THE second day of the ATP tour finals sees the opening games from Group B as world number two Rafael Nadal and world number three Novak Djokovic are both in action in the 02 arena.
Nadal, one of the favourites to take the season ending crown goes up against Sweden's ,
Robin Soderling and no doubt the Spaniard will be looking for revenge against the man who is the only player to beat Nadal at Roland Garros.
Nadal had a 3-0 winning record against Soderling before their fourth round meeting at the French Open this year. This will be their fifth meeting and it comes on a stage that Nadal has played on only twice (2006 and 2007) where on both occasions he reached the semi finals.
Soderling is playing at the ATP final for the first time and has had a tremendous season thus far, although he only qualified due to Andy Roddick 's injury, he deserves to be there in my opinion and will put up a stern test for the world number two.
The Swede is known for his powerful game hitting both hard forehands and serves which makes it very difficult for opponents to break. He is one of the only players on the tour whose backhand is as strong as his forehand so with a variety of shots to select from I think Soderling will take Nadal to three sets, although in the end I think Nadal will come out on top
Verdict: Rafael Nadal 6-4 4-6 6-2
The second match from Group B sees Novak Djokovic taking on world number six, Nikolay Davydenko .
These two met most recently at last months Shanghai masters where Davydenko edged out the Serb in the semi finals. They have an even head to head record going into today's game with two wins apiece.
Djokovic is the in form player going into this tournament having won 18 of his last 19 matches since the US Open, with his only loss coming against Davydenko.
Djokovic won this tournament last year and is one of my favourites to reach the final this year, although I don't think he'll win it. However he comes up against a Russian who he hasn't had the best success against.
Davydenko employs an offensive baseline game, using hard, penetrating ground strokes on both wings. He hits the ball extremely early which generates immense power and depth resembling former World No. 1 Andre Agassi. Davydenko's best shot is his backhand which he can hit down the line, cross court or with extreme angles.
However Davydenko's main weaknesses are his serve and his inability to close out games which is why I think Djokovic will have a comfortable victory here.
Verdict: Novak Djokovic 6-2 6-3
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