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Saturday, September 10, 2011

U.S. Open Predictions (Semis)

1, 2, 3, 4....

For the second time this year the top four seeds in Men's tennis will square off in the Semi-Finals of a Grand Slam tournament. The first time at the French Open we saw Rafa outlast Federer in four grueling sets to win his sixth French Open title. That was France, this is America. Click to read who will make the U.S. Open Finals after the jump...

Djokovic / Federer - 
I think that this matchup comes down to one thing and one thing only. Experience. Roger has it, Djokovic will get it. Djokovic's only loss this year came to Roger at Roland Garros. There's no question that Djokovic has propelled himself to be the best player in the world, but when the stakes are big I always like my chances with Federer. I know this isn't 2007/2008 anymore when Roger and Tiger winning nearly every major was as sure a bet as me blacking out on any given weekend during my senior year... but part of me feels like Federer has taught me to expect greatness from him. It's matches like this one that I think Federer will be comfortable right from the start. I mean, since 2004 he's only lost in New York City, two times. Federer loves playing in NY and NY loves watching Fed play.

This year has been no different for Federer as he's been playing phenomenal tennis these past two weeks.  He's flown virtually under the radar and has not been challenged yet. Of course this will be a huge challenge for Fed, but I expect him to be up to the task. I'm taking Federer (+155) to win this match in four sets. I also love the over 3.5 sets (-200). I would be shocked to see either player walk away from this in straight sets.


Nadal / Murray -
Talk about a complete 180. Just this week it looked like Nadal was ready to check out of NYC and head back to Majorca, Spain. And then that salad-tossing match on Arthur Ashe occurred yesterday when Rafa made Andy Roddick look like he had never played before. Rafa was quick, he was hitting his passing shots, he looked like he was back to himself. And for Murray that's not good news.

Nadal has a four match winning streak going against Murray - that dates back to 2008 when Murray dismissed Nadal at the U.S. Open. But that was just after Nadal had finished a run that saw him win Wimbledon, the French Open, and the Gold Medal at the Summer Olympics in a span of about 2 months. I have a lot of respect for Murray's game and his passion is infectious, but I just don't think that he'll be able to hang with Nadal in the crucial points. I like Nadal (-250) to win in five sets.

And there you have it - Nadal / Federer for the U.S. Open title... just like France, and just like old times.

3 comments:

  1. federer djokovic is looking pretty solid on your predictions dog

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  2. didn't go well from a prediction stand point - but what an absolute treat that was to watch - make every analogy you can about gladiators and battling it out. that's what this match was

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