Red Group:

Federer, Ljubicic, Roddick, Nalbandian

Gold Group:

Nadal, Davydenko, Robredo, Blake

Damn the ATP, we wanted Nadal vs Nalbandian. I am happy though that Roddick and Blake seem to have easy enough routes to the final :)

The Red Group is the 'group of death'. Federer obviously the favourite to top the group, but Nalbandian, Roddick and Ljubicic will be in an intriguing tussle for 2nd place. I can see those 3 players all losing to Federer, but winning 1 match off each other: Roddick to beat Nalbandian but lose to Ljubicic, Nalbandian to beat Ljubicic and lose to Roddick. Nalbandian's slight advantage is that he starts against Federer, so will have to hit the ground running (he's a notoriously slow starter). 1st place: Federer. 2nd place: Nalbandian.

For the gold group, Robredo will be the one making up the numbers - after that it gets interesting. Davydenko is in fantastic form, Nadal has a lot to prove, whilst Blake has no pressure on him. I say: 1st place: Davydenko, 2nd place: Nadal.

I find the "weak era" debate hard to swallow when you look at the "red" group. If Federer waltzes through this tournament unbeaten, I think everyone bar Roger and perhaps Nadal will start 2007 having written off any realistic chance of winning anything major and Federer will have yet another outrageous season. On the other hand, were he lose a match or two, then it might spark a kind of New Year revival among those who have given up all hope of ever getting the better of him. It's a fascinating situation and I have a feeling that Federer may finally lose a match (no disgrace in that but surely he is going to have an off day one day against Ljubicic or Roddick or both.)