Tennis World Tour Finals: Is Djokovic the Man to Beat?

With the big Serbian playing some serious ball to finish the season, the year ending World Tour Finals played in London looks more and more intriguing by the minute. Novak Djokovic is beating everyone in sight, all challenges are on the table, and he'll stare you down at every opportunity.

For a guy that hasn't won a slam since the Aussi Open in 2008, how has he suddenly become the big dog on the block? Well, Novak really, truly hasn't gone anywhere folks. He sits in the #3 spot, closing the gap and within reach of the #1 ranking. He's captured 5 titles in 2009, including Basel over Federer, and France (Masters) eliminating Soderling, Nadal, and Monfils in the finals. This guy is hot right now, very hot.

It's an interesting time to peak. While Nadal struggles, and Federer too busy changing diapers, Novak is not-so-quietly asserting himself as the true #3, and 2010 can tell us if he's the real deal for a #1-2 spot. London will give us quite a bit to talk about. With the two groups of ultra-super tennis stars wonderfully sorted, this could be a lot of fun.

Group A consists of:

Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Fernando Verdasco, and Juan Martin del Potro.

Group B consists of:

Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Nikolay Davydenko, and Robin Soderling.

Group A is interesting, but for some of the wrong reasons. Del Potro hasn't really done anything since his magical run in New York. Federer appears to be struggling to finish the season (but never count him out), Verdasco continues to play his rank, and Murray...Well he lost to Stepanek in France, but won in Spain the week before (Verdasco being his only win of real note).

Who do you pick out of Group A? This is tough, I'll pick Federer topping Murray, only because The Fed is a master at peaking when he needs to.

Group B is far more interesting (to me) than Group A. Nadal is struggling badly, body and mind don't appear to be what they should be. Excuses continue to fly from the Spaniard, and I just don't see him pulling this out. Why? Novak is far too hot to Nadal to handle, and with Djokovic's impressive indoor record, the fast indoor flight will kill Rafa. In fact, Soderling has a much better shot here than Rafa based on surface and the indoor environment. I like the Andy Roddick replacement here. He's had a great break-out season, he has an opportunity to haul some cash and keep asserting himself as someone that belongs with the elite. Big game + Indoor = Dark, dark horse. Look for Soderling/Nadal to be a fun match-up. No need to explain, we all know the history here. While we talk about these big players, Davydenko will quietly play his usual blue-collar workman tennis. He won't win the thing, but he could ruffle feathers.

Novak Djokovic will be king here, but watch Soderling, never take your eye off these streaky, big game players.

With Djokovic and Federer going deep, this continues to be the defending champions (Novak) tournament. Look for Djokovic to take the title, and head into 2010 with huge (huge) momentum. If he pulls this out, Australia could make for one helluva slam.

With younger, faster, stronger, bigger players on the horizon, and a hot Serbian...Could 2010 be the year Federer and Nadal relinquish #1 and #2?

Sit back folks, the few months are going to be very interesting.

MarkOskar