TENNIS in DEPTH.

Andy Roddick was the last to qualify for the event but has had some decent results of late, making the semi-finals in Basel and last eight in Paris. Significantly he has beaten all three of his group opponents in 2010 and lost to none of them. Nadal was beaten on a hardcourt in Miami and Berdych three times over the course of the season, including indoors in San Jose. And, perhaps crucially, Roddick holds something of an Indian sign over Djokovic. His hardcourt win over the Serb in Cincinnati took their career head-to-head to 5-2 (all on hardcourts). He should win Group A, and go on to meet the winner of Group B for the title. A battle of the two Andys is my prediction!

Rafael Nadal is the obvious threat to Federer’s title hopes, but the fact is he’s not played for more than a month due to a shoulder injury and has to be at least a little rusty. The quality of opponents here – Djokovic, Tomas Berdych and Andy Roddick in the group stage – means he’ll have to hit the ground running. It’s also interesting to note that the world number one has also been playing down his chances on the “very quick” O2 surface for some time.

He spoke after the US Open about the size of the task involved and only last week said: “It is probably the most difficult surface against the most difficult opponents for me, so probably is the most difficult tournament for me to win during the year.” He lost all three matches here last season and holds a pretty ropey 4-7 record in the season-ending event as a whole.

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