TENNIS TUESDAY: Europe (Barely) Wins Laver Cup; Osaka Wins Osaka; Halep-Cahill Reunion

EUROPE WINS LAVER CUP FOR 3RD CONSECUTIVE YEAR
The Lave Cup is a new team competition (begun in 2017) dreamed up by Roger Federer and his agent Tony Godsick a few years ago modeled on the very successful Ryder Cup in golf. Two teams (World and Europe) compete in singles and doubles over a weekend in host cities that move around the world. This year the competition was in Geneva, Switzerland (next year it will be in Boston, Massachusetts and last year it was in Chicago, Illinois). One of the key delights of the Laver Cup is the ability to see legends like Rafael Nadal and Federer interacting together and combining to coach younger players who they are usually rivals with (like Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem). Federer is still undefeated in three years in singles. This year World came the closest to winning the Laver Cup when Jack Sock stunned himself (and everyone else) by beating Fabio Fognini. The American then teamed up with John Isner and defeated the Federer/Tsitsipas to give World its first-ever lead in Laver Cup. However, Federer beat Isner in singles and Zverev (for the second consecutive year) won the deciding match, this time in a Super Breaker 10-7 over Milos Raonic.

NAOMI OSAKA FROM OSAKA WINS OSAKA WTA TOURNAMENT
Naomi Osaka, World #4 and reigning Australian Open champion, won her second title of the year in her birthplace of Osaka, Japan. Osaka ended her title drought by defeating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in straight sets.

HALEP ANNOUNCES COACHING REUNION WITH DARREN CAHILL FOR 2020
After winning her second major title at Wimbledon 2019 without his (official) assistance, Simona Halep has announced that she will be reuniting with her coach  Darren Cahill for the 2020 season. Presumably her focus will be to win one of the two hard court majors (and perhaps an Olympic medal?) in 2020.

2019 AUS OPEN: Women's Quarterfinal Preview and Predictions

Here are my predictions for the women's quarterfinals at the 2019 Australian Open. Last year I did not predict the quarterfinals. This year I have also predicted the men's quarterfinals.

Simona Halep (ROU) [1] Serena Williams (USA) [16] vs. Karolina Pliskova (CZE) [7]. Serena Williams is playing in her 50th(!) major quarterfinal while her opponent is playing in her seventh. Serena has won this tournament seven times (2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2017) and is looking like she really wants to get her record-tying 24th major title here in Melbourne. She played the best match of her post-maternity come back to notch her 17th win against a reigning #1 by defeating Simona Halep in a very high-quality 3-set match 6-1 4-6 6-4. Her opponent will be former #1 Karolina Pliskova who eliminated 2-time major champion Garbine Muguruza in straight sets in exactly an hour. Curiously, the one time that Pliskova defeated Serena, it was at the 2016 U.S. Open, one round after Serena won a brilliant match against Halep. Will history repeat itself?  I seriously doubt it. PREDICTION: Serena.

Petra Kvitova (CZE) [8] vs. Ashleigh Barty (AUS) [15].  This is a reprise of the 2019 Sydney final, which was won by Kvitova in a 3rd set tiebreak. Presumably that experience should give the Czech 2-time major champion the edge against the craft Aussie who will almost certainly have the entire crowd rooting for her. It's very possible this could be another barn burner of a match. Peak Petra is unplayable, but did Kvitova peak too early be dispatching the teenage phenom Ananda Anisimova the round before in straight sets? Has Barty finally realized she has the tools to hang with the big babes now that she outlasted Maria Sharapova 6-4 in the 3rd set? This should be an exciting match-up. The winner will play the winner of the Serena-Pliskova match so the final will still be a fair distance away.  All that being said, I think experience may be dispositive. PREDICTION: Kvitova.

 Naomi Osaka (JPN) [4] vs. Elina Svitolina (UKR) [6].  This may be the most exciting of the four quarterfinals. These two players are the closest in ranking of any of the match-ups  with Svitolina holding a tight 3-2 lead in their head-to-head, including both times they played in 2018, with all 5 meetings on hard courts. That being said, is Osaka really the same player after having won a slam (2018 US Open) by defeating her idol Serena Williams? Probably not, but neither is Elina Svitolina, having won the 2018 year-end championship by outlasting Sloane Stephens. Osaka has had to problem solve her way through two tricky opponents in the last two rounds (Anastasja Sevastova and Su-Wei Hseih) while Svitolina survived the barrage against Madison Keys to win a see-saw 6-2 1-6 6-1 slugfest. Playing Keys is a good preparation for playing Osaka but there's no question that Osaka is a smarter player than the American. Svitolina is the women's tour version of Sascha Zverev and it is definitely time for her to breakthrough at a major. Is this the match that does it? I think it is very possible, but now I give Osaka the edge because she has more experience, despite being significantly younger. PREDICTION: Osaka. 

Angelique Kerber (GER) [2] Danielle Collins (USA) vs. Sloane Stephens (USA) [5] Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS). Collins announced herself last year when she kicked Venus Williams out of the Miami Open. Prior to this year, the 25-year-old American had never won a match in a major and in Australia she engineered one of the most jaw-dropping scorelines of the entire tournament, a 6-0 6-2 drubbing of 3-time major champion Angelique Kerber.  Her opponent is Pavlyuchenkova, who was able to outlast Sloane Stephens in a surprising victory. Neither of these players really have any right to be in a major semifinal and will be major underdogs to reach the final against the winner of the other quarterfinalist. In these situations, I usually go with the person who is the better athlete.  PREDICTION: Collins.

2017 AUS OPEN: Women's Semifinals Preview

The women's semifinals are now set at the 2017 Australian Open. Last year, I predicted 2 of 4 women's quarterfinals correctly and 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals correctly. This year I was unable to predict the quarterfinals due to my vacation travel but I am excited to predict the semifinals.

 Angelique Kerber (GER) [1] Coco Vandeweghe (USA) vs Venus Williams (USA) [13]. This is a surprising (and rare) all-American major semifinal. Unsurprisingly at least one of the players is a Williams, but the real surprise is that the other American is Coco Vandweghe, who joins Venus and Serena and Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys as the only American women to reach this far into a Grand Slam draw in the last decade. Vandeweghe is coasting on a tsunami of confidence sourced by her demolition of two of the top players in the game who are both reigning Grand Slam champions. The 25-year-old Coco blasted the World #1 Angie Kerber off the court 6-2 6-3 to reach her 2nd career major quarterfinal and then followed up that huge victory by only losing four games (including a rare second set bagel) in defeating 2016 French open champion Garbine Muguruza to reach her first major semifinal. She will face Venus Williams who is in her first major semifinal in Melbourne since 2003, when she made the final and lost to her sister. Could she possibly replicate this feat 14 years later? Just by reaching the semifinal at 36 years 221 days Venus is the oldest woman to reach a major final since Martina Navratilova was 38 days older when she reached the Wimbledon final in 1993. Somewhat unusually, the two Americans have only played each other once on the WTA tour, on clay last year and Venus won in straight sets. This Coco is a very different player from that player. However, Venus has been doing a pretty good job in recent years in generally beating players ranked lower than she is, and while Vandeweghe has won 6 of the last matches against Top 10 players she has faced, Venus is no longer in the Top 10. I think the fact that many people now expect Vandeweghe to win will complicate things for her. Mad Professah's pick: Venus in 3 sets.

 Karolina Pliskova (CZE) [5] Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO) vs Serena Williams (USA) [2]. Karolina Pliskova had doled out three bagel sets on the way to reaching only her second major quarterfinal but she ran into a player whose story is absolutely irresistible. Lucic-Baroni is playing in her second major semifinal which is happening an astonishing 18 years after her first. As Mirjana Lucic she was a teenage phenom, and now at age 34 as Mirjana Lucic-Baroni she is a seasoned veteran who is renowned for her longevity and perseverance with the sport. Lucic is one of the original purveyors of "Big Babe Tennis" and even among the modern game's big hitters she has power which distinguishes her from the rest. She exploited Pliskova's lack of mobility to outlast the 2016 US Open finalist in three tight sets. The book on Lucic-Baroni is that she can go off mentally in high pressure situations but that it did not happen in her biggest match in nearly two decades is remarkable. Amazingly, Serena and Mirjana have only played each other once before--at the 1998 Wimbledon (won by Serena). Since both of them are 34 years old now they both understand the significance of this moment. I am confident that it will be the mentally tougher player who will reach the final. Mad Professah's pick: Serena in 2 sets.

2016 WIMBLEDON: Women's Final Preview and Semifinals Review

Serena Williams (USA) [1] vs. Angelique Kerber (GER) [4]

Here are my predictions for the women's final at the Wimbledon Championships for 2016. Last year I correctly predicted Serena Williams would beat Garbine Muguruza in the final.  This year I have correctly predicted 3 of 4 women's quarterfinals and 4 of 4 men's quarterfinals, and 2 of 2 women's semifinals and 1 of 2 men's semifinals.

Women's Semifinals Review

Serena Williams (USA) [1] d. Elena Vesnina RUS 6-2 6-0. Ever since Serena was pushed to the brink in her much-delayed 2nd round match against Christina McHale last Friday she has looked exceedingly sharp, and has handed out a bagel 6-0 set in three of her four subsequent matches. (Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova actually did quite well to only lose 4-6 4-6 in the quarterfinals.) Serena was ruthless in this semifinal, racking up 4-0 leads in both sets. In the first set, Serena let off the gas slightly, but after winning that set, she decided to get stingy and refused to lose another game. She ended the match by hitting winners at will, ending up with 11 aces (28 winners overall) to just 7 unforced errors. 

Angelique Kerber (GER) [4] d. Venus Williams (USA) [8] 6-4 6-4.  Not all 6-4 sets are the same. For example, the first set of this match involved many more service breaks than service holds, although in the end Kerber held her service just one more time more than she lost it. There was palpable uncertainty about who would win the first set until the very end. However, in the second set (which ostensibly had the same score, there never really seemed to be any doubt that Kerber would win the set, it was just a matter of time.) Although Venus did quite well to reach her first major semifinal in six years but she did it at this tournament by only beating one player who was a (former) Top 10 player, in Carla Suarez Navarro. Once Venus had to face someone who was clearly more highly ranked, she was unable to bring out her best tennis and her tournament was over.

Women's Final Preview

Both players understand the historical ramifications of this match. Serena is obviously trying to write her name in the record book as the best player of all time by winning her 22nd major. Kerber is trying to prevent that from happening, and just so happens to be from the same country (Germany) that the current recordholder, Steffi Graf is from. Head-to-head, Serena leads Kerber 5-2 and despite the fact that she lost to her in their very last meeting (which was in the 2016 Australian Open final), she is definitely the favorite in this match. She has already won six Wimbledon titles (and lost 2 other Wimbledon finals) in her career and her game is very well-suited to grass. However, she has also lost the last two major finals she has played, either of which if she had won would have ended her race to #22 already. 

We all know that tennis success is a melange of physical and mental prowess so physically, this should not be any problem for Serena, but the mental challenge clearly trumped the physical in the 2015 US Open semifinal as well the 2016 Australian Open final. (In the 2016 French Open final it was Muguruza's physical prowess, more than Serena's emotional frailty which resulted in her win over Serena.)

Some champions love to win, while others hate to lose. I'm pretty sure that Serena is one of those people who hates to lose. She definitely hates to lose to the same person twice in a row. That will be enough of an impetus to pull her through to a win tomorrow.

MadProfessah's prediction: Serena.

2016 WIMBLEDON: Women's Semifinals Preview

Here are my predictions for the women's quarterfinals at the Wimbledon Championships for 2016. Last year I correctly predicted 2 of 2 men's semifinals and correctly predicted 2 of 2 women's semifinals. This year I have correctly predicted 3 of 4 women's quarterfinals and 4 of 4 men's quarterfinals. I will also predict this year's men's semifinals.

Serena Williams (USA) [1]  vs. Elena Vesnina RUS. Serena is playing in her tenth Wimbledon semifinal (8-1) while her opponent is playing in her first major semifinal. She has never lost to Vesnina, who is quite an accomplished grass court tennis player, as the Russian demonstrated on Tuesday with her dispatch of Dominika Cibulkova in straight sets 6-2 6-2. Vesnina is one of the lesser heralded Russian players, but has had significant success in doubles. Serena, despite her protestations that she doesn't even think about getting to 22 majors to tie Steffi Graf and cement her status as the greatest of all time, knows that she just has two more matches to win, on her best surface, to basically end this conversation. There's some caution in that Serena has been here before, and blinked, but I believe she will learn from those experiences and use them to eventually reach her goal, probably on Saturday. PREDICTION: Serena.

Simona Halep (ROU) [5] Angelique Kerber (GER) [4] vs Venus Williams (USA) [8].  I really, REALLY want to see Venus Williams win another (6th) Wimbledon, but even though anything in sports is possible, there are results that are way more probable than others. Head-to-head, Kerber leads 3-2 and has even beaten Venus here on grass at the All-England Club (although it was during the 2012 London Olympics). The two also played a very famous match in the second round of the U.S. Open later that summer where Kerber pipped Venus 7-5 in the 3rd. Kerber is now a major champion herself, having outplayed Serena in the Melbourne final earlier this year, and she is playing like it. She dismissed her putative rival for the pole position behind Serena, Simona Halep, relatively easily in their quarterfinal in two relatively tight sets and now firmly has set her sights on the Queen herself. PREDICTION: Kerber.

2016 WIMBLEDON: Women's Quarterfinals Preview

Here are my predictions for the women's quarterfinals at the Wimbledon Championships for 2016. Last year I correctly predicted 4 of 4 men's quarterfinals and correctly predicted 2 of 4 women's quarterfinals. I will also predict this year's men's quarterfinals.

Serena Williams (USA) [1]  vs. Coco Vandeweghe (USA) [30] Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) [23]. After getting past a surprisingly stuff challenge from fellow American Christina McHale in last Friday's 2nd round match, Serena's play has significantly improved and she was at near her peak effectiveness during the last set of her previous round demolition of the only remaining Slam champion in the draw not named Williams. She won the last 9 games against Svetlana Kuznetsova and her reward is a quarterfinal, not with another hard-hitting American who plays some of her best tennis on grass (Coco Vandeweghe), but a counter-punching Russian with questionable fitness. In order to maintain her lock on the World #1 ranking despite whatever happens next in the tournament, Serena just has to win this next match. I'd say that's pretty much a lock, too. PREDICTION: Serena.

Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) [19] Agnieska Radwanska (POL) [3] vs. Elena Vesnina RUS. This should be the ugliest match of the quarterfinals. Both winners had to play long 3-set match (each winning the deciding set 9-7). Vesnina played against her friend and doubles partner, Ekaterina Makarova and defeated her to reach her first-ever major quarterfinal. In the fourth round Cibulkova played the best match of the tournament (and Pam Shriver, perhaps prematurely, called it the best women's match of the year) to defeat #2 seed Aga Radwanska, providing a display of nerveless, hard-hitting tennis that successfully made it through the creative, magical defense of the Polish star.  The 2014 Australian Open finalist is again playing some of her best tennis, and now leads the WTA tour with most wins in 2016. She won Eastbourne and is brimming with confidence. A blockbuster semifinal meeting may be in her future, or of not, she can go ahead with her wedding, which is scheduled for Saturday, the day of the women's final.  Somehow, I think if she wins this match, the wedding may be postponed. PREDICTION: Cibulkova.

Simona Halep (ROU) [5] vs. Angelique Kerber (GER) [4].  This should be the best match of the quarterfinals. These two are fighting for the #2 position (behind Serena) in women's tennis and a win here by the 2016 Australian Open champion could keep Kerber's chances of becoming #1 this summer alive. In fact, if Serena somehow fails to reach the semifinals here and Kerber wins the championship, we could have a new World #1. Standing in Angie's way is Simona Halep, who has not been living up to her seeding in several of the last majors she played, although she was a 2014 Wimbledon semifinalist. Halep has previously dominated their first three meetings, but Kerber demolished her on clay (Halep's best surface) when the two played Fed Cup earlier this season. Halep has a lot more to prove than Kerber does here, and I think the German just has a little bit more game than the Romanian. I expect this to be a long, drama-filled affair, and we can only hope it will be as high quality as this year's Cibulkova-Radwanska instant classic in the Wimbledon 4th round. PREDICTION: Kerber.

Venus Williams (USA) [8] vs. Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP) [2]. The 5-time Wimbledon champion is 36 years old and is in her first major quarterfinal here in six years but this result should not be surprising; she is back in the ETA Top 10, seeded #8 here and this is her 3rd major quarterfinal in the last two years. Happily for Venus she was able to win her last match against Carla Suarez Navarro in straight sets despite starting badly and losing the first three games. The biggest question with predicting Venus' results in the majors is the uncertainty around her stamina. She has never played her opponent before, but Shvedova is well known to the Williams family, she played a tight three setter against Serena about 5 or 6  years ago here at Wimbledon and she is a good grass court player. She dismissed 2014 Wimbledon semifinalist Lucie Safarova in the previous round so you know she's dangerous. Venus should be very glad that she is not facing last year's Wimbledon finalist (and 2016 French Open champion) Garbine Muguruza or the results would be very different. PREDICTION: Venus.

Serena Wins 1st Title of 2013 in Brisbane; Her 47th

Serena Williams started off 2013 the way she ended 2012, winning titles. In Brisbane, Australia Serena beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in 51 minutes, 6-2 6-1, to win the Brisbane International final. Things were pretty even in the match until 2-3 in the first set when Serena broke open the match and won 7 games in a row, putting the result beyond doubt.

Serena's win was her 8th consecutive win in a final (since her still-puzzling loss to Samantha Stosur in the 2011 U.S. Open final) and the 47th WTA tour title of her career. She now has more titles than her sister Venus, and is #10 on the all-time titles list.