TENNIS TUESDAY: U.S. Win 2017 Fed Cup, Nadal Ends Season, ATP YEC Under Way

U.S.A. WIN 2017 FED CUP, ENDING 17-YEAR DROUGHT BY WINNING CLIFFHANGER OVER BELARUS
The 2017 Federation Cup final was played last weekend and the United States won the tie 3-2 to win their first Fed Cup since 2000. The match was surprisingly close despite the fact that the United States had 2 Top 15 players in 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens and CoCo Vandeweghe while Belarus had one player in the Top 100. Stephens' winless streak since winning her major title continues and she lost both matches she played last weekend. The true star of the team was Vandeweghe who won both of her singles match and then paired with Shelby Rogers to win the final tie, which was the doubles match.

ATP YEAR-END CHAMPIONSHIP PROCEEDS WITH WINS BY FEDERER, ZVEREV, SOCK, DIMITROV AND GOFFIN.
The year-end ATP tour championship has begun and there have been some surprises. Roger Federer has qualified for the semifinal round by defeating Jack Sock and Sascha Zverev. Other players who have won matches in the round-robin stage are Sock, Zverev, Grigor Dimitrov and David Goffin. On Thursday, Sock and Zverev will face off for the remaining semifinal spot. In the other half of the draw, Dimitrov and Goffin will face off for another semifinal berth.

NADAL ENDS SEASON AFTER LOSS TO GOFFIN AT YEC
Rafael Nadal withdrew from the ATP Finals after losing a 3-set match to David Goffin, ending his 2017 season. He has never done well at the year-end championships despite qualifying 13 times, he has withdrawn 5 different times and lost in the final twice. He ends 2017 as the #1 player, with a record of 67W-10L.

TENNIS TUESDAY: Sock Wins Paris Masters, ATP YEC Field Set, Nadal Clinches 2017 #1

SOCK ENDS YEAR WITH AMAZING RUN TO WIN PARIS MASTERS, REACH TOP 10 & QUALIFY FOR YEAR-END CHAMPIONSHIP
The player of the week was 25-year-old American Jack Sock who ended his 2017 with an amazing run that resulted in him winning the 2017 Paris Masters. That win was incredibly significant, because it qualified him into the ATP Year-End Championship and vaulted him into the ATP Top 10 for the first time. It also means that he is now the highest ranked American player on the ATP Tour, ahead of John Isner (who could have qualified himself if he had won the title instead of losing to qualifier Filip Krajinovic in the semifinals) and 2017 Wimbledon semifinalist Sam Querrey. Sock defeated Krajinovic 5-7 6-4 6-1 in the biggest match of both youngsters' careers.

THE ATP WORLD TOUR YEAR-END CHAMPIONSHIP FIELD SET
The elite eight players who have qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals year-end championship in London are (in order) #1 Rafael Nadal, #2 Roger Federer #3 Alexander Zverev #4 Dominic Thiem #5 Marin Cilic #6 Grigor Dimitrov #8 David Goffin #9 Jack Sock. Stan Wawrinka is #7 but he has ended his season with early. Both Andy Murray (#16) and Novak Djokovic (#12) have also ended their seasons early and will end the year out of the Top 10 for the first time in a long long time.

NADAL CLINCHES 2017 WORLD #1 THN WITHDRAWS FROM PARIS MASTERS
After winning Basel, Federer decided not to play the Paris Masters which meant that Nadal only needed to win one match to clinch the 2017 Year-end #1 ranking. The Spaniard did that, and then promptly withdrew from the tournament. Should Federer have played Paris? In retrospect, probably, because it looks Nadal will perhaps not be playing in London either, where he has never done particularly well, having lost in the final a few times. However, all that is past and Nadal is now the ATP's oldest ever World #1 at age 31.

GOERGES WINS ELITE WTA ZHUHAI TROPHY OVER VANDEWEGHE
The WTA basically ended its season last week when Wozniacki beat Venus to win the WTA Tour Year-End Championships in Singapore. This week the year-end championships for the Top 20 players happened in Zhuhai and Julia Goerges of Germany won the biggest title of her career by defeating Coco Vandeweghe in the final.

2017 YEAR-END WTA TOP 10 HAS INTRIGUING NEWCOMERS: COCO AND CARO.
The WTA Tour year-end Top 10 has Caroline Garcia at #8 and Coco Vandeweghe at #10. Simona Halep ended the year at #1 with Garbine Muguruza at #2, Wozniacki at #3, Karolina Pliskova at #4 and Venus at #5. Just outside the top 10 are #11 Kiki Mladenovic, #12 Sveta Kuznetsova, #13 Sloane Stephens and Goerges at #14.

2017 US OPEN: Women's Final Preview (and Semifinals Review)

Madison Keys (USA) [15] vs. Sloane Stephens (USA)

Here are my predictions for the women's final at the US Open for 2017. Last year I correctly predicted Angelique Kerber would beat Karolina Pliskova. This year I also predicted 2 of 2 men's semifinals, 1 of 2 women's semifinals, 3 of 4 women's quarterfinals and 2 of 4 men's quarterfinals. 

WOMEN'S SEMIFINALS REVIEW

Madison Keys (USA) [15] d. CoCo Vandeweghe (USA) [20] 6-1 6-2. As I expected, CoCo did not deal with the pressure of reaching a major semifinal very well, despite having her second such opportunity in 2017. However, she is yet to win a set in any of these matches.  Madison, on the other hand, responded well to the opportunity to reach a major final by serving extremely well, and backing it up with her powerful groundstrokes and limiting her errors (to just 9, compared to 23 winners). Madison never faced a breakpoint and won four of the seven that CoCo gave her. If she continues playing at that level, it's hard to see how she will be prevented from winning her first major title.

Sloane Stephens (USA) d. Venus Williams (USA) [9] 6-1 0-6 7-5. Surprisingly, this match turned out to be a highlight of the women's side of the draw. For the first two sets the players were out of sync, so that only one of them was playing well while the other was not. However in the final set both Venus and Sloane were able to play their best tennis at the same time, resulting in high quality strokes from both sides of the court. Sloane struck first blood first, taking a 2-0 lead but Venus was able to fight back to even the match at 2-all and they remained on serve until the 11th game when Venus went down to 0-40 and ended up being broken without winning a point on her serve. Sloane served out the match relatively efficiently and is now in her very first major final.

WOMEN'S FINALS PREVIEW

To say that this is an unlikely major final matchup is quite an understatement. Neither player appeared at the year's first major own in Australia because both players were recovering from surgery. Madison has had two wrist surgeries, and Sloane had a leg surgery which had her foot in a boot for most of the fall. Prior to the American hard court season this summer, both players had losing 2017 records (Sloane was 0-1 and Madison was 5-7). Sloane's ranking had fallen as far down as 945 but due to stellar play over the summer (reaching two semifinals) she was up to #83 going into the US Open. She is still the lowest ranked player ever to reach a major final (apart from Kim Clijsters who was completely unranked in 2009). Sloane is 4-0 in tour finals while Keys has a 3-3 record in finals but they have been at the higher Premiere level.  Additionally, Sloane has a 1-0 lead in their head-to-head from the one time these two friends have met on the tour (in Miami in 2015). So, on paper one should give the edge to Sloane because she has also made it through tougher competition to reach this spot. However, I think that Keys has the edge in her tools and mentality in this match up. For Sloane, I think she must have less confidence that she will have this opportunity again, while Madison should be pretty confident that she will have future opportunities to play for major titles. MadProfessah's pick: Keys.

2017 US OPEN: Women's Semifinals Preview

Here are my predictions for the women's semifinals at the US Open for 2017. Last year I correctly predicted 2 of 2 men's semifinals, 1 of 2 women's semifinals, 4 of 4 women's quarterfinals and correctly predicted 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals. This year I will also predict the men's semifinals.

CoCo Vandeweghe (USA) [20] Karolina Pliskova (CZE) [1] vs. Madison Keys (USA) [15]. I did not expect CoCo to join the rest of her American countrywomen in the U.S. Open semifinals, because I thought Pliskova would find a way to spoil the party. The two have split their 4 previous meetings so it was clear that the match would be close, and it was. In some sense, Keys had the more difficult task because she had to complete the American sweep of their semifinal opponents, something she did with a pretty straightforward win over Kaia Kanepi. Keys and Vandeweghe have played twice this summer in the hard court warmups to the U.S. Open and even though the matches were close, Keys won both contests, including one which was a final (at Stanford). A major semifinal for all intents and purposes is even more significant than a final of a regular tournament since a major also has the weight of history behind it. Prior to this year I would have given Keys the clear mental edge but Vandeweghe has clearly been improving this aspect of her game with coach Mats Wilander. Even so, under great pressure, a player's true instincts  (and character) will be revealed. This should be a good one.  PREDICTION: Keys.

Venus Williams (USA) [9] vs. Sloane Stephens (USA). This quarterfinal almost didn't happen due to the presence of Petra Kvitova. Despite being up 3-1 in all three sets they played somehow Petra managed to lose two of them. The first one she lost when Venus went on a tear and won 5 games in a row (followed by losing 3 games in a row). In the final deciding set Kvitova was up 3-1 and at one point had saved 8 consecutive breakpoints. But finally Venus broke back and once they reached a tiebreak Venus was the steadier player, eking out a 6-3 3-6 7-6(2) win. Sloane also had to win a 3rd set tiebreak to reach this semifinal, but she did so against a far less celebrated (but surprisingly tricky) opponent in Anasasja Sevastova. Interestingly, Sloane has never lost to Venus (but the two have only played once before on clay back in 2015 in the first round of the French Open). This is an incredible opportunity for all three non-Williams American semifinalists, but especially for Sloane who was the first of the three to reach a major semifinal but has failed to love up to that promise since then, although one can argue she is the best natural athlete. Amazingly it is 20 years since Venus reached her first major final here in 1997 and the fact that she could be playing in her 3rd of the year at age 37 is an incredible testament to her love for the game, and her own athleticism. At this point I will be happy with almost any of the four winning, but for sentimental reasons, I have to root for Venus. PREDICTION: Venus. 

2017 US OPEN: Women's Quarterfinals Preview

Here are my predictions for the women's quarterfinals at the US Open for 2017. Last year I correctly predicted 4 of 4 women's quarterfinals and correctly predicted 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals. This year I will also predict the men's quarterfinals.

Karolina Pliskova (CZE) [1] vs. CoCo Vandeweghe (USA) [20]. Pliskova needs to reach the finals again to preserve her #1 ranking, while the American is finally beginning to fulfil her potential from winning the girls title here in 2008. This year CoCo has reached three major quarterfinals, and she has 1-1 record. These two have played four times on tour so far and split the results; Pliskova won their last meeting in Stuttgart this year and they also split their 2 hard court matches. Clearly the Czech player does not have problems with facing a hostile American crowd since last year she dispatched Venus Williams and then Serena Williams to reach her first major final. CoCo has clearly improved recently (perhaps due to the influence of coach Mats Wilander), she is less volatile on the court, which is aligning her results with her confidence (and self regard). However I still give a slight edge to the more experienced player, although I would not be surprised to see either player win.  PREDICTION: Pliskova.

Madison Keys (USA) [15] Elina Svitolina (UKR) [4] vs. Kaia Kanepi (LAT). This should have been Svitolina's chance to make a big splash on the sport's biggest stage and continue her quest for the #1 spot in the rankings. But despite being up 4-2 in the deciding set, she managed to lose the last four games of that set (and the match) as the crowd surged behind Keys and provided her with the momentum to get across the finish line. It was a remarkable moment, and hopefully will be a turning point in the career of the hard-hitting American who has the game to overpower basically any opponent on tour but has yet to demonstrate this consistently at majors. Her compatriot (Coco Vandeweghe) is head of her in this department but Keys is younger, more powerful and is expected to have the bigger career. If so, she really needs to be able to win matches like this. She's facing a 31-year-old veteran who hits the ball hard but having come back from injury, is literally ranked in the 400s. This still could be tricky, because Kanepi has gone through qualifying and is match-tough, but, if Keys' coach (Lindsay Davenport) does her job well, this match should not be close.  PREDICTION: Keys.

Venus Williams (USA) [9] vs. Petra Kvitova (CZE) [13] Garbine Muguruza (ESP) [3].  This quarterfinal is worthy of a major final. The two players have a combined 9 major titles between them. Kvitova got here by putting one of her dazzling displays of power and accuracy against the pre-tournament favorite (and reigning Wimbledon champion) Garbine Muguruza in the round before. That 7-6(3) 6-3 match is the highlight of the women's tournament to date, but this showdown is expected to rival that. Venus is here because she is playing some of the best tennis in her career in 2017, having reached (and lost) two major finals (Australia and Wimbledon) this year, 9 years after her last one, and 6 years after the diagnosis of an auto-immune disorder. Unfortunately, history does not bode well for Venus in this matchup, since she has only won one of their 5 meetings. However, every single one has gone to 3 sets and I fully expect that to happen here. In fact, I am basing my prediction on the belief that Kvitova will not be able to maintain the high level of play she has so far demonstrated in her first four matches (coming through without losing a set). If that does happen, then even Venus will not be able to stop Kvitova from winning her 3rd major. PREDICTION: Venus. 

Anastasja Sevastova (LAT) [16] Simona Halep (ROU) [2] vs. Sloane Stephens (USA). For the second year in a row Sevastova delivered a major upset at the U.S. Open. Last year it was taking out Muguruza and this year it was taking out Maria Sharapova. She has only ever reached two major quarterfinals and they both have happened in New York. She will face a resurgent Sloane Stephens who is finally capitalizing on her athletic abilities to simply refuse to lose matches. This is an incredible opportunity for American tennis to demonstrate what the post-Williams future of tennis will look like. Interestingly, all three non-Williams American quarterfinalists have reached major semifinals on hard courts, but in Australia (Stephens in 2013, Keys in 2015 and Vandeweghe in 2017) not New York. I'm fairly confident that streak will end this year. There's also a reasonable chance of an all-American final for the first time since Serena beat Venus in 2002.  PREDICTION: Stephens. 

2017 WIMBLEDON: Women's Quarterfinals Preview

Here are my predictions for the women's quarterfinals at the Wimbledon Championships for 2017. Last year I correctly predicted 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals and correctly predicted 3 of 4 women's quarterfinals. I will also predict this year's men's quarterfinals.

Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) [7] vs. Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP) [14] Angelique Kerber (GER) [1]. The 2015 Wimbledon finalist took out the 2016 Wimbledon finalist and World #1 Angie Kerber in a high-quality 4th round match that was decided 6-4 in the third set. She will face Kuznetsova who still has not dropped a set through four rounds of world-class  grass competition. The Russian has not done well on grass in the past and has a 1-3 head-to-head against the Spaniard. This does not bode well for the 2-time major champion to reach her 1st Wimbledon semifinal, and does it make it likely the Spaniard is on her way to reaching her 2nd Wimbledon final in three years. PREDICTION: Muguruza.

Magadalena Rybarikova (RUS)  vs. Coco Vandeweghe (USA) [24] Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) [5]. For the second time American Coco Vandeweghe has reached the final 8 at Wimbledon, following up on her breakout major semifinal in Australia earlier this year. She is another player who has yet to drop a set this year, and she just dismissed the #5 player in the world, Caroline Wozniacki to reach the quarterfinals. On paper it would seem that having to face the only unseeded quatrerfinalist, #87 Rybarikova would be an advantage. However, its always about match-ups and  this match-up is apparently a bad one for Coco since she lost to Rybarikova last month in Paris and also last year on grass at Birmingham. My heart wants the American to reach her 1st Wimbledon semifinal, but my head thinks Rybarikova is probably going to maintain her winning streak. PREDICTION: Rybarikova.

Venus Williams (USA) [10] vs. Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) [13]. This should be the most important match up of the 4 quarterfinal matches. Is the shock 2017 French Open winner really at the very top of the women's game? Can the 20-year-old from Latvia beat the 5-time Wimbledon champion on her best surface, one year after Venus reached another Wimbledon semifinal, her 9th of her career (8-1 record). If Ostapenko does win this match, she will end all the whispers about her French Open title being a fluke, and will announce the arrival of a major force in women's tennis. In fact, just by reaching the quarterfinals in the tournament after her first major win puts her in the company of legends like Kim Clijsters. If Venus wins this match then I would expect her to reach her 9th Wimbledon final and 2nd major final for the year, an amazing feat at the age of 36. PREDICTION: Venus.

Simona Halep (ROU) [2] vs. Johanna Konta (GBR) [6]. This should be a blockbuster quarterfinal between the two players closest in rank. As I said before, it's all about a match-up between two players and Konta leads Halep 2-0 in their head-to-head, although both encounters have been nail-biting 3-set wins. Konta is now the odds-makers favorite to win the title, which is sort f shocking considering there are four other major champions remaining in the draw and that Konta is yet to reach her first major final. Happily for Britain's chances at ending a 3-decade drought of a British female Wimbledon champion, those major champions are going head to head in two of the four quarterfinalists, so this should make the path for Konta bit easier, but to win the title she could have to beat 3 Top 10 players in a row. PREDICTION: Konta.

2017 AUS OPEN: Women's Final Preview (and Semifinals Review)

Serena Williams (USA) [2] vs Venus Williams (USA) [13]

The women's final is 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 correctly predicted 2 of 2 women's semifinals and correctly predicted 1 of 2 men's semifinals.

Women's Semifinals Review: How They Got Here

Serena Williams (USA) [2] d. Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO) 6-2 6-1. As expected, Serena was barely troubled by the power of her Croat opponent. Lucic-Baroni had been able to overpower the World #3 Agnieska Radwanska and out(b)last the World #5 Karolina Pliskova during her fairytale run to her second major semifinal and six-figure paycheck down in Melbourne. However, against Serena although she was able to blast 10 winners she also made 23 unforced errors. Basically, Lucic-Baroni was simply too erratic to be able to survive the encounter with someone who has as much power and defensive skills as Serena and the result of the match was never really in doubt.

 Venus Williams (USA) [13] d. Coco Vandeweghe (USA) 6-7(3) 6-2 6-3. The result of this match was very much in doubt for its entire duration. Vandeweghe began the match with a break but Venus was able to save three breakpoints before succumbing in that very first service game. This defense ended up characterizing her play for most of the match. Although, Coco was often successful in winning a particular point, Venus made it as difficult as possible, and when she had an opportunity she seized them. It wasn't until late in the third set that Venus failed to convert a breakpoint. The key point in the match was the first set tiebreaker which was won by CoCo when Venus made numerous unforced errors to allow the 25-year-old to win 4 points in a row. But it was Venus' reaction to the first set loss that was extraordinary. She had a look on her face that we had never seen before and suddenly her serve started clicking and her error count dramatically decreased. She raced out to a 5-1 lead in the second set and served it out with an ace to in 6-2. In the third set Venus saved the two break points she faced and she broke CoCo twice to win 6-3 and improbably reach her second Australian Open final fourteen years after her first one, as the oldest player in the 128-player draw.

Women's Final Preview: Who Will Win

Venus and Serena have played 27 times before and Serena leads 16-11 in their head-to-head. More importantly they have played each other 8 times in major finals and Serena leads there 6-2. Of course Serena has 23 major titles and Venus has "only" 7. 

Now, 36 and 35, respectively, Venus and Serena are playing in a major final 7 years after their last one, which was the 2009 Wimbledon won by Serena. Many people feel uncomfortable watching the two sisters play each other in major finals because many of us are fans of them both and we don't want either of them to lose. I am not one of those fans; I am happy when they play because I know that a Williams will be winning another major final.

That being said, this is a more important match for Serena than for Venus. If she wins, she reclaims the #1 ranking, will finally supersede Steffi Graf's total of 22 major titles and will be one away from getting to Margaret Court's 24 majors (but many of those were won in Australia before the Open era began). She will also have won 7 Australian Open titles, the most of any man or woman in the Open era (Court won 12.) There is no one who has beaten Serena more times and the two know each other's games intimately. That being said, their matches are very unpredictable, and usually not very high quality. Interestingly, most people point to their 2003 Australian Open (won 6-4 in the 3rd by Serena) as perhaps their highest quality match. It would be awesome if history repeats itself again.

MadProfessah's pick: Serena in 3 sets.

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.

2017 AUS OPEN: World #1 Murray and Kerber Lose On Same Day

Wow! I am back from vacation and just as I was going to bed I heard the news that World #1 Andy Murray, who was now the presumptive favorite at the 2017 Australian Open due to 6-time champion Novak Djokovic's shock exit in the 2nd round, had lost to Mischa Zverev, the older brother of #NextGen Sascha Zverev. 19-year-old Sascha had thrilled the crowd the day before by taking Rafael Nadal to 5-sets, eventually running out of gas despite winning the first and third sets.

Murray lost in 4-sets to the 29-year-old Zverev 7-5 5-7 6-2 6-4, continuing his disappointments in Melbourne where he has lost in the final (a record) 5 times.

World #1 and defending champion Angelique Kerber lost to a red-hot Coco Vandewghe who basically bludgeoned the counterpunching German off the court 6-2 6-3. Kerber had looked a little shaky in her first two rounds (dropping a set both times) but she had a 2-0 head-to-head against the American so this result was a surprise, but I agree with others who would not call it a huge upset.

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.

2015 WIMBLEDON: Women's Semifinals Preview

Here are my predictions for the women's quarterfinals at the Wimbledon Championships for 2015. Last year I correctly predicted 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals, 2 of 4 women's quarterfinals, 2 of 2 men's semifinals and 1 of 2 women's semifinals. This year I correctly predicted 2 of 4 women's quarterfinals and correctly predicted 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals.

Serena Williams (USA) [1] vs. Coco Vandeweghe (USA) Maria Sharapova (RUS) [4]. After playing one of the best matches of the year against a 2-time major champion (Victoria Azarenka) in the quarterfinals, Serena's tough draw continues with a meeting with a 5-time major champion (Maria Sharapova) in the semifinals. One measure of just how great Serena is how well she matches up with her putative rivals. She is now 17-3 against Azarenka and is currently 17-2 against Sharapova. Famously, though, Serena lost her only other meeting at Wimbledon with the hard-hitting Russian, which was in the 2004 final. However in the intervening years (2005-2015) Serena has basically refused to lose, and has now won 16 times in a row, including in three major finals (2007 Australian Open, 2013 French Open and 2015 Australian Open finals). At this point the mental baggage is significant for Sharapova but the truth is that their games don't match up well. Serena has a much better serve, moves much better and can both handle and deliver powerful groundstrokes. The two have actually played at the All-England Club since their 2004 meeting in the finals. In 2012, they met in the Gold Medal match of the London Olympics and Serena demolished Sharapova 6-0 6-1. Honestly, I don't expect this match to be that lopsided but I don't think it will be close. After all, Sharapova lost a set against Coco Vandeweghe! PREDICTION: Serena.

Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP) [20] vs. Madison Keys (USA) [21]  Agnieska Radwanska (POL) [13].  These two players have met four times and they are tied 2-all, however Muguruza has won the two matches they played in 2015 while Radwanska played their two 2014 matches. This is Radwanska's third Wimbledon semifinal in the last four years she may be able to use that experience to get past another young, hard-hitting talent whom she really should be considered the underdog against. In her quarterfinal, Radwanska was able to absorb and re-direct the power of Madison Keys enough times to eke out the victory in three tight sets. Radwanska has the highest tennis IQ of any player currently on tour and probably the highest we have seen since Chucky Martina Hingis was #1. Tennis smarts are great but when wile meets wham I will put my money on power over placement. This is why I expected Keys to win their quarterfinal. Muguruza is a more nuanced player than Keys a better combination of strength and skill) and already has the earth-shattering result on her resume of a 6-2 6-2 win over Serena at the 2014 French Open. This is Muguruza's first major semifinal after she won her 3rd major quarterfinal so reaching her first major final would be a significant statement, especially for a Spanish player on grass. But in the spirit of Conchita Martinez and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario I believe that she can do it. Si ella puede! PREDICTION: Muguruza.

2015 WIMBLEDON: Women's Quarterfinals Preview

Here are my predictions for the women's quarterfinals at the Wimbledon Championships for 2015. Last year I correctly predicted 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals and correctly predicted 2 of 4 women's quarterfinals.

Serena Williams (USA) [1] V. Williams (USA) [16] vs. Victoria Azarenka (BLR) [23]. For the second consecutive major tournament Serena's path to the title will intersect with one of the few players who does not fear her, despite the lopsided head-to-head record of 3-16 Victoria Azarenka has against the World #1 player. In Paris a mere four weeks ago the two met in a third round match where Azarenka took it to Serena with renewed belief. The Belarussian was up a set and a break, and even when she lost the second set she was up 2-0 in the deciding set but then Seeena flipped a switch and won the last 6 remaining games of the match. If Azarenka couldn't beat Serena on her worst surface how will she do it on her best? After handily dispatching her sister in the 4th round and outlasting a near-death experience in the third round against Brit Heather Watson, Serena is the odds-on favorite to win her second Serena slam. PREDICTION: Serena.

Maria Sharapova (RUS) [4] vs. Coco Vandeweghe USA Lucie Safarova (CZE) [6]. The American women occupy three of the eight quarterfinal slots at this year's Wimbledon and the biggest surprise is that Coco Vandweghe is among their number. The big-serving 23-year-old is in her very first major quarterfinal having taken out one of the hottest players on tour, 2015 French Open finalist (and 2014 Wimbledon semifinalist) Lucie Safarova in two tight tiebreak sets. In fact, neither player has dropped a set through their first four round in this year's tournament. Obviously that will have to change by the end of this match (for at least one of them). Even though Sharapova has won this tournament before and reached the final again in 2011 she has only passed the quarterfinal stage 4 times. (Then again, she has never lost a Wimbledon quarterfinal). For some reason, I think Coco will pull out the upset in this match taking advantage of the fact that the two have never played before. PREDICTION: Vandeweghe.

Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP) [20] Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) [5] vs. Timea Bacsinszky (SUI) [15].  Caroline Wozniacki  was the highest remaining seed in the lower half of the women's singles draw after Simona Halep's early departure and defending champion Petra Kvitova's 3rd round exit (at the hands of Jelena Jankovic). Despite winning the junior title here a mere 9 years ago at the precocious age of 15, the former World #1 has never had much success here and her woes continued with Muguruza basically doing everything Wozniacki could do, except a litle better. This was exemplified by a 29-stroke rally on the penultimate point of the match which was won with outstanding defense by the Spaniard, who then sealed the deal with an ace on match point. Bacsinskzy is in her second consecutive major quarterfinal, the only two times she has ever reached this far in a major tournament. Although she won her first outing in Paris a month ago, I think that Muguruza's game and guile will be able to get her past the finish line so that she can reach her first major semifinal. PREDICTION: Muguruza.


Madison Keys (USA) [21] vs. Agnieska Radwanska (POL) [13]. The Pole is looking to rescue her horrible 2015 season by duplicating her best result at a major (2013 Wimbledon finalist). Happily, she is playing an opponent whom she has never lost to in three meetings. However, the last time she played and beat Madison Keys Radwanska was playing better tennis and Keys was playing worse. Now, the 20-year-old American knows that she belongs in the business end of major tournaments and has the game to fulfill her awesome potential. Radwanska is a very talented player, and she played very well to dispatch Jankovic coming off her big win over the defending champion. The biggest advantage Radwanska has is her experience and guile but grass favors the better athlete almost always and in this case I am fairly confident that is the woman with the tournament-leading 47 aces. PREDICTION: Keys.