Semis Showdown Set

Well, needless to say a second loss in a row to Juan Martin Del Potro wasn't the result Roger Federer was hoping for in his last Round Robin match.  Though it has to play tricks with your mind just a bit knowing you didn't "have to" win the match to move on, it was still obvious that Roger really wanted to end this portion of the tournament with another win to give him momentum heading into the semis.  And I'm sure he really would have liked to get it done in 2 sets rather than 3, knowing he has the disadvantage of not getting a day to rest.  However, failure to convert break points in the first set, as well as playing a terrible tiebreak didn't work in his favor, so instead he not only had to play three sets, but also got his first loss in the World Tour Finals since 2009.

Hopefully, rather than giving him less confidence moving forward, it will instead motivate him out of his frustration in losing this match.  He was definitely showing more emotion than normal, shouting out in frustration at some of his more annoying misses.  

With Ferrer's win over Tipsarevic, that means that Federer will play Murray in the evening match (Djokovic vs. Del Potro in the afternoon).  I really don' know how to predict the outcome of this match.  On the one hand Roger could have a letdown after having just played three sets and being tired from a long season.  On the other hand, he has lost to Murray the last two times they played, both at the Olympics and in Shanghai.  He's certainly not going to want to end the season with two losses in a row to both him and Del Potro.  I think both Federer and Murray are going to have a lot of determination in this match.  Murray, of course, has the advantage of having a day of rest.  Will this be enough to see him through?

So our possibilities for the final are Djokovic-Federer, Djokovic-Murray, Del Potro-Federer or Del Potro-Murray.  After some matches during the Round Robin stage that were certainly less than tantalizing tennis, the next two days should be a treat, no matter what the outcome.  While I certainly would love to see my guy Roger prevail once again, even if he loses in the semis he has had an amazing season and accomplished so much, so I will try to take that attitude into the semis showdown.