Women's Semifinals
S. Williams USA (4) v. V. Azarenka BLR (1). Serena continued her demolition of the field by demonstrating once again that former World #1 Caroline Wozniacki is not really in the same class as the Big Babes of tennis. The 14-time Grand Slam champion won their quarterfinal meeting 6-0 6-3. In the same half of the draw World #1 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus dismissed powerful lefty Angelique Kerber of Germany6-4 7-5. This semifinal is a repeat of the semifinal at the 2012 Wimbledon championships a mere four weeks ago. That match was won relatively easily by Serena, although it was more competitive than the final score 6-3 7-6(6) would indicate. That being said, Serena is on a mission to win her first Olympic Gold Medal in singles, and it is doubtful that anyone can deny her when she wants to achieve something on a tennis court. MadProfessah's Prediction: Serena.
M. Sharapova RUS (3) v. M. Kirilenko RUS (14). Maria Sharapova ended the fairytale run on Kim Clijsters in the quarterfinals by winning their showdown 6-2 7-5. This was a somewhat surprising result, and thus the popular Belgian will end her career never having had much success on the grass courts of Wimbledon. An even more surprising result, however, was Maria Kirilenko's 7-6(3) 6-3 win over the 2011 Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova. This has to be a very disappointing end to Kvitova's quest to win a medal and will raise the simmering questions about whether her 2011 breakthrough on the grass courts as well as her year-end championships win were flukes. It does mean that Russia is guaranteed at least a silver medal in tennis, although this would actually be a demotion, because in 2008 Elena Dementieva of Russia won the Gold medal. MadProfessah's Prediction: Sharapova.
Men's Semifinals
R. Federer SUI (1) v. J.-M. del Potro ARG (3). The Federer Express keeps on rolling toward the Gold Medal match. In order to do so, he needed to get past one of the players no one likes to see across the net, 6' 9" big-serving John Isner. Federer lost to Isner earlier this year, on clay at home in Basel Switzerland no less, but this time he was able to win 6-4 7-6(5) in a surprisingly tight match. Juan Martin del Potro was able to beat the up-and-coming Kei Nishikori by the identical score. Federer and del Potro have met 14 times before and the Argentinian has only won twice, both played in a 4 month period in 2009. In fact, Federer and del Potro have met an astonishing 5 times in 2012 and del Potro has managed to win just one set, although that was in their most recent meeting, at the 2012 French Open quarterfinals which was quite competitive until del Potro's injured knee hampered his movement and made him uncompetitive. Del Potro has a reasonable chance of winning this match with Federer, but grass is not his best surface. However, the fact that it is a 3-set match should give del Potro hope. If he starts off well and Federer starts off badly, things could get complicated. But, there are very few occasions where Federer has answered the call of history, and he will almost certainly find a way to do so again.
MadProfessah's Prediction: Federer.
N. Djokovic SRB (2) v. A. Murray GBR (3). The most interesting match of the four semifinals should be this match between these two rivals. Djokovic has generally been the better player in their most important matches (2011 Australian Open final, 2012 Australian Open semifinal) and leads their overall head-to-head 8-5. The two have never met on grass and Murray should be the overwhelming favorite of the crowd. Murray has shown that he is getting closer to Djokovic by his performance in Australia this year, and in 3-set matches the head-to-head score is merely a 6-5 lead for Djokovic. That being said, I still think that Djokovic has the edge, and will almost certainly face Federer on Sunday to play for the Gold medal. MadProfessah's Prediction: Djokovic.
No comments:
Post a Comment