ATP World Tour Finals 2014 Draw: Semi-Finals Line-Up, Dates, Times and More
The grand finale of the ATP World Tour Finals is upon us as we reach the semi-finals of one of tennis' most prestigious competitions.
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic confirmed his status as the current king of the sport, sealing his berth as the highest-ranked player of the year with his straight-sets win over Tomas Berdych.
Joining the Serbian from Group A in the semis is Stan Wawrinka, who defeated Marin Cilic to claim a spot in the last four.
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Swiss superstar Roger Federer won Group B comfortably after beating home favourite Andy Murray, Milos Raonic and Kei Nishikori to breeze through at the O2 in London.
Nishikori joins him from the group stages, coming second—and he will face the power of Djokovic next.
Here are the full details of the semi-finals, with dates and scheduled times:
| Novak Djokovic v Kei Nishikori | Saturday, Nov. 15 | 2 p.m. |
| Roger Federer v Stan Wawrinka | Saturday, Nov. 15 | 8 p.m. |
| Lukasz Kubot and Robert Lindstedt v Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo | Saturday, Nov. 15 | 12 p.m. |
| Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan v Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin | Saturday, Nov. 15 | 6 p.m. |
Novak Djokovic vs. Kei Nishikori
When Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were dominating men's tennis a few years ago, no one saw the oncoming Serbian train that was Novak Djokovic.
For sure, the player was a mainstay in the top four in the world—but his performance level in recent years has become supersonic.
Djokovic has cruised through this competition so far, and he looks close to being unbeatable indoors, at present.
He showed his most ruthless efficiency against Wawrinka, Cilic and Berdych—not dropping a single set through the group stage.
He now faces the hugely improving Japanese star Nishikori, but it is debatable whether the world No. 5 can live with his illustrious opponent.
Despite this, Nishikori has an even record against Djokovic, with both players having two wins apiece from their four encounters, per the ATP World Tour Finals website.
The 24-year-old has four titles to his name this season and has achieved much in his seven-year professional career.
But Djokovic is the overwhelming favourite, and Nishikori will need to play the game of his life to further advance. The world No. 1 is closing in on $10 million prize money for the year, and his tidal wave of success appears to have no barriers.
Roger Federer vs. Stan Wawrinka
Just when you think Roger Federer is on his way out of the top echelon of world tennis, the legendary player from Switzerland fights back and proves his doubters and critics wrong.
Once again, Federer has performed valiantly at the World Tour finals and has proved he is still one of the elite competitors in the game.
And Federer showed the world just how good he still is with his destructive display against Murray, destroying the Scot, 6-0, 6-1.
Federer now sits comfortably as the world No. 2 in the ATP World Rankings, and he will hoping to close the gap on Djokovic with a surprise tournament win.
Federer now faces Wawrinka in his semifinal match. Wawrinka needed to defeat Cilic in his final match to progress, and he got the job done with a 2-1 sets victory.
Wawrinka is up to No. 4 in the ATP World Rankings, but his record against his fellow Switzerland ace is very poor.
Federer has defeated his countryman 14 out of 16 matches they have competed against one another, heavily stacking the chips in the veteran's favour.
And Great Britain's Davis Cup skipper, Leon Smith, firmly believes the two figureheads of tennis will prevail from the semis, per Piers Newbury of BBC Sport:
"I think it'll be Novak and Roger in the final—but let's hope we get a third-set match at some point."
It looks likely that we will have a Djokovic versus Federer final, and it is surely the match every tennis fan wants to see. These classic encounters involving Federer will not happen for much longer, so we should appreciate it while we still can witness such wonders.
But Djokovic is playing extraordinary tennis at the moment, and he is fast moving toward being considered as the greatest of all time. A win over Federer will surely further his claim as being one of his generation's most incredible sportsmen.
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