- Chrissie Evert Begins Chemotherapy and Will Miss ESPN’s Australian Open Coverage
- Australian Open entry list: Nadal in with protected ranking, No. 97 cutoff
- Tim Henman Plays Tennis for 24 Hours to Benefit Children’s Charity
- Caroline Wozniacki and Six Aussies Receive 2024 Australian Open Wild Cards
- 2024 Brisbane event includes Nadal, Murray, Dimitrov, and Osaka
- Rafael Nadal Announces Brisbane Return
- Alicia Molik Named Adelaide International Tournament Director
- Defending Champion Tiafoe Returning for U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship
- Including doubles, Sinner defeats Djokovic three times in 11 days
- Sinner the hero as Italy captures first Davis Cup title since 1976
- Dana Mathewson Wins Two Gold Medals at the Parapan American Games
- Gambill: Wayne Arthurs One of Top 3 Servers
- Davis Cup Finals Draws and Schedule for Sunday, November 26, 2023
- Stars Set for LA Tennis Bash on December 9th to Benefit First Break Academy
- SOLINCO NEW RACQUETS THE WHITEOUT AND BLACKOUT XTD+
Ricky’s Preview And Pick For Thursday @ Nitto ATP World Tour Finals • Federer vs. Cilic
- Updated: November 15, 2017
Marin Cilic of Croatia in action during his men’s singles match against Jack Sock of the USA at the ATP World Tour Finals tennis tournament in London, Britain, 14 November 2017. EPA-EFE/WILL OLIVER
Ricky’s preview and pick for Thursday at the World Tour Finals: Federer vs. Cilic
By Ricky Dimon
Roger Federer and Marin Cilic will “only” be playing for 200 ATP ranking points and $191,000 in prize money when they wrap up their round-robin campaigns at the Nitto ATP World Tour Finals on Thursday night. Strictly from a tournament perspective, nothing is on the line. Federer is already through to the semis and Cilic is mathematically eliminated.
The two veterans have faced each other on eight previous occasions, with Federer leading the head-to-head series 7-1. Cilic famously prevailed 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 at the 2014 U.S. Open en route to his lone Grand Slam title, but he has otherwise struggled against the GOAT. They have squared off twice since that memorable 2014 meeting, with both of those encounters having come in London–albeit at Wimbledon as opposed to the O2 Arena. Federer survived a five-setter in 2016 before coasting through this year’s championship match 6-3, 6-1, 6-4.
Due in part to a back injury, the 36-year-old could not make mincemeat out of the rest of the tour during the hard-court summer like he did at the All-England Club. But now that he is 100 percent again, Federer is clearly the best player in the world at the moment. He is 12-0 this fall with titles in Shanghai and Basel. This week’s No. 2 seed has improved to an incredible 54-12 lifetime at the year-end championship with victories over Jack Sock and Alexander Zverev, dropping one set to Zverev in the process.
Federer’s Tuesday night defeat Zverev clinched the top spot in Group B while erasing Cilic’s semifinal hopes. The fifth-ranked Croat really sealed his own fate by squandering break leads in the third set against both Zverev and Sock. He lost his opener to Zverev 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 before falling to Sock 5-7, 7-2, 7-6(4).
“It is frustrating, absolutely,” Cilic commented. “Definitely (it was) disappointing in both matches in that third set, being in a good position, putting myself in a good position. But, unfortunately I didn’t close it…. I was quite motivated in both matches. I felt that I played well. I know that I wasn’t playing the best, especially in those critical moments I was not coming up with some great shots…. That was just a little bit unfortunate that I wasn’t able to close. I was putting myself in a really nice position.”
Cilic was in this same position at the 2016 World Tour Finals, where he was eliminated at 0-2 before picking up his first-ever win at the O2 Arena by beating Kei Nishikori. Motivation will not be a problem for Cilic, who could see Federer try out some different things as the six-time WTF champion prepares for semifinal Saturday.
The result should be a competitive contest, but Federer will also be motivated to keep his bid for an undefeated run through London alive.
Pick: Federer in 3
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on twitter at @Dimonator.