Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem have at least a balanced chance of reaching the semi-finals of the ATP Finals in London.
The season finale at London’s O2 Arena will once again bring a showcase of the world’s best tennis players, a new edition of the duels that shaped the 2018 tennis year. However, the cancellation of Rafael Nadal and Juan Martin del Potro meant that two Grand Slam finals could not be replayed: that of Roland Garros, where Nadal won against Dominic Thiem, and that of the US Open, where del Potro Novak lost to Djokovic.
The final pairings of Australia (Roger Federer against Marin Cilic) and Wimbledon (Novak Djokovic) could be replayed in London, but not before the semi-finals.
From the perspective of the German-speaking hopes of Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem, what does it look like? Zverev was drawn into the group named after Gustavo Kuerten alongside Djokovic, Cilic and successor John Isner. Zverev only played once this season against the world number one from Serbia – and had no chance in Shanghai.
Against John Isner the 2018 balance is balanced, Zverev returned for the final defeat in Miami at the ATP Masters 1000 Tournament in Madrid. Zverev had to play against Cilic once, the Hamburg native defeated the Croat in Rome, leads in the balance against Cilic with 5:1 victories.
Dominic Thiem met his group opponent Kei Nishikori only a few days ago in Vienna and suffered a severe defeat. On the other hand, the Lower Austrian was able to hold Nishikori harmless at the French Open, and the Japanese is leading the overall standings with 3-1 victories.
Kevin Anderson has defeated Thiem twice in 2018, first in Madrid, then at the US Open, against the opening opponent on Sunday in London there was no defeat in the ongoing campaign. And not against group favourite Roger Federer. This is primarily due to the fact that Thiem and Federer met at best on the training ground in 2018. After all: Dominic Thiem has won two of the three games with the Maestro so far.