2019 MIAMI OPEN: Osaka, Zverev, Kerber, Thiem Lose; Venus, Federer Move On, Serena Withdraws

Serena Williams had a tough 3-set match in her first match at the Miami Open and then withdrew with a right knee injury before withdrawing from her second match. She joined numerous other high profile entrants in the tournament who left early, including World #1 Naomi Osaka (who lost to the incredibly frustrating Hsieh Su-Wei), Angelique Kerber (who lost to 2019 Indian Wells champion Bianca Andreescu for the second time in 6 days!), Elina Svitolina, Garbine Muguruza and defending champion Sloane Stephens also have been bounced from the tournament.

On the men's side Roger Federer had a scare in his first match but survived in three sets against  Radu Albot, while Indian Wells champ Dominic Thiem was not so lucky and was defeated by Hubert Hurcazc in straight sets. Similarly, Sasha Zverev continues his underwhelming season after ending 2018 on a high by losing to soon-to-be-retired David Ferrer after reaching the final in Miami last year. 2018 Miami Open champion John Isner's title defense is off to a solid start by winning his first match in straight sets.

TENNIS TUESDAY: France-Spain, USA-Croatia Davis Cup semis; Djokovic Drops Radek; Dellacqua Retires

DAVIS CUP SEMIFINALS SET: FRANCE VS SPAIN AND CROATIA VS USA
The quarterfinals of the Davis Cup were played this weekend and the results were: Spain (featuring the return of Rafael Nadal) defeated Germany 3-2 with David Ferrer outlasting Philipp Kohlschreiber in a 5-hour marathon match. United Staes blitzed Belgium (with ) 4-0, France beat Italy 3-1 and Croatia beat Kazakhstan 3-1. This set up a blockbuster semifinal between France and Spain in September and an intriguing tie between Craotia and the United States.

DJOKOVIC DROPS STEPANEK AS COACH, MAY BE WORKING WITH VAJDA AGAIN
After announcing a split with Andre Agassi, Novak Djokovic also ended his coaching relationship with Radek Stepanek last week.

KIKI BERTENS AND GARBI MUGURUZA START CLAY SEASON WITH TITLES
Garbine Muguruza won a clay title in Monterrey while Kiki Bertens won the Charleston tournament after having to play her semifinal (a tough 3-set win against Madison Keys) and final (a quick win against Julia Goerges) on Sunday.

HALEP AND NADAL REMAIN ON TOP OF RANKINGS
The rankings are mostly frozen with most players taking a break as the surface change goes into effect and the clay season begins. Simona Halep has nopw spent 22 weeks at #1, more than Viktoria Azarenka or Maria Sharapova. On the men's side, Rafael Nadal stays in the #1 spot.

2016 FRENCH OPEN: Men's Quarterfinals Preview, Part 2

Here are my predictions for the 2016 men's quarterfinals and remaining Round of 16 matches at the French Open. Last year I correctly predicted 3 of 4 women's quarterfinals and correctly predicted 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals. This year I correctly predicted 3 of 4 round of 16 matches and 2 of 2 men's quarterfinal matches played so far.

Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1] vs. Tomas Berdych (CZE) [7]. Berdych has already surprised me once this tournament by defeating David Ferrer in clay. (I thought it would be a war of attrition, but in the end it turned out to be a relatively straightforward straight sets victory for the Czech.) However, Berdych defeating Djokovic this year at Roland Garros would count as an upset of cataclysmic proportions. These two have played 25 times and Djokovic has won 23 times. It is true that Berdych won one of their most  important matches (the 2010 Wimbledon semifinal) so he does have big match bona fides but the lopsided head-to-head is hard to overlook in order to make a case for a Berdych win here. Djokovic is playing in his 29th consecutive major quarterfinal (which surprisingly is only 7 behind Roger Federer's supposedly unreachable 36). Djokovic is 24-4 in major quarterfinals while Berdych is playing in his 14th major quarterfinal where he sports a 5-8 record. Mad Professah's pick: Djokovic.

 David Goffin (BEL) [12] vs. Dominic Thiem (AUT) [13]. 
The 22-year-old from Austria has 40 match wins  in 2016 (only one less than World #1 Novak Djokovic). In this major quarterfinal he will be playing his good friend, 25-year-old David Goffin from Belgium, with the winner being rewarded with a  first-tie berth in the ATP Top 10 for the first time . Thiem and Goffin have already played six times in their short time on tour and the elder (and higher ranked) player has a 4-2 advantage! Interestingly, neither of them has faced a seeded player in Paris so far so it's hard to predict how they will do against each other but I believe I need to give the edge to Thiem due to his overall record in 2016, despite the fact that Goffin won the last time they played, which was at the 2016 Australian Open, in four sets. Regardless of which player loses this match, I am firmly convinced that both players will be in the Top 10 by the end of the year. However that future achievement will be little solace to the player who misses reaching his first major semifinal. Mad Professah's pick: Thiem.

2016 FRENCH OPEN: Men's Quarterfinals (and R16) Preview, Part 1

Here are my predictions for the 2016 men's quarterfinals and remaining Round of 16 matches at the French Open. Last year I correctly predicted 3 of 4 women's quarterfinals and correctly predicted 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals. I will try to predict the women's quarterfinals (and remaining Round of 16 matches) in a separate post.

QUARTERFINAL MATCHES

Andy Murray [3] vs Richard Gasquet (FRA) [9] Kei Nishikori (JPN) [5]. Andy Murray has clearly been the second best player on clay this year (behind Novak Djokovic) and this year has a win on clay against Nadal (in Madrid!) and also a win against Djokovic (in Rome!). After playing 13 times in his home country's slam and never getting to the second week, Richard Gasquet put on a clinic of stylish tennis to dismiss a surprisingly erratic Kei Nishikori in their Round of 16 match on Sunday. Murray will not be daunted by the fact that the vast majority of the crowd on Roland Garros' largest court will be backing his opponent, hoping a Frenchman can finally reach a final again (Henri Leconte did it in 1988). Over the years, Murray has done well when he has been faced with dashing the hopes of Gael Monfils and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga He will probably play better knowing that the fans don't want him to win. I think Murray has an excellent chance of reaching his first French Open final this year. He has a 7-3 head-to-head against Gasquet and has won their last five consecutive meetings. There's not much to suggest that this match will have a different result. Mad Professah's pick: Murray.

Stan Wawrinka (SUI) [3] vs Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) Milos Raonic (CAN) [8]. This is not the Spanish lefty anyone would have predicted would be playing in the Roland Garros quarterfinals this year. All his compatriots: Rafael Nadal, Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez have left the tournament but Ramos-Vinolas is still here, playing in his first major quarterfinal.  This is a lucky break for Wawrinka, but the defending champion would not have had much of a difficulty against the seed who should have made it this far, Milos Raonic. I'll be shocked is he has trouble against someone who has never won a clay court tournament on the ATP tour. Mad Professah's pick: Wawrinka.

ROUND OF 16 MATCHES

Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1] vs. Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) [14]. This match was suspended at 3-6 6-4 4-1 but even if it wasn't I would still be surprised to see Djokovic lose this match even if the scores were reversed and play was resuming. With Nadak out of the picture, this is Novak's year to complete his career slam. Mad Professah's pick: Djokovic.
David Ferrer (ESP) [11] vs. Tomas Berdych (CZE) [7]. This could have been a semifinal or quarterfinal a few years ago when both players were in the top 5. Surprisingly, Ferrer owns a 8-6 career head-to-head over his much taller opponent, but they have split their head-to-head meetings on clay. Even more surprisingly, despite playing so badly that he was double bageled in Rome (by David Goffin), just the week before this horrible performance Berdych was able to beat Ferrer on clay in Madrid. This match should be a nearly interminable war of attrition. In that case, I'll give the edge to the indefatigabe Spaniard (although Berdych has one their one best-of-five grand slam match). Mad Professah's pick: Ferrer.

Marcel Granollers (ESP) vs. Dominic Thiem (AUT) [13]. 
The 21-year-old from Austria is one of the hottest players on tour all year long and is finally making it count in a major. I wouldn't be surprised to see Thiem reach a semifinal here. After all, he has a win on clay this year against Nadal, even after being down match point! Mad Professah's pick: Thiem.

Ernests Gulbis (LAT) vs. David Goffin (BEL) [12].
Gulbis was the beneficiary of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga's 30-year-old body giving up on him in the round before. Goffin is a clear-thinking counterpuncher who loves clay and has been steadily rising up the rankings and this is an excellent time for him to make his first major qurterfinal. Mad Professah's pick: Goffin.

2016 AUS OPEN: Men's Quarterfinals Preview

The women's quarterfinals are now set at the 2016 Australian Open. Last year, I predicted 2 of 4 women's quarterfinals correctly and 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals correctly. I have also written a preview the 2016 Australian Open women's quarterfinals.

Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1] vs  Kei Nishikori (JPN) [7]. Djokovic had a bad day at the office with 100(!) unforced errors during a 5-set win over Gilles Simon the round before while his opponent Kei Nishikori dismissed 2008 Aussie finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straight sets. Although Djokovic has a 5-2 head-to-head lead over Nishikori, although the Japanese player won the first time the two met in a major was the 2014 US Open semifinal, which is the last time the World #1 failed to reach a major final. Djokovic has to be happy that despite not playing his best tennis against a dangerous opponent he is still in the tournament and is playing in his 27th consecutive major quarterfinal (just 9 away from Federer's record of 36). I had picked Nishikori to go out early but I am pleased that it looks like he has managed to end his slide in the rankings and is playing excellent tennis but I would be shocked to see him eliminate Djokovic in two consecutive meetings in a major, especially a hard-court slam. Mad Professah's pick: Djokovic in 5 sets.

Roger Federer (SUI) [3]  vs Tomas Berdych (CZE) [6]. Tomas Berdych has two consecutive wins at a major over Roger Federer, even though Federer leads their overall head-to-head 15-6 with a lot of those wins coming in 3-set matches. Both players are coming off strong performances in their 3rd round wins (Berdych had a 5-set win over Roberto Bautista Agut and Federer demolished David Goffin in straight sets). Berdych had an incredible win over Rafael Nadal here last year and when he's playing his best he can beat anyone. Federer should win this match but I fear he might have peaked too early in his win over Goffin. However, I am sure that Federer is looking forward to a 3rd consecutive major meeting with World #1 Djokovic in the semifinals and will fight hard to get that opportunity. Mad Professah's Pick: Federer in 4 sets.

Rafael Nadal (ESP) [5] Gael Monfils (FRA) [23] vs Stan Wawrinka (SUI) [4] Milos Raonic (CAN) [13]. This was expected to be a blockbuster quarterfinal reprise of the 2014 Australian Open men's final but after Nadal was upset in the first round this year by fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco Wawrinka was expected to have a fairly easy path to the semifinals. However, he ran into an energetic Milos Raonic who served and volleyed his way to a 2-0 set advantage and then somehow managed to gut out the win when the Stanimal mounted an incredible come back to force a fifth set. Monfils has an excellent chance to reach his first major quarterfinal in Melbourne, since he has played Raonic twice before and never lost to the Canadian. However, the two have not played since 2013 and Raonic is a much better player now, and believes he can become the first of Generation Next to win a major. To do so, he is going to have to show that he can come back from a 5-set battle and be competitive the next round. For Monfils, he is playing in his 7th major quarterfinal and is only 1-5 so far.   Raonic is playing in his 4th quarterfinal, and his record is 1-2. That being said, I really want to see Monfils reach a major final. He has the game to do it, but he needs to be much more aggressive and use all his athletic prowess to get past Raonic. Either way, one of these players will reach their second ever career major semifinal. Mad Professah's pick: Monfils in 5 sets.

Andy Murray (GBR) [2] vs David Ferrer (ESP) [8].  Murray's tournament is being overshadowed by what is happening off the court. His wife is back home, ready to give birth to their first child any day now and Murray has said that he will fly home in order to be there with his family if that happens. Then his weekend's his father-in-law (Nigel Sears, Ana Ivanovic's coach and his wife's dad) collapsed on the court and things did not look good. However, Sears has stabilized and he is being flown back to Britain for treatment. All this drama off the court had not had an effect on Murray's play on court, and he has very good chances to reach his 5th final here in Melbourne (0-4 so far). The first obstacle is David Ferrer who ended American John Isner's hopes and is the only player in the men's singles draw who has yet to lose a set. This streak will almost certainly end during this match since Murray has an advantageous 12-6 head-to-head record against Ferrer. Mad Professah's pick: Murray in 4 sets.

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.

2015 ROME: Men's Semifinals Set Federer-Wawrinka, Djokovic-Ferrer

The semifinals of the 2015 ATP Madrid Masters are set, and surprisingly, they do not include 7-time champion Rafael Nadal. Due to today's surprising 7-6(7) 6-2 loss to Stan Wawrinka in the quarterfinals Nadal is now in uncharted territory during a clay court season. For the first time in his illustrious career, Nadal will be defending his Roland Garros title without having won a single European clay court warm-up tournament, and in fact he has lost on clay 5 times in 2015 (to Fabio Fognini in Brazil and Barcelona, to Novak Djokovic in Monte Carlo, to Andy Murray in Madrid and now to Wawrinka in Rome). And most of these losses were in straight sets. Hi

However, the tour goes on. The semifinals are set and instead of the expected Federer-Nadal XXXIV match-up there will be an all-Swiss match between Roger Federer and Wawrinka where Federer leads their head-to-head 15-2. Then again, Wawrinka had a 1-12 record against Nadal (with the one win coming in the finals of the Australian Open last year). That being said, I expect Federer to come through that match to reach his 4th Italian Open final--a tournament he has never won.

He will almost certainly face World #1 Novak Djokovic, who will play a semifinal against David Ferrer (whom he has a 14-5 advantage against).

MadProfessah's pick: Federer-Djokovic final.

TENNIS TUESDAY: Ivanovic #9 Leapfrogs Jankovic #10; Azarenka Plummets to #17; Berdych Slumps To #7

Ana Ivanovic's gutsy 3-set win over Maria Sharapova on Saturday night in the Cincinnati semfinals allowed her to leapfrog her countrywoman Jelena Jankovic to reach World #9 on the WTA rankings this week, which means she will be seeded in the Top 8 of the U.S. Open next week due to Li Na's withdrawal from the tournament.

Simona Halep continues at World #2 in the rankings after losing a tight 3-set match to Sharapova in the quarterfinals of the Cincinnati tournament despite being up a break in the last two sets.

2-time major champion Victoria Azarenka plummeted to World #17 in the rankings after failing to defend her championship points in Cincinnati. She's trying to get her game back after being off the tour for several months with an injury.

Tomas Berdych's slump continues, although being at World #7 in the rankings is still an impressive achievement.

Rafael Nadal's withdrawal yesterday from the US Open means that he will lose the 2000 points from his 2013 win, but in order for Roger Federer to leapfrog his arch-nemesis and reach World #2  immediately the 17-time major champion would need to win his record 18th major in New York.

2014 CINCINNATI: Federer Defeats Ferrer To Win 80th ATP Title

Roger Federer won his 80th ATP career title by defeating David Ferrer 6-3 1-6 6-2 in the finals of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati. This match was the first ATP Masters series final to feature two players above the age of 30. It was Federer's 22nd ATP Masters shield, placing him five behind Rafael Nadal's record total at 27 and 3 ahead of Novak Djokovic's 19. It was Federer's first win at this level since his 2012 win (in Cincinnati over Djokovic) and stopped a streak of four losses in a row in ATP masters series finals (l. Tsonga in Toronto 2014, l. Wawrinka in Monte Carlo 2014, l. Djokovic in Indian Wells 2014 and l. Nadal in Rome 2013).

Federer has now won in Cincinnati six times: 2014, 2012, 2010, 2009, 2007 and 2005. His career total of 80 is 3rd on the all-time list. Only Jimmy Connors (109) and Ivan Lendl (97) have won more. Federer is now 80-41 in career finals and 3-4 in finals this year. He has the most wins on tour of any active player: 49 and beat three top 10 players on his way to the title: Milos Raonic, David Ferrer and Andy Murray.

2014 ROGERS CUP: Tsonga Beats Djokovic AND Murray, Faces Dimitrov In Semi, Federer-Lopez In Other

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga won his first two matches against Top 10 players this year at the Rogers Cup in Toronto this week, beating World #1 Novak Djokovic 6-2 6-2 and following that up with an epic comeback down 0-3 in the final set to beat Andy Murray 7-6(5) 4-6 6-4. His reward? A third top 10 player in Grigor Dimitrov who saved 2 match points in his 3rd set tiebreaker to sneak past Kevin Anderson 5-7 7-5 7-6(6). Tsonga is 3-0 against Dimitrov but has not played the Bulgarian phenom since 2011.

In the other semifinal. Roger Federer will face Feliciano Lopez. On his 33rd birthday yesterday, Federer defeated David Ferrer for the 15th time in a row, while Lopez outlasted Milos Raonic. Federer has a 10-0 lifetime head to head against the Spaniard.

MadProfessah's picks: Federer versus Dimitrov.

2014 FRENCH OPEN: Men's Final Preview

Novak Djokovic (SRB) [2] vs Rafael Nadal (ESP) [1]

The 2014 French Open men's final will be between Rafael Nadal of Spain and Novak Djokovic of Serbia. Last year I correctly predicted Nadal would beat David Ferrer in the final. This year I correctly predicted Maria Sharapova would beat Simona Halep in the women's final. I also correctly predicted 2 of 2 women's semifinals, 2 of 2 men's semifinals, 2 of 4women's quarterfinals and 2 of 4 men's quarterfinals. After a review of the men's semifinals, here are my predictions for the men's singles championship match at Roland Garros this year.

How Did They Get Here? Men's Semifinals Review
The men's semifinals for the 2014 French Open are set. This year I correctly predicted 2 of 4 women's quarterfinals and correctly predicted 2 of 4 men's quarterfinals. I also have already made predictions for the women's semifinals. Below are my predictions for this year's men's semifinals.

Rafael Nadal (ESP) [1]  d. Andy Murray (GBR) [7] 6-3 6-2 6-1. No one expected Murray to win this match, but I did expect that the Scot would at least be able to make it competitive in moments. However, Nadal started perfectly, breaking early and holding to take a 3-0 lead and basically never looked back from there. He was perfect on breakpoints, winning 6 or 6 and did not face any breakpoints himself. Murray clearly didn't play his best tennis, but Nadal was playing at a level that it probably would not have mattered.

Novak Djokovic (SRB) [2]  d. Ernests Gulbis (LAT) [18] 6-3 6-3 3-6 6-3.  This could have been a dangerous match-up because Gulbis is most definitely a dangerous player so Djokovic did well to escape with just the loss of one set, squeezing out a break in the 8th game of the fourth set to serve out the match and reach his 2nd major final in Paris.

Who Will Win? Men's Final Preview

This final is the 42nd meeting between Nadal and Djokovic (Djokovic-Nadal XLII), a record for the most times any competitors on the ATP tour have ever faced each other in the Open era. Nadal currently leads 22-19 but Djokovic has won their last four meetings, including the very last one which was on clay in the Rome Masters final just a few weeks ago. Djokovic leads Nadal 12-9 in tour finals but Nadal leads 8-3 in grand slam matches. However, Djokovic leads 3-2 in major finals but Nadal won the last final they played, in New York. Since that loss, Djokovic has only lost 3 times, and played 60 matches.

Besides the 2014 French Open championship, which would finish the career slam for Djokovic and bring Nadal his 14th major and record 9th title in Paris, the two are competing for the World #1 ranking. Whoever wins this match will be World #1 on Monday.

Although it is incredibly hard to bet against someone who is 65-1 lifetime at the French Open I just feel that it is time for Djokovic to win and that he knows that he can beat Nadal on clay and that this is the year it will happen. I do believe that Nadal will almost certainly win a 9th (and probably a 10th) title at Roland Garros, but not this year. From looking at the statistics, Djokovic is simply playing better tennis than Nadal this year. Nadal has had more double faults (5) than aces (4) while Djokovic had many more aces (30) than double faults (10) over the first 6 rounds. Additionally, Nadal is at +24 (133 winners to 109 unforced errors) while Djokovic is at +41 (189 winners to 148 unforced errors). It's true that Nadal has only played 19 sets to Djokovic's 20 but I think that is still a measurable edge to Djokovic.

In the end it comes down to who is playing better on the day itself, and last September it was Nadal. However, you never know what can happen. In this year's Australian Open final, Nadal injured himself in the warm-up and ended up losing a major final everyone (including me) thought he would win to Stan Wawrinka. This final, most people expect Nadal to win but there are a significant contingent who are also in Djokovic's camp. Withough doubt, we do expect to see a truly great match, possibly twice as long as today's epic women's match and hopefully up to the quality of last year's semifinal match which most people are calling the best clay court match of all time. Will tomorrow's clash exceed that one? Only time will tell!

Mad Professah's pick: Djokovic in 4 sets.

2014 FRENCH OPEN: Men's Quarterfinals Preview

The men's quarterfinals for the 2014 French Open are set. Last  year I correctly predicted 3 of 4 women's quarterfinals and correctly predicted 4 of 4 men's quarterfinals. This year I also have already made predictions for the women's quarterfinals. Below are my predictions for this year's men's quarterfinals.

Rafael Nadal (ESP) [1] vs David Ferrer (ESP) [5]. This is a  reprise of last year's final which was won by Nadal in three relatively easy sets 6-3 6-2 6-3. Ferrer and Nadal have played lots of times, and the World #1 currently leads their head-to-head 21-6, but earlier this season Ferrer finally was able to beat Nadal on clay for the first time in a decade, and he did it in straight sets in the quarterfinals of the Monte Carlo Masters. However, that was a best-of-three sets match and there quarterfinals in Paris will be best-of-five. The main problem with this match-up is that Nadal can do everything better than Ferrer. The question is, will he be able to do so? The King of Clay has only ever lost one match at Roland Garros in his career and only played two 5-setters, both of which he won. However, if there is any human who can outlast Nadal on clay, it is "the Little Beast." I just don't think that dogged defense will be enough to win the day, however he could weaken Nadal and make his path to a 9th Roland Garros title this year much more complicated. Mad Professah's pick: Nadal in 4.

Gael Monfils (FRA) [23] vs Andy Murray (GBR) [7]. Curiously, Monfils and Murray have only played 5 times before, with the Brit holding a slim 3-2 lead in their career head-to-head. The two have split their two clay court matches (which was 8 years ago). Murray is playing in his 13th consecutive major quarterfinal while Monfils is playing in only his 5th career major quarterfinal, all but one of which have been here in Paris. Monfils is an entertainer and the French Federation will try their best to schedule this match at a time when the partisan Parisian crowd can attempt to help Le Monf across the finish line, setting up a blockbuster semifinal for Friday. Murray is a surprisingly good clay court player and had a good showing against Nadal in the Rome quarterfinals, winning a set. Murray has a 4-15 record against the King of Clay while Monfils has a more pedestrian 2-10 record, so I would prefer it if Murray were to make it through but somehow I think Monfils will come through. This should be the best match of the bunch to watch. Vive la France! Mad Professah's pick: Monfils in 5.

Tomas Berdych (CZE) [6] vs Ernests Gulbis (LAT) [18] Roger Federer (SUI) [4]. This match-up is somewhat similar to the Ferrer-Nadal match-up. Is Berdych just basically a bigger, stronger version of Gulbis, or is Gulbis a younger, hungrier version of Berdych? Generally in clashes between youth and experience, I go with experience. The two have only played each other 6 times, with a 4-2 advantage to the Czech. Unsurprisingly, the two have played a LOT of tiebreakers against each other, with Gulbis winning 5 of the 6 (including 3 in one match!). If Gulbis serves as well as he can then he can make a match out of this, otherwise I expect the consistency of Berdych to prevail. The other complicating factor here is that Gulbis is coming off the biggest win of his career in his 5-set dismissal of Roger Federer in the round before, and the effects of that, despite Gulbis' apparent nonchalance at the results will likely come into to play at some point. Mad Professah's pick: Berdych in 4.

Milos Raonic (CAN) [8] vs  Novak Djokovic (SRB) [2].  These two have only met twice on tour, most recently in the semifinals of Rome a few weeks ago where Djokovic maintained his undefeated record against the tall, hard-hitting Canadian in a surprisingly tight match. Raonic is now a consistent Top 10 player but this is his first major quarterfinal, while it is Djokovic's 20th consecutive quarterfinal. Djokovic is playing scintillating tennis. He completely demolished a somewhat flat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the round before, giving up only 4 games against a hometown favorite who was a semifinalist here last year and held match points against Djokovic two years ago.  If that's the level of tennis Nole is playing it is going to be  a rough day at the office for Milos. The Serbian is a man on a mission (to complete the career Slam) and I am starting to believe 2014 is going to be the year his mission is accomplished. Mad Professah's pick: Djokovic in 4.

SHOCK: Nadal Loses 2nd Clay Court Match In 2 Weeks!

Following last week's stunning straight sets loss to David Ferrer in the quarterfinals of the ATP Monte Carlo Masters tournament Rafael Nadal has had an even more shocking loss, this time to Nico Almagro in the quarterfinals of the Barcelona Open after winning the first set and blowing a 3-1 lead in the 3rd to lose for the first time to his countryman. Nadal has only lost 13 clay court matches in total since 2005, so it is remarkable that two of those losses have come in the last two weeks, a month before he tries to win his 9th record French Open in Paris. Almagro was 0-10 lifetime against Nadal and will certainly cherish this 2-6 7-6(5) 6-4 win, especially on Spanish soil. Nadal had won the Barcelona tournament a ridiculous eight times (41-match winning streak). In fact, Nadal had last lost a set in Barcelona in 2008 (to Ferrer).

This makes the upcoming French Open look very interesting indeed. Can Nadal really defend his title again? Or could Stanislas Wawrinka win his second consecutive major of the year, or will Djokovic finally get to complete his career slam?

2014 MONTE CARLO: Wawrinka Beats Federer in 3 Sets To Win 1st Masters Title

World #3 Stanislas Wawrinka confirmed his ascendancy into the elite of men's tennis by defeating Roger Federer 4-6 7-6(5) 6-2 in the finals of the 2014 ATP Monte Carlo Masters, becoming the first player on the ATP Tour to win 3 titles this year (Chennai and Melbourne). It was Wawrinka's 1st Masters 1000 title in 3 finals, and more importantly, his 2nd win in 15 meetings against Federer, both of which have occurred in Monte Carlo. To put this win in perspective, Wawrinka has only won 7 ATP tour titles (and is 7-9 in finals overall). Federer has won 78 (and is now 78-39 in tour finals).

Because he won (somewhat surprisingly, but Wawrinka has been surprising everyone all year) Wawrinka will retain the World #3 ranking and is actually at #1 in the ATP Emirates race to London at this moment. In other words, if he maintains this level of play all year long, he could become #1 at the end of the year. He is 6-0 against fellow Top 10 opponents this year, and 17-3 in matches played for the year.

Federer has now lost in the final of Monte Carlo four times (2006-2008 to Rafael Nadal) and has yet to win this title. He will remain at World #4 and leads the tour in number of match wins in 2004 (24-5 record).

Federer started well breaking serve in the 5th game and managing to nurse the break to a 6-4 first set win. In the second set he was broken in his first service game but broke back and held serve until a tiebreak. He fell behind 1-4 in the tiebreak and 3-6 but saved two set points before losing the tiebreaker 7-5. The third set was a disaster for Federer as his level dropped and Wawrinka's went up, going up 4-0 and 5-1 before closing out the third set 6-2. The stats tell the story.

The next big clay court Master's title is in Madrid, starting next weekend.

2014 MONTE CARLO: Ferrer Hands Nadal A Rare Clay Defeat!

David Ferrer scored a stunning upset at the ATP Monte Carlo Masters today when he beat 8-time champion Rafael Nadal in straight sets 7-6(1) 6-4 in the quarterfinals. This was  a surprise because Nadal rarely loses on clay, and defeated Ferrer in the men's final of Roland Garros last year. Nadal had lead their head-to-head 21-5 and had not lost on clay to Ferrer since 2004.

Nadal had won the ATP Monte Carlo Masters an unprecedented 8 consecutive years (2005-2012) but lost in the final to Novak Djokovic last year.

The semifinals will be Roger Federer versus Novak Djokovic and Stanislas Wawrinka versus David Ferrer. Federer leads Djokovic 17-16 in their overall head-to-head but the two are tied 3-all in their clay court matches. My prediction would be a Djokovic-Ferrer final, but I would not be surprised to see a Djokovic-Wawrinka final instead, since I imagine his win over Nadal was very emotional for Ferrer. An All-Swiss final would be my druthers!

2014 KEY BISCAYNE: Finals Are Serena-Li Na and Djokovic-Nadal XL

The finals of the 2014 Sony Open are set. On the men's side World #1 Rafael Nadal will face World #2 Novak Djokovic. Last week, Djokovic won the 2014 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. Bizarrely, the men's final is taking place with neither player having played a semifinal. Nadal was scheduled to play Tomas Berdych, but the Czech player withdrew with a stomach virus. And after dispatching Roger Federer and David Ferrer in subsequent rounds, Kei Nishikori withdrew from his semifinal with Djokovic with a left groin injury. Nadal and Djokovic will meet for a record 40th time on Sunday, with the Spaniard leading their head-to-head 22-17.

On the women's side, World #1 Serena Williams will face World #2 Li Na after beating Maria Sharapova for the fifteenth(!) consecutive time. Li Na escaped a 1-3 deficit in the final set against Dominika Cibulkova to reach her first final in this mandatory WTA event by escaping 7-5 2-6 6-3. Williams has won this tournament 6 times (2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2013) and reached the final 2 other times (1999, 2009). Andre Agassi is the only player to have won the tournament 6 times.

MadProfessah's prediction: Serena and Djokovic.

TENNIS TUESDAY: Dimitrov Enters ATP Top 20, Berdych Reaches #5

Grigor Dimitrov won his second career ATP title by defeating Kevin Anderson in a tough 3-set match  in Acapulco on Sunday. Both players were rewarded with berths in the Top 20, with Dimitrov reaching a career high #16. At 22, he is the youngest player in the Top 20,although Milos Raonic (#11) and Jerzy Janowicz (#20) are not much older. Dimitrov won his first tour title last October in Stockholm.

Despite winning his biggest title in 18 months, Roger Federer did not improve in the rankings, so  he is still stuck at World #8. In fact, his opponent Tomas Berdych whom he beat in the Dubai final reached World #5 thanks to a tumble by Juan Martin del Potro from #5 to #7. Federer is less than 600 points from surpassing World #4 David Ferrer however, as the slots #4-#8 are very closely grouped together in point totals.

Wawrinka Up To #3, Federer Down To #8 In ATP Rankings

The new ATP World Tour rankings are out and reflect the movement that has occurred as a result of the conclusion of the 2014 Australian Open. The biggest mover is of course Stanislas Wawrinka, the winner of the first major of the year, vaulting 5 places to World #3, with both Andy Murray and David Ferrer each falling two slots to #6 and #5, respectively. Juan Martin del Potro rises one slot to World #4, which is previous career high.

Roger Federer falls two slots to World #8 but since his performance at the rest of the majors last year was quite substandard for him (only one quarterfinal in the last three) he should be expected to be back in the Top 5 soon. Another interesting question is to wonder how long Wawrinka will stay in the Top 5. He just entered the Top 10 last year and at age 28 he has a child (and ex-wife) to think about.

2014 AUS OPEN: Men's Semifinals Preview

The men's semifinals are now set at the 2014 Australian Open. I have already previewed the women's semifinals this year. Last year, I predicted 1 of 2 women's semifinals correctly and 2 of 2 men's semifinals correctly.  This year I correctly predicted 1 of 4 women's quarterfinals and 1 of 4 men's quarterfinals.

This is the lowest rate of accuracy I have ever had in a major since I started blogging them regularly since 2005 so that tells you something about the unpredictable nature of the results in Melbourne this year. I hope that at least one (if not both) of my predictions are wrong again!

Rafael Nadal (ESP) [1] vs. Andy Murray (GBR) [4] Roger Federer (SUI) [6]  This is the 33rd time the two great champions will face each other, but the real question os how will Federer-Nadal XXXIII be different from Federer-Nadal XXVII, the 2012 Australian Open semifinal played two years ago? Or from Federer-Nadal XXXI and Federer-Nadal XXXII, which were two hard-court matches played last year. It's just not a good match-up between Nadal's lefty forehand hitting to Federer's one-handed righty backhand. That being said, Grigor Dimitrov showed for approximately 3 sets how a one-handed backhander can hold their own against Nadal, so maybe Federer can take inspiration from that. However, the truth is that last time that Federer one won of these meetings was Federer-Nadal XXVIII, which it should be noted was on a very windy hard court in Indian Wells. The point is that Federer will need some assistance to win this match, either from Nadal or from the elements. I'm already surprised that he was able to defend all his points from making the semifinal round here last year, his 11th consecutive Australian Open semifinal, and it seems almost inconceivable Federer could be playing in his first major final since Wimbledon 2012 (which he won, of course). My heart wants to pick Federer in this match but my head is pretty sure Nadal will be victorious. Mad Professah's pick: Nadal in 4.

Tomas Berdych (CZE) [7] David Ferrer (ESP) [3]. vs. Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) [8] Novak Djokovic (SRB) [2]. For the second time in recent history, there are two Swiss players in the semifinals of a very important tournament. Last year, Wawrinka and Federer were in the semifinals of the year-end championship in London and they both lost (to Djokovic and Nadal, respectively). I think history may repeat itself here, even though Wawrinka played an astonishing match against Djokovic to end the Serb's 3-year grip on the trophy. And even though Wawrinka has a career head-to-head lead of 8-5 against Berdych, including a Wawrinka win in the one major tournament meeting in New York City. On hard courts the Wawrinka is only 5-4 and I just think that Berdych has more experience in major semifinals (1 in every major, for a total of 4) while Wawrinka is playing in his second consecutive major semifinal. Again, my heart wants to root for a Wawrinka win (I'm a sucker for a one-handed backhand since I play that way myself) and I believe his win against the defending champion deserves to be rewarded, but I just have this feeling that Berdych is getting ready to make a breakthrough similar to what Juan Martin del Potro did in 2009. And we know how that turned out! Mad Professah's pick: Berdych in 5.

2014 AUS OPEN: Wawrinka Shocks Djokovic In 5-set Thriller!

Well, well, well! In the first day of the 2014 Australian Open quarterfinals much to my surprise the lower ranked person was able to defeat their higher ranked opponent. In the rematch of Stanislas Wawrinka and 4-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic, Wawrinka was finally able to win a tough 5-set match against the former #1  to reach his second consecutive major semifinal. Djokovic was also on an incredible 28-match winning streak, including 25 consecutive wins at the Australian Open. He lost this match 2-6 6-4 6-2 3-6 9-7 in a bizarrely complementary fashion to last year's showdown in the 4th round. This time Djokovic lost the last two points of the match from 30-all in his must-hold service game by committing very bad errors (failing to handle a mishit service return and then completely blowing a duck volley on match point). The win improves Wawrinka's record to 3-15 against Djokovic and means that Djokovic's run of 14 consecutive major semifinals is ended. (Roger Federer still has the all-time record at 23). Djokovic now has a streak of 23 consecutive major quarterfinals, 13 behind Federer's record of 36.

In a smaller surprise, Tomas Berdych reached his first major semifinal in Australia by defeating World #3 David Ferrer 6-1 6-4 2-6 6-4.

This means that for the first time since Wimbledon 2010 Men's final  between Nadal and Berdych (which I saw in person) someone other than one of the Top 4 of Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer or Andy Murray will be playing in a grand slam final. Wawrinka and Murray will face off in one of the semifinals for the 2014 Australian Open final slot. Wawrinka actually leads that head-to-head 8-5.

Today's men's quarterfinals feature Federer versus Murray and Nadal versus Gregor Dimitrov. I predict another Nadal-Berdych final! (Although I would LOVE to see an all-Swiss one!)