2015 FRENCH OPEN: Men's Quarterfinals Preview

Here are my predictions for the 2015 men's quarterfinals at the French Open. Last year I correctly predicted 2 of 4 women's quarterfinals and correctly predicted 2 of 4 men's quarterfinals. I will try to predict the women's quarterfinals in a separate post.

Novak Djokovic [1] vs Rafael Nadal [6]. This paragraph was eaten by blogger somehow after I published it. Basically, what I said was that Djokovic is having one of his best seasons on clay and Nadal is having one of his worst Mad Professah's pick: Djokovic.

Andy Murray [3] vs David Ferrer [7]. Andy Murray has been considered a relatively strong clay-court player but until this year he had never won a title on that surface. Then he got married April 19 and since then he has won two tournaments (Hamburg and Madrid Masters) and is on a 14-match winning streak. He faces the 2013 French Open finalist David Ferrer whom he has never beaten on clay (in 4 tries) although he has a 9-6 overall career head-to-head lead against the indefatigable Spaniard. Then again Murray had never beaten Nadal until two weeks ago either. It's clear that the married Murray is not the same player as the single Murray and I believe that will be reflected in the result here to allow the Brit to reach his 3rd career semifinal at Roland Garros. Despite the fact that Ferrer is considered the more successful clay court player overall, the argument can be made that he hasn't faced this Murray. Mad Professah's pick: Murray.

Kei Nishikori [5] vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga [14] Tomas Berdych [3] . For some reason these two players have managed to play five times on tour without ever meeting on clay. Nishikori has won four of those meetings, with the most recent coming in 2012, well before the Japanese wunderkind became the Top 5 staple he is today. But then again Tsonga is a former Top 5 player himself and is coming off one of his biggest wins of his career with his defeat of #4 seed Tomas Berdych the round before. Nishikori is probably the better clay-court player but Tsonga has the home court advantage here as well as the fact that he is the underdog. I believe the 30-year-old Frenchman will try to use both of these to pull out a victory and reach his second semifinal at Roland Garros. But I would not be surprised if Nishikori wins this match either. Clay is supposed to reward the better athlete and this case I think that is Tsonga, despite Nishikori's superior foot speed. Mad Professah's pick: Tsonga.

Roger Federer [2] vs Stan Wawrinka [8].  This will be a tougher match then it looks on paper. Despite Federer having a 16-2 head-to-head advantage over his countryman and frenemy, Stan Wawrinka's two wins have come on clay and the 2014 Australian Open champion has generally been competing better against his compatriot since he ascended to the upper echelons of men's tennis. However, he had a setback in the Rome semifinals just a few weeks ago where he succumbed meekly. I definitely do not expect that to happen here. That being said I still expect (and want) Federer to get through his 45th quarterfinal and reach his 37th major semifinal. Mad Professah's pick: Federer.