By Nicholas McCarvel
It’s the kind of cringe-worthy streak the ATP World Tour Finals would have rather avoided, but Thursday afternoon there was finally a three-setter played, following eight consecutive two-set matches.
(Photo Credit: Stephen White / CameraSport)
Eight matches, eight straight straight-setters at the O2. What in the world is going on at the ATP World Tour Finals?
That’s been the question this week in London, when after four days of play there had been no deciding set – at least not in the singles. David Ferrer and Kei Nishikori broke that streak Thursday afternoon, the two splitting sets after Ferrer stepped in as an alternate for an injured Milos Raonic.
It’s not just that those eight matches had gone in straights, it’s that they went that way so convincingly: 12 registered at 6-3 or worse and only four at 6-4 or closer.
“I don't” have an explanation, world No. 1 Novak Djokovic said on Wednesday after a 6-3, 6-0 drubbing of Stan Wawrinka, the world No. 3. “Obviously I can't speak in the name of the other players, so I don't know how they feel on the court. I know that I've been playing very well this week and hope that I can continue this way.”
Monday Djokovic and Wawrinka tag-teamed for a quartet of 6-1 scores, beating Marin Cilic and Tomas Berdych, respectively. Berdych went on to beat Cilic 6-3, 6-1 on Wednesday.
READ >>> WTF?! Berdych & Cilic Losses Join Worst Ever List at World Tour Finals
The Czech offered about as much science to the situation as Djokovic.
“I'm not surprised at all,” he said, stone-faced. “I mean the tennis could go really either way. It's not about that something is wrong or not. That's how it is. That's the fact. I don't think that we have to look for it more deeply. Just take it as a fact, and that's it.”
The fact is, such a scenario hasn’t happened very often at this tournament, either. In 2010, the first nine round robin and 11 of the 12 total went in two sets, though never before has every group match been a two-and-done dusting. The ATP confirmed that there were five straight-setters to start in 1996 and nine before, back in 1978.
What’s the least competitive ATP World Tour Finals in the books?
That might be 1983, when the tournament had a draw of 12 and all four first-round matches (there were four first-round byes) were done in straights, as well as three of the quarterfinals, both semifinals and a three-set best-of-five final between John McEnroe and Ivan Lendl. Overall, that’s 10 of 11 matches in straight sets.
Talk about a snoozer.
Djokovic, however, expects things to pick up as the stakes become higher. Did Ferrer-Nishikori help usher the weekend in?
“I think [the match results are] going to change as the tournament progresses,” said the Serb, who has played 17 two-setters in 28 career matches at the Finals. “Now, of course, since it's the tournament of the best eight players in the world, people, fans, the crowd expect to see a little bit more excitement and longer matches.”
“There have been very, very few complaints,” said the tournament’s managing director, Adam Hogg. “If Roger Federer beats Milos Raonic in an hour and a quarter, no one is going to complain about a performance like that from one of the greatest players of all time.”
But, before Nishikori-Ferrer, an average match time of 63 minutes (eight hours and 26 minutes of play in total) was what fans were treated to. Doesn’t a beat down – even by one of the greatest of all time – end up getting a bit boring?
Leave that to the British crowd to decide. Wednesday, after Berdych manhandled Cilic, an elderly woman making her way out of the O2 Arena said this to an usher: "We could use a few more three-setters, couldn't we?"
Yes, lovely woman, we certainly could.
But if 2010 is the most recent example of a cringe-worthy event, where 12 of the overall 15 matches went in two, then 2014 is in need of just one epic to help save it. In 2010, that was Rafael Nadal’s 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-6(6) triumph over Andy Murray in the semifinals. Let’s re-live it just to – hey! – watch a three-set match. Miss them, don’t you?