McEnroe backs Federer to win the ATP Tour World Finals
Published:Roger Federer is chasing a record-tying fifth win at the ATP Tour World Finals and has received the backing of former world number one and seven-time major winner John McEnroe.
Talking of Rafael Nadal’s chances in London, McEnroe said, “I would certainly give Federer more of a chance in a shorter match.”
“I would pick Nadal if this were the Australian Open because I think he’s much tougher to beat in longer matches.”
Nadal is 7/4 to win the Australian Open.
Only Pete Sampras and Ivan Lendl have managed to win the season finale five times and Federer, a 5/2 shot to win the ATP World Tour Finals, will hope to emulate the two in London.
Federer opens his tournament with a tie against world number seven David Ferrer on Sunday evening and is 1/8 to beat the Spaniard.
It’s a tough opener for Ferrer who is yet to beat Federer in 10 attempts and a loss will see the Spaniard’s chances of progressing through group B suffer.
Ferrer is currently the 10/1 outsider to top Group B with Federer 5/4 to top the group that also includes Andy Murray and Robin Soderling.
Murray faces Soderling in his first tie on Sunday afternoon in a tie which could be crucial to both players as they look to progress to the knock-out stages.
Only two from each group progress to the semi-finals and a win for Murray, he is 4/6 to beat Soderling, would put him in a commanding position to qualify.
Murray is fourth favourite in the ATP World Tour Finals betting behind Federer, Nadal and Novak Djokovic but considering he just lost his world number four ranking to Soderling, his ATP odds of 9/2 seem a bit short compared to Soderling’s 8/1 to win the tournament.
World number one Rafael Nadal is 3/1 behind Federer in the ATP World Tour Finals winner market . See the full ATP World Tour Finals London betting odds here.
