TENNIS in DEPTH.

Novak Djokovic made it look easy as he turned the tables on Tomas Berdych at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London with a comfortable 6-3 6-3 victory in the opening Group A match at the O2 Arena. The last time this pair met in the capital was in the Wimbledon semi-finals this summer, when Berdych eased to a straight-sets triumph before losing to Rafael Nadal in his first grand slam final. That was the only time in four previous meetings that the Czech has got the better of Djokovic, though, and his form since Wimbledon has been indifferent.

What Berdych needed was a good start but instead he made the worst possible one by conceding a break in the first game. Djokovic had four more chances in an epic third game but this time his opponent, who is the only debutant among the eight finalists, just about held on. Berdych was not helping himself with a woeful display of serving and it was not until he had cut out the double faults and found some first serves that he began to at least find a foothold in the match. The odd bright spot aside, it was not the sort of tennis the decent-sized crowd had come to see and the biggest cheer was for Argentinian football legend Diego Maradona, back at the O2 for a second successive day. Another error-strewn game from Berdych handed Djokovic two set points, and he duly converted on the first. In contrast to his opponent, the Serb, who has enjoyed an impressive autumn, appeared to be in good touch, particularly on his forays to the net. Djokovic, the 2008 champion, made it four games in a row by breaking again in Berdych’s first service game of the second set and, although the 25-year-old did eventually stop the rot, it was far too late to change the outcome.

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Martina Navratilova will lead 28 climbers to the summit of Kilimanjaro to raise money for the Laureus Sport For Good Foundation, a charity that supports community sports projects worldwide, improving the lives of over a million young people. “I made the decision to climb Mount Kilimanjaro for the Laureus Sport For Good Foundation at the beginning of this year,” Navratilova, who battled breast cancer this year, said. “Despite everything that has happened, I now have a clean bill of health and am determined to reach the summit and raise funds for Laureus. “I hope everyone will support me by donating to www.laureus.com.”

The climb up Mount Kilimanjaro will take seven days, from December 6 to 12. Before the climb, Navratilova will visit the Laureus-supported Mathare Youth Sports Association (MYSA) project in Nairobi, Kenya – the kind of project that will benefit from funds raised during the one-week Kilimanjaro Climb. Based in one of the largest and poorest slums in Nairobi in which HIV/AIDS and other diseases are widespread, the project has pioneered the use of soccer to encourage cooperation and raise self-esteem in youth. Each year MYSA organizes thousands of matches for about 20,000 young people. Success is measured not just by the goals scored in matches, but by the work the young people do in cleaning up the slums. MYSA has been supported by Laureus since 2000. It has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for its work.

Navratilova is a member of the Laureus World Sports Academy, a unique association of 46 of the greatest living sporting legends who volunteer their time to act as global ambassadors for the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation whose mission is to use sport as the means to combat some of the world’s toughest social challenges facing young people today such as HIV/AIDS, substance abuse, crime, social exclusion, landmine awareness, violence, discrimination and physical and mental health problems. Laureus has raised over $50 million and currently supports almost 80 sports-based projects around the world.

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I’ll be here for the Davis Cup final, so I can cheer on Serbia against France. I’m also going to be playing an exhibition for charity on the 30th of November here, a really big show from 9pm to midnight, to raise money for juniors as well as relief for an earthquake that happened in the city of Kraljevo. It will be a lot of fun and I always love helping raise money for good causes.

Since the end of the season in Doha, I’ve been able to rest and recover and start recharging my batteries. I had a tough time towards the end of the season with some health problems, so I’ve been taking it easy, just resting a lot. I also had something removed in my left eye – I was having problems seeing clearly, especially in night matches, so I had surgery. There was a patch on it so I kind of looked like a pirate for a while! The whole time I had to wear sunglasses, so I actually looked cool. I even had to wear them in the dark. To protect it from the wind, the cold… anyway, they removed the stitches and now my eye is just a little red, so it’s almost done.

I spent a little bit of time In Italy and now I’ve been in Belgrade for a while with my family. I’ve been out of the public eye, spending some very important time with them. We travel so much that when these periods come, you just want to live a normal life. So I’ve been spending time with my family and boyfriend. There’s also a new member of the family – my brother got me a dog, a Maltese, named Stella She’s just a puppy, three months old. We’ve been teaching her tricks and playing with her. She’s very cute.

JJ

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First up is No. 3 seed Novak Djokovic squaring off against No. 6 Tomas Berdych. The two met in a high-profile match in the Wimbledon semi-finals on July 2 with Berdych winning in straight sets. But Djokovic holds the overall head-to-head lead, 3-1. And since that loss on the grass courts of London, Djokovic has compiled an impressive 26-6 record on the ATP World Tour while Berdych has gone 8-12 since then, including a loss to Djokovic in Davis Cup semi-finals. Berdych is the only player in the Top 10 not to win an ATP World Tour title this season. In fact, the other nine have won at least two titles. This is Djokovic’s fourth appearance at this event (winning it in 2008 but falling in round robin play twice); Berdych is making his tournament debut.

 Next up is World No. 1 Rafael Nadal against No. 8 seed Andy Roddick. Nadal has the Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon, the US Open and an Olympic gold medal in singles, all of the greatest titles in tennis on his resume. But this is the biggest one to elude him so far. He has made the semi-finals twice (2006-07), falling in straight sets both times to Roger Federer, and in his third year-end finale appearance here last year, he didn’t win a set in the round robin stage (0-6). But Nadal is hungry as ever this year, and although Roddick did win their most recent meeting at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami in April, the American has reached the semi-finals three times at this event (2003-04 and ’07).

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Roger Federer matched Andy Murray in winning his opening clash at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London on Sunday as he made it 11 matches without defeat against David Ferrer. Federer, who will play Murray on Tuesday, said: “It was a really tough match for the scoreline. He’s a great player so I was really happy I was able to come through.” Federer has been in good form lately and he certainly looked like a man in a hurry as he raced through the opening four games, dominating both from the back of the court and on the occasions he chose to come to the net. It seemed very ominous for Ferrer when the world number two moved 40-0 ahead in the fifth game but the Spaniard is a renowned fighter and he won five points in a row to retrieve one of the breaks.

Ferrer, playing his first World Tour Finals match since losing to Federer in the 2007 final, battled hard in an attempt to hold serve for the first time in a lengthy sixth game but three double faults ultimately proved his undoing as the four-time champion moved 5-1 in front. And serving out the set was no problem for Federer, who hardly needed the good fortune of a net cord on the decisive point. Ferrer at last found some winners to save yet more break points in the third game of the second set but he was under pressure every time he stepped out to serve and at 2-2 he crumbled. It was a much more even match now, though, and Federer was forced to save two break points in the following game. Serving for the match the Swiss was in trouble again but Ferrer could not take advantage of three more chances and the second seed sealed victory with an ace.

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Andy Murray thrilled the 17,500 spectators at the O2 Arena as he demolished the Swede 6-2 6-4 in one hour and 20 minutes to take early command of Group B. It was a hugely encouraging way for the home favourite to begin the end-of-season championships as he found something close to his best form, in contrast to a surprisingly flat Soderling. Murray must still face Roger Federer and David Ferrer in the round-robin stage later in the week. But he will be confident of at least finishing in the top two and qualifying for Saturday’s semi-finals if he can maintain his initial form.

One thing we have learned from this match is that Soderling, for a player in the top five, cannot volley! He missed easy volleys time and time again to give Murray easy points, and it was so obviuosly a problem for the Swede that Murray continued to force him to come to the net knowing that he would either miss the volley or be set up for a pass.

Soderling arrived in London having overtaken Murray for fourth in the world rankings last week, brimming with confidence on the back of his first Masters victory in Paris, and in the knowledge that much of his best tennis has been played indoors, including a run to the semis at the O2 last year. With Soderling unable to find a single ace in the first set he was constantly under pressure on serve, and Murray stepped in to attack the Swede’s second serve for the double-break at 5-2 before wrapping up the set moments later with a magical, improvised drop shot. When Murray saw off a rare moment of danger at deuce early in the second set by returning a Soderling smash for a winner, the Swede looked as though he might call it quits and head for the locker room, but bit by bit he worked his way into the set. Soderling finally earned himself a break point in game six only to see a Murray ace whistle past him, and a missed second-serve return prompted an angry swipe at the air by the Swede as he failed to grab what would be his only chance of the match.

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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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RAFAEL NADAL

Nadal has had a truly stellar season that has confirmed his place among the all-time greats of the sport, winning three of the four Grand Slam titles and completing his personal clean sweep with a first US Open victory in September. Indoor conditions are the toughest for the Mallorcan to handle and he has struggled physically in the closing weeks of years past, failing to win a set in his three matches in London last year. He missed Paris last week as a precaution because of  a shoulder injury, but the end-of-season championship is now the biggest title missing from his CV and he is determined to make up for last year. That makes him more motivated – and more dangerous – than ever, and whatever the conditions he is the man to beat now.

ROGER FEDERER

Federer has a superb record in this event – as in most others – with four previous victories and he is clearly a strong contender once again. The Swiss appeared to be as good as ever when he won a record 16th Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January but his incredible run of 23 Grand Slam semis came to an end in the last eight at the French Open, before an even more surprising exit at the same stage of Wimbledon. Recent back-to-back wins at smaller events in Stockholm and Basle suggest his form is coming back but the vulnerability was still there when he let five match points slip away in defeat by Gael Monfils last week. Federer remains the second-best player in the world but his crown has slipped sufficiently that his rivals are no longer beaten before they hit a ball.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC

Djokovic appears to be back in the frame to challenge the top two next year after recovering from a mid-season slump to play quite brilliantly on his way to the US Open final. Problems with his serve, illness and allergies have all contributed to patchy form at times but for all that his results have remained remarkably consistent, making the last eight or better at all the Slams and remaining in the world’s top three all year. However, next week’s Davis Cup final against France could prove a distraction as the proud Serb looks to lead his nation to their first ever title.

ROBIN SODERLING

The new world number four has confirmed himself as a top-10 player in 2010 and followed up his stunning 2009 win over Nadal at the French Open by beating Federer this year as he returned to the final, only to lose to Nadal. Soderling arrives in London on the back of winning his first Masters title in Paris last week, although that highlights the fact that the Swede struggles to convert his talent into titles – he has won just six in his career. Still, he has always relished indoor conditions with his big, flat serve and heavy groundstrokes, and beating Nadal and Djokovic on his way to the semi-finals last year ensures that he will be considered a contender at the O2 once again.

ANDY MURRAY

Murray is fortunate that he will enjoy home support at the end-of-season finale during the peak years of his career – but the downside is that he must now carry the burden of a nation’s hopes twice a year, rather than just during the Wimbledon bubble. His form is hard to judge as only last month he was brilliant in beating Federer to win the Shanghai Masters, but last week he made a disappointing exit to Monfils in Paris. The year will be considered a disappointment as he remains without a Grand Slam title, but that is simply the result of expectations raised high by the level of his own performances. If we see the Murray of Melbourne, Toronto or Shanghai, he will be a match for anyone. Playing great tennis is not a problem for the Scot, doing so on a consistent basis is.

TOMAS BERDYCH

Every year there is a player who limps over the finish line to qualify for London – this year it is Berdych. Touted as a potential Grand Slam winner and even world number one in his teenage years, the 25-year-old Czech will end the year inside the world’s top 10 for the first time. That is thanks to a superb summer during which he reached his first Grand Slam semi-final at Roland Garros, only to surpass that at Wimbledon a few weeks later as he beat Federer on his way to reaching the final. Nadal proved far too strong on the final Sunday in SW19, however, and since then Berdych has lost form alarmingly. Two match wins in his last five tournaments left his London place in danger, but with a big game and no pressure he could yet play a significant role, if only by ruining someone else’s hopes.

DAVID FERRER

When a player is described as a “wall” it might not seem especially flattering, but in Ferrer’s case it refers to his most admirable qualities. The Spanish number two is almost as relentless as the Spanish number one in his ability to pound the baseline, and the 28-year-old is experienced enough to know that the occasional foray to the net will be essential. His rivals will certainly not underestimate him. On his only previous appearance in the Finals in 2007, Ferrer beat Nadal, Djokovic and Roddick before losing to Federer in the final. His five-set defeat by Fernando Verdasco at the US Open was one of the matches of 2010 and, while he may not be the biggest draw for spectators in London, Ferrer’s competitve spirit is likely to provide drama somewhere along the line.

ANDY RODDICK

There would have been relief all round among sponsors, ticket vendors, TV executives and the written press when Roddick sealed his place at the O2 in Paris last week – but none would have been more delighted than the American himself after he missed out on London’s spectacular debut last year through injury. There have been more physical issues this year but he did enough in the closing weeks of the season to qualify for a mightily impressive eighth consecutive year. Nine straight years in the top 10 prove the 28-year-old has learned how to work the advantages of a huge serve and big forehand, and manage relative weaknesses in the forecourt and on the backhand. If he can find the form of Miami and Indian Wells in March, he could still do some damage.

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By Piers Newbery and David Ornstein

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