TENNIS in DEPTH.

”I hope we can live up to the expectations and play another good one. Obviously I expect a difficult match. It’s always fun playing your rivals.”

The pair meet in Group A of the season-ending tournament both boasting one win apiece and knowing the victor could secure a place in the semi-finals of the lucrative event.

Murray has been one of the Swiss’ most consistently difficult opponents, with the Scot winning six of their nine ATP Tour clashes.

Federer won their biggest match, in the US Open final last year, and also their most recent meeting in Cincinnati but Murray can draw on memories of victories in Indian Wells and Doha this year as well as in the group stages of this event 12 months ago.

On that occasion the 22-year-old triumphed in a three-hour epic in Shanghai that eliminated four-time champion Federer but drained Murray ahead of his semi-final with Nikolay Davydenko, which he then lost.

Recalling the meeting, Federer said: ”I remember I was not going into the match with, let’s say, the highest of hopes. I kind of just said to myself, ‘You know what, I’ll play aggressive and see what happens.’

”I was playing incredible for a set, almost got a victory. But I thought it was a very exciting match to be a part of. It was unfortunate for me not to come through.

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Hi everyone,

I suppose that the question today to me that isn’t shown here is why did I lose? Well, it is simple. I didn’t play the way I had to play, the way I know how to play and that it is taking me to have it back.

I felt without that confidence in the right moments, I felt a bit lack on that concentration in those points and that was it.

I came back to the locker room and there was Toni and the rest of the team waiting for me. Those are sad moments, believe me. We are down, not much talking in the locker room, serious faces… Then Toni starts analyzing points and the game and well… it is not the end of the World!. He is right. But it hurts to lose!

And I am also sad for all those fans who want me to win…

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Ana will make a much welcomed comeback to the tennis tour in January in a fresh new adidas adlibria Tennis look. The 22-year-old will step on the southern hemisphere courts in a core yellow, dropped waist dress that has been 18 months in the making.

Ana’s feedback was instrumental in the finished design of this fusion piece with the request for a deeper neckline, close body fit, dropped waist and side pleats skirt detail all fulfilled by the adidas Tennis design team.

The former French Open Champion says, “I love the new dress for SS10. The colours are really bright and refreshing and the skirt pleats add a cute feminine touch. It feels very comfortable and I’m looking forward to wearing it in Australia.”

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Defending champion Novak Djokovic handed Nikolay Davydenko another painful defeat at the ATP World Tour Finals as the Serb secured a 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory on Monday.

Djokovic beat Davydenko to win the final of this prestigious end-of-year event 12 months ago and the world number three, who also defeated the Russian in the group stage last year, came from behind to frustrate him again in his opening Group B match at London’s O2 Arena.

Robin Soderling’s surprise victory over Rafael Nadal earlier on Monday had thrown the group wide open and Djokovic looks in the mood to mount a strong bid to retain the title.

After suffering something of a slump in the aftermath of his 2008 Australian Open triumph, Djokovic has been in supreme form of late.

The 22-year-old has reached a career-best 10 finals this year and since September’s US Open he has collected three ATP Tour titles and won 18 of his 19 matches.

Djokovic’s solitary defeat during that remarkable run came against Davydenko in the semi-finals in Shanghai.

Davydenko’s metronomic accuracy kept Djokovic from taking control early on and the world number six got the first break in the fifth game.

There was a brief glimmer of hope for Djokovic in the next game as he earned two break points but he squandered both opportunities.

That proved the Serb’s last chance of the set as Davydenko broke again in the ninth game to move in front.

After a tight start to the second set, Djokovic got the stroke of luck he needed to get back into the match.

At 4-4 and 30-0 down on Davydenko’s serve, a Djokovic return clipped the net and fell kindly on the other side. Djokovic crossed himself in thanks for the good fortune and proceeded to reel off three more points to break for the first time before serving out the set.

Both men were playing with an intensity far greater than anything shown by the likes of Nadal and Roger Federer in their opening matches.

There was little to separate them and the final set followed the same pattern.

Djokovic broke Davydenko in the first game and saved three break points in a marathon sixth game.

Then Davydenko made a final push and broke as Djokovic served for the match at 5-4. But Djokovic broke back to love and held his serve this time to clinch the win in two hours and 46 minutes.

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Robin Soderling repeated his Roland Garros victory over Rafael Nadal with another resounding 2 set win 6-4, 6-4 at the Barclays ATP Tour Final in London. Nadal was forced to play defensive tennis from well behind the baseline as he was pushed deep into the court by Soderlings ground strokes. Time and time again Nadal was only able to return the ball short into the court allowing Soderling to fire off winner after winner from both wings.

Usually Nadal is a master of saving break points, but not today as he lost both in the first set and 2 out of three in the second. He is in danger of not making the semi finals as in many people’s minds Soderling was the easiest of the four in Group B, and was expected to be easy pickings for the #2 player. He is faced with the virtually impossible task of defeating both Djokovic and Davydenko.

In the doubles competition the Bryan Brothers, the #2 seeds, went down to Andy Ram and Max Mirnyi after the #1 seeds were defeated in yesterday’s action.

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In what could well be the best match of the day, Novak Djokovic, the No. 3 seed, takes on No. 6 seed Nikolay Davydenko in the second singles match of the day. The two met just last month in the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Shanghai, with Davydenko edging Djokovic in a third set tie-break. After the loss Novak admitted that he was outplayed by Davydenko, and added that he doubted that any player on the ATP tour could have beaten him on that particular day. Both players should be thrilled by the O2 surface as it enhances both their games, and should produce the best tennis of the event so far, especially after Sunday’s less than spectacular beginning.

 Although they have split their past four meetings, Djokovic notched his two wins over the Russian at last year’s Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, once in the round robin portion and again in the final. Djokovic is the in form player on the ATP World Tour since the US Open, going 18-1 (the only loss coming to Davydenko). He enters with a 10-match winning streak after back-to-back titles in Basel (d. Federer) and ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Paris (d. Monfils). He also won in Beijing (d. Cilic) last month.

• In doubles Group B action, No. 2 seeds Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan square off against No. 7 seeds Max Mirnyi and Andy Ram. The Bryans won their seventh Grand Slam doubles title together at the Australian Open this year. Mirnyi and Ram captured their lone title together at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami in April.

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It is a strange event for those British fans accustomed to the decorum of Wimbledon, Eastbourne and Edgbaston. But the difference is the delight. It is democratic – anyone who is serious about attending should be able to get a ticket – youth-oriented and great fun.

The ATP brought their season-ending championships to London with no intention to ape Britain’s venerable grand slam. They came to celebrate in a showbiz style all of their own, and the whooping, yelling fans in the vast arena seemed pleased with what they saw.

Even before Andy Murray and Juan Martín del Potro had shown up for their first-round match, the umpire, Lars Graff, had been given a booming introduction worthy of an X Factor contestant.

Then an amplified heartbeat throbbed around the grandstands as the giant video screens revealed that del Potro had left the locker-room and was making his way, by way of what appeared to be a service tunnel, to the court.

The man at the mike breathlessly recounted the young Argentine’s career achievements – essentially this year’s US Open win – while the crowd went bonkers.

So you can imagine the reaction when Murray appeared on court, rather sheepishly holding the hand of the young mascot chosen to accompany him. The crowd were yelling “C’mon Andy” during the warm-up, for goodness’ sake.

Fond but fair: a rare good shot from del Potro early in the match was warmly applauded, and silence was respectfully maintained during actual play, though the resident DJ dutifully cranked up his repertoire between games.

In fact this venue is never completely silent, and compelling rallies were accompanied by a faint but persistent residual hum, as the machinery that keeps the big tent hot, cold or in-between hummed away.

Del Potro, who looks like Mickey Rourke’s less good-looking younger brother, was pretty ordinary to begin with, his cause not aided by a nosebleed which the trainer expertly staunched.

But then perhaps someone whispered in the 21 year-old’s ear about the prize money on offer in London this week – more than $5 million (£3 million) in total – because he perked up and the crowd got the match they deserved over three energetic sets.

This is just as well, for in each session at the Tour Finals there is just one singles match and one doubles, and if the singles match turns out to be a turkey the spectators might feel justifiably aggrieved.

But the quality of the entry – the world’s best minus the crocked Andy Roddick – should guarantee plenty of competitive encounters, even in the early round-robin stages.

The Barclays ATP World Tour Finals are going to be at the O2 until at least 2013, plenty of time to establish themselves as a new and entirely welcome element in the British sporting calendar.

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Federer praised Verdasco’s performance, saying: “It was close, there’s no easy matches here. I had a bit of a struggle early on, got a bit lucky to get through the second but in the third I played great.”

He survived a scare to see off Fernando Verdasco 4-6 7-5 6-1 in his opening match at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London on Sunday night.

Verdasco had not so much as taken a set off Federer, who has won the end-of-season event four times, in their three previous meetings but four points into the match the Spaniard was a break up.

The world number one began proceedings with a double fault and that set the tone for a lacklustre set as Federer struggled to find either his rhythm or his range.

Verdasco, in contrast, was a picture of calm, the sometimes erratic left-hander serving impressively and putting Federer in trouble with his big forehand.

The Australian Open semi-finalist saw two more break points go begging in the seventh game but that did not come back to haunt him as he comfortably served out the set.

Predictably, Federer improved at the start of the second set, the Swiss attempting to rush Verdasco by coming to the net.

But the world number eight would not be intimidated and made the passing shots when he needed to keep pace with his opponent – fighting back from 0-30 in game eight.

The lively crowd appreciated the high-quality fare, the errors of the opening set forgotten, and at 5-5 it was Federer’s turn to feel the pressure but the 28-year-old survived after two deuces.

And he capitalised on that escape fully in the next game, creating his first two break points of the match – set points, of course – and then levelling proceedings with a crisp smash.

Verdasco must have feared he had missed his chance and he found himself facing break points in the second game of the decider. He saved two but on the third a backhand drifted wide.

Suddenly errors were flowing freely from the Spaniard’s racquet and the match was all over when another break gave Federer a 4-0 lead.

Verdasco fought valiantly to avoid a whitewash but it was merely delaying the inevitable and the top seed easily served out the victory.

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