Now that all 8 players have qualified, which line-up would you prefer in the groups? Here is mine:

Red group:

Federer
Roddick
Davydenko
Robredo

Blue (?) group:

Nadal
Ljubicic
Nalbandian
Blake


Davydenko pushed Federer hard in Aus Open this year, and Fed v Roddick matches are often fun. Robredo would be whipping boy in that group probably...

In other group, I really want to see Nadal play Nalbandian (they've not played yet), and see how he handles Blake. Blake v Ljubicic and Blake v Nalbandian also look attractive match-ups.

With Nadal and Federer in seperate groups, isnt it possible that they will meet in the semis?

They could if Fed wins his group and Rafa comes 2nd in his group, then they play in the semis and vice versa.

didnt that happen last year, which is why Bandy got to the finals

Nadal was out last year wasn't he - injured knee???

Yeah, he was out.

What do you reckon his chances are this year?

Here's his record on hard courts against this years participants:

Davydenko --- never played.

Ljubicic --- 2-1 (all 2005)

Roddick --- 0-1 (2004; both were different players then)

Robredo --- 1-0 (I don't see Tommy improving his overall 0-3 h2h with Nadal any time soon ...)

Nalbandian --- never played.

Blake --- 0-2 (James seems to have Nadal's number at the moment, like many big servers ...)

Blake, and perhaps Roddick could be the biggest dangers for Nadal. Davydenko and Nalbandian are unknowns against Nadal --- but I don't see David troubling Rafa, at least on current form. Davydenko-Nadal is something I would like to see.

Of course, this is assuming that all of these are fit to play ... anyway, I think Rafa's chances to pass the RR stage are pretty good. Here is another question: will Robredo win any match? :P

I dunno, depends a lot on Nadal's form and whether he's mentally recovered from a difficult hard court season. I mean, would we have said before the US Open that Youzhny would be a danger to nadal?

I reckon all of them could be dangerous, but i reckon that Blake, nalby, roddick and possibly davydenko are the most likely to cause him problems.

The draw has been made and the groups are as follows:

Federer
Ljubicic
Roddick
Nalbandian

and the other group:

Nadal
Davydenko
Blake
Robredo


Initial impressions are that Nadal has been rather fortunate to avoid both Roddick and Ljubicic who indoors would give him a run for his money. On the other hand, Blake has shown he can beat Nadal without too much trouble and Davydenko apparently played superbly in Paris (which I didn't see.)

Federer has a tough three matches and it can't be taken for granted that he will win all of them. Whereas it is inconceivable he would lose to Robredo, Blake or Davydenko, some of his matches against Ljubicic have been extremely close and Roddick is always dangerous, as is Nalbandian.

On the other hand, in terms of head to heads, since the 2003 WCT, Federer is:

7-0 against Roddick
7-0 against Ljubicic
7-1 against Nalbandian.

Thanks nick

I should think that Nadal will beat Robredo, but davydenko and blake couldp ut up interesting challenges. I doubt any of those in fed's group will challenge him too much, especially not if you judge by the H2H. What's it like on this surface btw?

Surface? Well, I was looking at another forum and they seem to think it is Rebound Ace. But I read elsewhere that it is Teraflex carpet and Federer, who has practised on it, says it is "fair" and akin to Madrid. Which would suggest it is fast which Rebound Ace is not.

what are fed's h2h like with the players in his group on this surface?