Djokovic-Nadal XXXVI: Rogers Cup semifinals

The ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Canada is going on this week and is now at the semifinal stage. The four remaining players are Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Milos Raonic and Vasek Popisil. The first thing to note is that half of the Big Four are not in that past sentence: Roger Federer mysteriously did not play the tournament and Andy Murray was upset by Ernests Gulbis. The second thing to note is that Djokovic and Nadal are meeting for the 36th time on the ATP tour, with the Spanish 11-time champion leading 20-15 overall but the Serb leading 11-5 on hard courts. Djokovic is the defending champion at the Rogers Cup; yours truly saw him defeat Richard Gasquet in person at last year's tournament in Toronto. The thing to note is that Raonic and Popisil are both Canadian, so there will be a hometown favorite in the final (almost certainly Raonic) facing the winner of Djokovic-Nadal XXCVI, whom I expect to be Djokovic.