ATP World Tour Finals Day 8 Tennis Picks 2018 (November 18th)

Take away the ignorant fans who were watching the first Semi Final of the ATP World Tour Finals and it was two very strong performances that have left Alexander Zverev and Novak Djokovic standing to compete for the last Singles title of the 2018 season.

It also means the end of the season for the Tennis Picks in what has been a really good last six months to turn things around and produce a positive return after the difficulties of the last couple of years.

One more positive selection and I will then consider whether to make any plays from the Davis Cup Final before putting the tennis away until the beginning of the 2019 season.


Novak Djokovic - 4.5 games v Alexander Zverev: It has been a really successful week for both Alexander Zverev and Novak Djokovic, but these players are meeting for the second time at the O2 Arena after Djokovic was able to get the better of Zverev in the Group Stage of the tournament.

The Alexander Zverev win over Roger Federer was very impressive and the young German is looking to take the next step in his career. He has won Masters events before, but this is arguably going to be the biggest tournament Zverev will have won if he can succeed on Sunday.

However he will recognise that there is a huge mountain in front of him having been beaten by Novak Djokovic twice in the last two months and both times in one-sided fashion.

It is hard to see this going a different way when you think of how well Djokovic has been playing this week. Earlier on it looked like he may be suffering with a cold, but Djokovic looked at his best on Saturday in the Semi Final and he has been serving lights out in the conditions here.

Djokovic has yet to be broken in the tournament which is very impressive, but he is simply not losing that many points either with 82% points on serve being won. It was Zverev who earned the only 2 break points Djokovic has faced this week and both came in a critical ninth game earlier this week which could have seen Zverev take control.

Once he failed to take his chances it was Djokovic who mentally wore down his younger foe and it is the World Number 1's return game that has helped him go on and win matches easily so far. He should be challenged by Zverev again with the 86% hold percentage he has in the tournament, but mentally the edge has to go with Djokovic who broke serve three times when they played in the Group and he really knocked the Zverev numbers both behind the first serve and second serve compared to the other three players the German has faced here.

It has to be said Zverev has not really returned as well as he would have hoped and that is another area where Djokovic should have the edge.

I backed Djokovic to cover this number of games earlier this week and nothing has happened to make me change my mind. I have so much time for Zverev, but he is off a big performance and it could be tough to find that intensity again when facing the best player in the World in the form he is in.

MY PICKS: Novak Djokovic - 4.5 Games @ 1.91 Ladbrokes (2 Units)

ATP World Tour Finals: 8-7, + 4.30 Units (29 Units Staked, + 14.83% Yield)