) alongside fixed odds of 2/1 to take home the $6.5 million in prize money.

However, this still leaves the world no. 3 behind Djokovic, who sits as 4/6 odds on favourite with an Outright Index spread of 34.5-37.5. Before the atypical limpness of his aforementioned defeat at the hands of Federer the world no. 1 had brushed aside Kei Nishikori 6-1, 6-1 in a display of dominance that was a stark contrast to the way he played against the Swiss maestro on Tuesday.

Djokovic’s defeat does give a slim chance of a semi-final spot for Kei Nishikori, who beat Tomas Berdych 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 in his 2nd match. However, it’s a very slim chance indeed, with both players sitting at an Outright Index spread of 0-1, with fixed odds of 80/1 and 125/1 respectively.



The Group Ilie Nastase side of the draw is a bit more interesting, if only because only 1 round of matches have been played. Entering the competition ranked 2nd in the world, Andy Murray made relatively fast work of David Ferrer in his opener, beating the Spaniard 6-4, 6-4. His 2nd match against a Spanish opponent, however, in theory poses a tougher proposition; Rafael Nadal was similarly untroubled in his match against Stan Wawrinka, winning 6-3, 6-2 to leave him top of the group at this embryonic stage of the competition.

At Outright Index spreads of 13.5-16.5 and 11-14 respectively, Murry and Nadal are both expected to reach the semi-finals. In what position they enter that round, however, will likely be decided by Wednesday’s match. Out Spreadex traders, at least, think the Brit has the edge, at 8/15 fixed odds to be victorious alongside a Murray/Nadal Match Supremacy spread of 3-6.

Rounding out the Group Ilie Nastase are the aforementioned Stan Wawrinka (at an Outright Index spread of 1.5-3.5) and David Ferrer (at 1-2.5), both of whom will be looking for a win to try and capitalise on whoever losses out of their higher-ranked peers. And whilst their position in the competition as a whole is less than rosy, the current French Open is at least fancied to win today’s meeting, at a Wawrinka/Ferrer Match Supremacy spread of 2-5.

Check back here at Spreadex for all the latest ATP World Finals fixed odds and spread betting opportunities!