Sod and the Semis

Roger didn't win that match I was frazzling over yesterday, but he did win a set, and that meant that he won Group A and will thus go through to the final. Joining him there will be his conqueror, Juan Martin del Potro, who managed to snuff out Andy Murray's hopes by a single game. I won't deny it - I laughed.

I don't think there's much to read into the defeat here - I know this makes two times in a row that Federer's fallen to del Potro, but I just can't see it being especially meaningful in the end. I don't think del Potro's ever going to be the boogeyman to Federer that Nadal and, to some extent, Murray, have been. Federer's got all the game he needs to defeat del Potro - it's just an execution thing.

I'd be interested to see what happens if they met in the final - how that one would play out. I can't really see Roger losing to him twice in three days or whatever the timeframe is. Now that would be a worry.

Del Potro will play, I think, Soderling in the semis - I'm pretty sure that the Yoker has the victory in Group A all tied up. That'll be an interesting match - hard to pick, to an extent - but I'm coming down on the side of Soderling in this one. He's been the form guy this tournament, and I think he's going to be very hard to beat... as both Rafa and Novak will tell you.

Speaking of Rafa and Novak, they played earlier, and surprise, surprise, Rafa lost. Novak is now waiting for the results of the Soderling/Davydenko match to see if he's through. I'm loving what the Sod's bringing to the courts these days and I'd love to see him in the final, but I confess I'm pulling for Davydenko on this one. I'd totally love to see him qualify for the semis. I don't think he'd beat Federer, which is who he'd run up against, but it would good validation for Mr Cellophane.

And if Davydenko does get through, it means that Federer is the only member of the Big Four (are we still calling them that? is del Potro allowed into the club yet?) to qualify for the semis. Now there's an unexpected result.


Today's Results

Barclays ATP World Tour Championships (London)

Juan Martin del Potro def. Roger Federer, 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 6-3
Novak Djokovic def. Rafael Nadal, 7-6 (7-5) 6-3