Good mornin', everyone. We're in the throes of preparing for my son Luke's 7th birthday here today, so this will be brief, but I'll be back on the job tomorrow, with further thoughts on the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. For now, let me ask: Who thought, just a few years ago, that Juan Martin del Potro (or Nikolay Davydenko, for that matter?) would be the man to beat for the coveted year-end championships?
Davydenko, I can understand. He's a known factor - a veteran with a healthy opportunistic streak and enough experience to take his chances when he gets them. This is a round robin, and we all know the format encourages strange twists and turns, and is particularly friendly to sub no. 1 players. The image of Andy Murray working an abacus to see if he's in or out of the semis ought to be the official logo of all round-robin tournaments, because it frames the shortcoming of a round robin quite nicely.
I think del Potro's berth is more significant. Here's a guy with a Grand Slam hangover, and a disturbing, recent habit of having to quit matches for fitness-related reasons. Yet he's found a way to get the job done in London, and now stands on the brink of establishing himself not just as a factor at the top, but perhaps the factor at the top. A win today backs up his performance in the US Open, and it could wipe out doubt in anyone's mind - first and foremost his own - that the win in New York was some sort of fluke.
And again, who had guessed that this would be the main theme of the WTF?
Anyway, enjoy the match, see you all tomorrow.
-- Pete