TENNIS TUESDAY: Nadal Nearly Nude; Djokovic Attempts Reset; Sharapova Haters Savor Victories

NADAL POSES NEARLY NUDE IN TOMMY HILFIGER UNDERWEAR
14-time major champion Rafael Nadal is undefeated on clay in 2017 and has won his 10th title at the ATP Monte Carlo Masters and the Barcelona tournament. He is on track to win his 10th title at Roland Garros in Paris this year. To celebrate(?), he is posing nearly nude wearing Tommy Hilfiger underwear. You're welcome!

DJOKOVIC TRIES TO RESET HIS SEASON BY FIRING ENTIRE COACHING STAFF
While Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are resurgent this season the former World #1 Novak Djokovic (who is still at #2 in the rankings) has taken the radical step of firing his entire coaching team, including longtime coach Marian Vajda whom has been with him for over a decade (June 2006). Since winning his 12th major and achieving the career slam (and Nole Slam) at the 2016 French Open, Djokovic has been oddly off-kilter, despite making the 2016 US Open final (where he lost to Stan Wawrinka) and by the end of the year he eventually lost the World #1 ranking to Andy Murray.

SHARAPOVA COMEBACK STALLED BY LOSING TO PLAYERS WHO HATE HER
Since 5-time major champion Maria Sharapova returned after serving a 15-month suspension from the game, she has played well so far but ultimately come up short in the latter stages of crucial matches to two players who were sharply critical of her: Kiki Mladenovic (3-6 7-5 6-4 Stuttgart semifinal) and Genie Bouchard (Madrid 2nd Round 7-5 2-6 6-4). Both Bouchard and Mladenovic called Sharapova a cheater, and in addition to doing their talking off the court, they followed it up with even larger statements on the court, defeating Sharapova in important tournaments.

2015 WIMBLEDON: Women's Final Preview (and Semifinals Review)

Serena Williams (USA) [1] vs Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP) [20]

This is my preview post for the women's final at the Wimbledon Championships for 2015. Last year I correctly predicted that Petra Kvitova would defeat Eugenie Bouchard. This year I correctly predicted correctly 2 of 4 women's quarterfinals, 2 of 2 women's semifinals, 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals and 2 of 2 men's semifinals.

Below is my review of women's semifinals and a preview and prediction of the women's final at this year's Wimbledon Championships.

Women's Semifinals: Reviews

Serena Williams (USA) [1] d. Maria Sharapova (RUS) [4] 6-2 6-4. For the seventeenth        time after losing two consecutive matches in 2004 to her, Serena  beat "rival" Maria Sharapova. This time it was in the semifinals of Wimbledon, but most of their matches in the last ten years have been important occasions, since both players have been at the top of women's tennis for this period. However, when their trajectories intersect at the business end of a tournament, Serena has basically always come out on top. This is primarily because she has the most dangerous weapon in women's tennis: her serve. Especially considering that ever since Sharapova's shoulder surgery in 2009 she has had been plagued with issues with her toss, leading to double faults at inopportune moments. This was clear in the very first game of this match where she double-faulted 3 times (25% first serves in) and went down a break despite Serena gifting three unforced errors in that very first game. A few minutes later Serena held serve with little difficulty and all the scoreboard pressure was on Sharapova from the very beginning and it basically never went away. The second set was closer but again Serena was able to get a break and whenever Sharapova even sniffed an opportunity Serena was able to serve away the potential danger. The final game also was a microcosm of the match by demonstrating the result was on Serena's racquet not Sharapova's. Although Serena began with a double fault, she basically hit unreturned and unreturnable serves four times in a row to close out the match and reach her 8th Wimbledon final (5-2 so far).

Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP) [20] d. Agnieska Radwanska (POL) [13] 6-2 3-6 6-3. As I suspected beforehand, this was by far the more suspenseful semifinal this year. Some people thought that Muguruza's win here was an upset but as the 21-year-old Spaniard demonstrated for the first set and a half when she raced to a 6-2 3-1 lead, she has a powerful game well-suited to grass-court tennis. However once she could see the finish line she got nervous and Radwanska was able to use her brilliant court sense and tennis wiles to make things even more difficult for the youngster. This led to a string of seven games in a row for the Polish tennis shotmaker. However, despite being up an early break in the third set I never felt like Radwanska was in control of the match. This was borne out immediately because Muguruza resumed cracking the ball and broke her opponents serve twice by winning 50% of return points and approaching the net to put away floaters. This aggressive play was what allowed her to overwhelm her opponent in the deciding set in order to reach her first Wimbledon final.

Women's Final: A Preview and Prediction
Serena Williams (USA) [1] vs Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP) [20]. This is a huge match for both players, of course, it's a Wimbledon final for goodness sake! For Serena Williams this is her 25th major final (an incredible 20-4 record) and if she wins she will be three fourths of the way to the calendar Grand Slam, and will have won 28 Grand Slam matches in a row, her second "Serena slam."
For Garbiñe Muguruza this is her very first major final. In fact, for the last six years there has been a first-time finalist in the Wimbledon final with only Petra Kvitova coming through that experience with a win in 2011. Muguruza is good, but is she Kvitova-on-grass good? The way Kvitova played both her 2011 and 2014 finals she probably would have beaten any opponent (even one named Williams!) As Luci Safarova showed just a month ago in Paris, if you can keep the score close, Serena may get nervous and let you into the match. However, after dispatching 7-time major champion Venus Williams, 2-time major champion Victoria Azarenka and 5-time major champion Maria Sharapova I find it hard to believe that Serena will allow a newcomer to surprise her, especially one who has previously shocked her in a Grand Slam match. Serena will be wary, ready and deadly. MadProfessah's pick: Serena

2015 WIMBLEDON: Venus Serves Up Double Bagel; #1 and #2 seeds Win 1R

The first day of play at the 2015 Wimbledon Championships is over and the Top 2 seeds in the men and women's draw have not dropped a set. #1 seed (and defending champion) Novak Djokovic faced the toughest resistance, against Philipp Kohlschreiber but still won 6-4 6-4 6-4. #2 seed Roger Federer won his match in straight sets (6-1 6-3 6-3).

On the women's side #1 seed Serena Williams started off very slowly against Margarita Gasparyan and found herself down 1-3 early on. She got back on track against a spirited opponent and ended up winning 6-4 6-1. #2 seed (and defending champion) Petra Kvitova dominated her opponent with a 6-1 6-0 win (in 35 minutes!)

Other notable victories include 5-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams 6-0 6-0 win over fellow American Madison Brengle in 42 minutes Interestingly, there have been two other "double bagels" so far in the women's draw: Angelique Kerber and Andrea Petkovic also won their matches without losing a game.

The only major upsets so far is #9 seed Carla Suarez Navarro who lost 6-2 6-0.

2015 WIMBLEDON: Men's And Women's Draw Released and Analyzed

The 2015 Wimbledon's men's and women's draw was released today. The defending champions are Novak Djokovic and Petra Kvitova. Djokovic is also the #1 men's seed this year while Serena Williams is the #1 seed on the women's seed.

Men's Draw Analysis
Djokovic has a tricky first round match with Philipp Kohlschreiber but the rest of the big four (7-time Wimbledon champ Roger Federer, 2013 Wimbledon champ Andy Murray and 2-time Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal) are all in the bottom half of the draw. However, Djokovic could perhaps meet Stan Wawrinka in a semifinal which would be a reprise of the 2015 French Open final that Wawrinka won a few weeks ago.

The potential quarterfinals are: Djokovic (1) versus Kei Nishikori (7), Wawrinka (4) versus Milos Raonic (7), David Ferrer (8) or Rafael Nadal (10) versus Murray (3) and Tomas Berdych (6) versus Federer(2).

Women's Draw Analysis
Serena Williams (1) has a pretty tough draw, but she could possibly meet her sister Venus Williams in the 4th round (if Venus gets past fellow American Madison Brengle in the first round) and then Ana Ivanovic or Victoria Azarenka in the quarterfinals and Maria Sharapova or Lucie Safarova in the semifinals and Petra Kvitova in the final. The lower half of the draw has other grass-court standouts like Madison Keys, Angelique Kerber and Sabine Lisicki.

The potential quarterfinals are: Serena (1) versus Ana Ivanovic (7), Maria Shaparova (4) versus Lucie Safarova (6), Caroline Wozniacki (5) versus Simona Halep (3), and Petra Kvitova (2)  versus Ekaterina Makarova (8).

Interesting First Round Matches To Watch
Venus Williams versus Madison Brengle
Garbine Muguruza versus Varvara Lepchenko
Sara Errani versus Francesca Schiavone
Lleyton Hewitt versus Jarkko Nieminen
Donald Young versus Marco Baghdatis
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga versus Gilles Muller
Jack Sock versus Sam Groth

2015 FRENCH OPEN Round 1: Dimitrov(10), Lopez(11), Bouchard(6), Aga(14), Venus(15) All Lost

The first round of the 2015 French Open is now complete and there have been only a limited number of upsets.

On the men's side #10 seed Grigor Dimitrov was upset by American Jack Sock and #11 seed Feliciano Lopez was upset by Teimaruz Gabashvilli.

On the women's side the horrible 2015 season for Agnieska Radwanska and Eugenie Bouchard continues with embarrassing first round losses at Roland Garros. Bouchard is the #6 seed and in 2014 reached the semifinals of the first 3 majors of the year. Unfortunately for her, her 2015 results have been very different and she somewhat predictably lost her first round match to Kiki Mladenovic.

However the marquee match-up of the first round was probably between 7-time major champion Venus Williams and Sloane Stephens. Venus is the #15 seed in the tournament and Stephens is a dangerous floater in the draw who avoided being seeded but has had consistently good results in Paris the last two years. Clay is Venus' is worst surface and she was the oldest player in the men's or women's draw (34 years old). The two played high quality tennis for most of the first set until they got to a tie break where Venus inexplicably hit 4 unforced errors after getting a lead and lost it 7-6(4). Venus then continued to spray the ball and lost the second set 6-1.

The favorites Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Petra Kvitova and Simona Halep all got through their first round matches relatively easily with only Kvitova dropping a set.

2015 AUS OPEN: Women's Semifinals Preview

The women's semifinals are now set at the 2015 Australian Open. Last year, I predicted 1 of 2 women's semifinals correctly and 1 of 2 men's quarterfinals correctly. This year I correctly predicted 2 of 4 women's quarterfinals and 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals (blogger ate the post!).

Serena Williams (USA) [1] vs Madison Keys (USA) Venus Williams (USA) [18] Petra Kvitova (CZE) [4]. Madison Keys is the breakout teenage female star of this year's Australian Open. The question is, following similar star-making turns by fellow teenagers in 2013 (Sloane Stephens) and 2014 (Eugene Bouchard), whose career path will she follow, the American or the Canadian? Hopefully, it will be the latter's not the former's. Keys impressed me with her mental and physical fortitude to gut out a win against her idol Venus Williams in the quarterfinal, despite repeatedly falling behind a break in the deciding set. This demonstrates why someone like Lindsey Davenport agreed to work with Keys and why her name has been bandied about as a future multiple slam winner for years. However, beating Venus at this stage in her career is one thing, taking out her 18-time major champion sister is quite another. Especially since Serena looks like she has righted the ship and demolished last year's finalist Dominika Cibulkova like it was a first week warm-up match, not a quarterfinal. Serena has won this thing 5 times before, usually in odd years, and has never not won the tournament when she reaches the semifinal. Then there's the extra wrinkle that Keys definitely injured herself in her win over Venus, things do not look well for a teenage finalist. Only seven players have ever defeated both Williams sister at the same tournament, and the people who did it at a major are multiple slam winners: Kim Clijsters, Justine Henin and Martina Hingis. Does Madison Keys belong on this list? We'll know soon! Mad Professah's pick: Williams in 2 sets.

Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) [10] vs Maria Sharapova (RUS) [2]. Makarova did well to dismiss a surprisingly uncombative Simona Halep in the quarterfinals, giving up only four games. As other observers have pointed out, the lefty Russian is "sneaky good" and is peaking somewhat late in her career by reaching two consecutive semifinal runs at majors. However no one, perhaps even Makarova herself, believes that she can actually win a major. Maria Sharapova definitely believes she can win any major, and has been playing the best tennis at this one of anyone at the top of the women's game and may be rewarded with the #1 ranking again. She put on a master class against Eugene Bouchard (a.k.a. Sharapova 2.0), making a not-very-subtle statement to the heir apparent that Masha is not ready to leave the big stage and that others need to wait their turn. The question is, is she really ready to finally turn around a decade-long losing streak to Serena Williams in the final? That will definitely indicate mental toughness. Mad Professah's pick: Sharapova in 2 sets.

2015 AUS OPEN: Women's Quarterfinals Preview

The women's quarterfinals are now set at the 2015 Australian Open. Last year, I predicted 1 of 4 women's quarterfinals correctly and 1 of 4 men's quarterfinals correctly. I will also preview the 2015 Australian Open men's quarterfinals.

Serena Williams (USA) [1]  vs Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) [11].mSerena Williams got revenge on Gabine Muguruza in a hard-fought 2-6 6-3 6-2 win that was a lot closer than the score indicates. Cibulkova, last year's surprise finalist here, played what most observers are calling the best match of the tournament to date in her win over 2-time Australian Open champion Vika Azarenka, coming down from a break in the final set to prevail, 6-2 3-6 6-3. Interestingly, it was Cibulkova who took more risks and went for more when the stakes were raised in that contest, which served her well when her main weapon, the forehand down the line, spanking the line. . Serena has never lost to the hard-hitting pint-sized dynamo, and after being forced to raise her game against Muguruza, I'm confident she will be ready to dispatch the Slovak. Mad Professah's Pick: Williams in 2 sets.

Venus Williams (USA) [18] Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) [6] vs Madison Keys (USA) Petra Kvitova (CZE) [4]. Venus Williams has made a believer out of a lot of observers who have been quietly (and some not so quietly) calling for her retirement. She not only survived a near death experience when Camila Giorgi served for the match in the 3rd round, against Radwanska, Venus was boken in the ver first game of the third set. However both final sets ended with the same dominating score: 6-1. This demonstrates that the 34-year-old American still has what it takes to close out a hard-fought match deep in to a major tournament. Madison Keys is finally having the breakthrough that her athletic prowess has been indicating that she should have been having. She dismissed current Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in the third round, outhitting one of the top Big Babes of Tennis. Can Madison really dispatch someone she has looked up to and idolized since she was 4-years-old and is the reason she is a professional tennis player? She can, but somehow I don't think she will, at least not this time. Besides, I think Venus will use her superior movement to exploit Madison's deficiency in this area, something she often did to Madison's coach, Lindsey Davenport.Mad Professah's pick: Williams in 3 sets.

Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) [10] vs Simona Halep (ROU) [3]. Makarova always playes her best tennis in Ausatralia, having earned a lot of big scalps down under (as both Williams sisters know).In the last year, Makarova has been starting to make her presence felt at the other majors as well, with a semifinal berth at the 2014 US Open. Her lefty spin and excellent movement can be a devastating combination, now that she has the belief that she can hang out there with the elite of the game. Her mental toughness will be tested in the extreme against the resiliency of Simona Halep, however, who generally wins the matches she is supposed to win and rarely loses to people lower ranked than she is. Mad Professah's pick: Halep in 3 sets.

Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) [7] vs Maria Sharapova (RUS) [2].  Again, this match-up between the two closest ranked opponents in the Final 8 should make for the most compelling tennis but when you look at their head-to-head record Sharapova has won all three meetings, although their semifinal match at the 2014 French Open was one that really could have gone either way, and Bouchard is well aware of that. Sharapova knows that she is playing with house money having survived 2 match points in the 2nd round against unheralded Russian Alexandra Panova while Bouchard has let the pressure of expectations lead to complications when she was closing out huge leads against players she would be expected to beat. Mad Professah's pick: Sharapova in 3 sets.

2015 AUS OPEN Day 8 Preview: Serena vs Muguruza, Venus vs Radwanska, Vika vs Cibulkova

The Australian Open heats up today with the rest of the quarterfinal field being decided. Currently, Genie Bouchard(7), Maria Sharapova(2), Ekaterina Makarova(10) and Simona Halep(3) are already in the quarterfinals.

The four matches to be completed today are Aga Radwanska versus Venus Williams, Serena Williams versus Garbine Muguruza, Vika Azarenka versus Dominika Cibulkova and, lastly, Americans Madison Keys versus Madison Brengle.

The male quarterfinalists are Andy Murray(6) who will face Australian teenager Nick Kyrgios, and Rafael Nadal(3) who will face Tomas Berdych(7).

TENNIS TUESDAY: Serena, Federer, Murray Win Titles; Ivanovic To Rise To World #5

Long May She Reign
Serena Williams ended her 2014 like she did the last three years: she won the last major of the year (the US Open) and also won the season-ending championships. This year she beat Simona Halep 6-3 6-0 to confirm her status as the #1 player in the world for 2014, surprisingly, she has only achieved the year-end #1 ranking three times before: 2002, 2009 and 2013. It's pretty incredible that at age 33 Serena is playing some of her best tennis and 2015 look like it could be a great year. (I expect her to win at least two majors).

Ivanovic Ends Year Ranked World #5; Most Wins On Tour With 58
While Serena is not exactly dominating the WTA Tour one thing that makes the women's tennis interesting to watch is the changing cast of characters who keep trying to challenge for the top of the game: Victoria Azarenka (injured), Li Na (retired), Maria Sharapova, Petra Kvitova, Genie Bouchard, Simona Halep and now Ana Ivanovic. Ivanovic had a fantastic 2014, winning more matches on tour than anyone else (58), six more than Serena. She will be rewarded by ending the year at #5 in the World, her first time in the true elite of women's tennis since 2009. If she has solved her issues with mental toughness then Ivanovic has the game to challenge for majors in 2015.

Federer Wins Basel For 6th Time And Has World #1 In Sight
Federer played in his 11th final in his home town of Basel Switzerland this weekend and won his 6th title there, easily beating David Goffin 6-2 6-2. It was only Goffin's 3rd loss in his last 46 matches played (generally at smaller events on tour). The title was Federer's 82nd tour title, placing him 3rd on the all time list, behind Ivan Lendl's 94 (which I think Federer has a pretty good chance of reaching if he retires in 2016) and Jimmy Connors' incredible 109. He has an overall record of 82-41 in tour finals. More importantly, Djokovic is defending 2500 points in the next two tournaments. Federer has to earn 500 more points than Djokovic to become #1, that would probably entail beating him in atleast one of those finals, or Djokovic failing to reach one of the finals.

Murray Wins Match After Saving 5 Match Points Against Robredo. Again!
Andy Murray basically secured his place at the ATP World Tour Finals in London by winning his second title in as many weeks by defeating a Spanish dirtballer. The Scot won his 31st career titles (out of 45 finals) by coming back from 5 match points down to beat Tommy Robredo in one of the best matches of the year 3-6 7-6(7) 7-6(8). With Nadal's season over and Murray currently at #5 on the list he is almost certain to qualify for London as long as he wins a match at the Paris Masters this week. This was Robredo's reaction at the net when the match was over:

2014 WTA YEC: SHOCK! Serena Loses 8th Bagel Set Of Career To Halep In 6-0 6-2 Defeat

Well, well, well! The question of how Serena Williams would do at this year's WTA Tour Championships were front and center when she was put in the same round-robin section as the three "It" girls of 2014 (Ana Ivanovic, Simona Halep and Genie Bouchard) was answered on Wednesday. The 18-time major champion won the fewest number of games in a professional match in 16 years, i.e. since she was just starting on the tour. Against Halep, every part of Serena's game was off and she quickly lost the first set 0-6, only the 8th bagel set of her career (managing to win only 7 points). She then lost the second set 6-2, ending her 16 match winning streak at the Year-Ending Championships.

The loss by Serena means that it is very likely that Sharapova could end the year at #1. If Serena fails to make it out of the round-robin group (in order to do so she needs to beat Genie Bouchard in straight sets) then Sharapova will only need to reach the final to become the new #1 ranked player in the world.

2014 WTA YEC: Serena and Sharapova Drawn Into Separate Groups

The Year-End Championships of the WTA tour is starting Monday in Singapore. World #1 Serena Williams won the title the last two years (d. Li Na in 2013 and d. Maria Sharapova in 2012). In order for Serena to end 2014 as #1 she will need to win at least 460 points more than Sharapova, which means that she either has to win the tournament for the fourth consecutive time she has played it, or Sharapova has to not reach the semifinal stage.

The draw has Serena in the Red Group which also includes Simona Halep, Genie Bouchard and Ana Ivanovic. Sharapova is in the White Group, which includes: Caroline Wozniacki, Petra Kvitova and Agnieska Radwanska.

The tournament should be very compelling, because it will feature match-ups for the first time this year between Serena and the two breakout stars of 2014: Wimbledon finalist Bouchard and Roland Garros finalist Halep. On the other side of the draw, Sharapova will definitely play 2-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova and US Open finalist Wozniacki.

TENNIS TUESDAY: Murray, Kvitova Win Titles; Rafa Returns; Dimitrov Poaches Fed Staff

Li Na was honored in a retirement ceremony at the China Open in Beijing

Federer's Physio Poached By "Baby Fed"
Wimbledon semifinalist and future World #1 Grigor Dimitrov has long been compared to his idol Roger Federer. Now, he has hired away Federer's longtime physical trainer Stephane Vivier. Vivier had worked with the 17-time major champion since 2009 but will be working with getting the 23-year-old Bulgarian into even better shape as he tries to improve his Top 10 ranking into a Top 5 ranking in the next year.

Murray Wins First Title Since 2013 Wimbledon, Saving 5 Match Points Against Robredo 
Andy Murray has not been the same player since he completed his life's dream to become the first British player to win Wimbledon in over 75 years. However, maybe in a sign that things are turning around for the Scot he was (finally) able to win another ATP tour title (his 29th), in Shenzhen, China by defeating Tommy Robredo. Typically, Murray did it the hard way, facing (and saving 5 match points in the second set tiebreaker) and then coming back to blitz the Spanish veteran in the 3rd set for a 5-7 7-6(9) 6-1 win.

In Wimbledon Final Reprise In Wuhan, Kvitova Dispatches Bouchard In Straight Sets Again
Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic and Genie Bouchard of Canada met in the final of the Wuhan Open, a reprise of their more famous meeting in the 2014 Wimbledon final just 2 months ago, but the result was similar. Kvitova was not as sharp in Wuhan as she was in London, but she still won 6-3 6-4 and became the fourth player to qualify for the year-end championships in Singapore.

Rafael Nadal Returns To Tour After 13-Week Absence, Bagels Gasquet In Easy Win
14-time major champion Rafael Nadal has been off the tour for 13 weeks since his stunning 4th round loss to Nick Kyrgios at Wimbledon, missing the entire North American hard court season which he dominated last year. Nadal returned to competitive play at the China Open in Beijing, where he dispatched the slumping Richard Gasquet 6-4 6-0.

Serena Wins In Beijing Despite Losing First 5 Games As A 33-Year Old; Venus Gets Revenge
World #1 Serena Williams withdrew from the Wuhan Open with a viral illness last week during a match against Alize Cornet and this week started where she left off by losing 5 consecutive games to Silvia Soler-Espinosa. However, she won 12 of the next 13 games to win the match and advanced again with an easy win over Tsevatana Pironkova. Her sister Venus Williams is also playing in Beijing and got revenge against French youngster Caroline Garcia for a 3rd set tiebreak loss in Wuhan the week before.

2014 US OPEN: Women's Quarterfinals Preview

Here are my predictions for the women's quarterfinals at the US Open for 2014. Last year I correctly predicted 4 of 4 women's quarterfinals and correctly predicted 2 of 4 men's quarterfinals.

Serena Williams (USA) [1] vs Flavia Pennetta (ITA) [11].  For the second time in three years one quarter of the U.S. Open quarterfinalists are from Italy. The last time it happened the two Italians faced each other and for the last two years there has been an Italian semifinalist at the U.S. Open. However, I doubt that it will happen a third year in a row. Flavia Penetta has had her best results here in New York, and reached the semifinals last year (losing to Azarenka in two very ugly, error-prone sets). Unfortunately for Flavia, instead of being drawn to face Vika again, she has to play Serena, who, now that she is in the business end of a major for the first time in 2014 is more determined than ever to finally capture Major #18, especially since she is the only member of the WTA Top 10 left remaining in the draw.  PREDICTION: Williams.

Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) [17] Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) [7] vs. Victoria Azarenka (BLR) [16]. day For the first time in a major all year, the quarterfinals will not be graced with the presence of Genie Bouchard of Canada. Instead the powerful Russian lefty reached the final 8 of her second consecutive major tournament as well as her second consecutive U.S. open quarters here in New York  She did so by controlling her nerves and her shots while the most improved player of the year started wilting in the heat and humidity of Flushing Meadows. This will be Makarova's 5th major quarterfinal but she is 0-4 so far. She'll play Vika Azarenka who is gunning to reach her 3rd consecutive final and return to her place of prominence in women's tennis. Fortunately for Vika, she leads Makarova 3-2 in their career head-to-head including 2 wins on hard courts. PREDICTION: Azarenka.

Shuai Peng (CHN) Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) [4] vs Jelena Jankovic (SRB) [9] Belinda Bencic (SUI). Peng is having a career-best performance in New York. She has already dismissed #4 seed Agnieska Radwanska, #14 Lucie Safarova and #28 Roberta Vinci to reach this far, so surely she won't falter against the unseeded teen sensation that is Belinda Bencic of Switzerland? Bencic, 17, is playing in her very first major quarterfinal, having surprised #9 Jelena Jankovic in a match only she and her coach Martina Hingis thought she could win. But Bencic won decisively. In some sense the Swiss player has had the more impressive road to get to this point, having dismissed two top 10 players (Jankovic and #6 Angelique Kerber). This match means so much to the players that it will almost certainly result in horrible tennis, and in the end it is very unlikely the victor will win their next match to reach their first career final. PREDICTION: Bencic. 

Sara Errani (ITA) [13] vs. Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) [10] Maria Sharapova (RUS) [5]. Wozniacki played one of the best matches of her life to absorb and redirect Maria Sharapova's powerful groundstrokes to outlast the 5-time major champion and earn a stunning (and rare) victory over one of the Big Babes of women's tennis. After seeing her ex-fiance' Rory Mcilroy go on to win two major golf championships after ending their relationship, Wozniacki has been playing with increased intensity and verve all summer long, with good results to show for it (like taking Serna Williams to 3 sets in both Montreal and Cincinnati) . With the upset of multiple top seeds from her half of the draw, the Dane is now the highest rated player in her half of the draw and she has always been an expert in beating players she is supposed to beat while coming up short against players with more power and stature than she has. Surprisingly, these two players have only met three times on tour and although Wozniacki leads 2-1 she hasn't played La Grande Sara since the Italian became ensconced in the Top 10 of women's tennis. No matter, this is a golden opportunity for Wozniacki and I would be shocked if she didn't take advantage of it to reach her 2nd major final and a chance to (finally) win her first major title. PREDICTION: Wozniacki. 

TENNIS TUESDAY: Djokovic Returns To #1; Kvitova Jumps To #4

Novak Djokovic has returned to the top spot in the ATP Tour rankings after winning his second Wimbledon title by defeating 17-time major champion Roger Federer in five sets.

Since relinquishing the top spot to Rafael Nadal last year, the Serbian has compiled a 54-4 match record and seven titles — including four ATP World Tour Masters 1000s, the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals and the Wimbledon crown — from eight finals. 

Nadal, who spent 143 weeks at No. 1, put together a 54-11 mark — highlighted by three titles from seven finals — over the same period. 

[...] 

Djokovic begins his third stint and 102nd week at the top of men’s professional tennis. He first ascended to No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings on 4 July 2011, following his first Wimbledon triumph, and held the top spot for 53 weeks. He reclaimed the No. 1 ranking from Federer on 5 November 2012, before relinquishing it to Nadal on 7 October 2013. 

Petra Kvitova has returned to World #4 ranking on the WTA tour after winning her second Wimbledon title by demolishing 20-year-old Canadian Eugenie Bouchard in the final 6-3 6-0. Serena Williams remains at #1.

2014 WIMBLEDON: Men's Final Preview

Roger Federer (SUI) [4] vs. Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1]

The players in the men's final of the 2014 Wimbledon championships are set. For the 35th time, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic will meet in a professional tennis match. Federer leads their rivalry 18-16 and won the one only major final the two contested (2007 US Open) as well as their one grass court meeting (2012 Wimbledon semifinals). Last year I correctly predicted Andy Murray would beat Djokovic in the men's final. This year I correctly predicted Petra Kvitova would win the women's title over Genie Bouchard. On the men's side I correctly predicted 2 of 2 men's quarterfinals and 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals. Here are my reviews of this year's men's semifinals and my preview of the men's final.

WHAT HAPPENED: Men's Semifinals Review

Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1] d. Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) [11] 6-4 3-6 7-6(2) 7-6(7). This was one of the best matches on the men's side of the draw. The 23-year-old Bulgarian was playing in his first major semifinal while Djokovic has reached the semifinals of every major except one of the last 16 played. The #1 seed has reached 5 consecutive Wimbledon semifinals in the last five years. This match looked like it was going to be routine when Djokovic was a set and 3-1 up. However, after Dimitrov was able to escape out of a tricky service game he was able to break back in the very next game and finally earned a lead by holding serve and breaking again. The third and fourth sets were decided by tiebreaks but there were very different tiebreaks. In the 3rd set tiebreak the result was never in doubt while in the 4th set tiebreak, Dimitrov had multiple set points but the 2011 Wimbledon champion was able to close out the match and reach his 14th major final.

Roger Federer (SUI) [4] d. Milos Raonic (CAN) [8] 6-4 6-4 6-4. This should have been a tricky match for Federer to win because the Canadian youngster has one of the biggest serves in the men's game and thus one would expect plenty of tiebreakers, which one would often expect to go to the bigger server (c.f. John Isner). But as I said in my semifinals preview, Federer is quite experienced in blocking back huge serves, and because he had been serving so well in the tournament (broken just once, in the first set against Stan Wawrinka) he knew that all he had to do was take advantage of any opportunities he had on the Raonic serve and he would have a good day. Federer ended up having 7 breakpoints and converting on 3 of them. He had only one breakpoint against his own serve and saved it. That basically was the match in a nutshell. If rallies went longer than 4 or 5 strokes then Federer was completely in control of the point. If Raonic missed a first serve then you felt he was automatically in trouble, and because his return game is not strong Federer was able to hold his serve at love repeatedly. Federer is now 9-0 in Wimbledon semifinals.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN: Men's Final Preview
Roger Federer (SUI) [4] vs. Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1]. This is Federer-Djokovic XXXV, the thirty-fifth meeting between the 17-time major champion from Switzerland and the 5-time major champion from Serbia. Of the big four Federer's match-up with Djokovic has always been the most in The Maestro's favor. Obviously, his match-up with Nadal is disastrous and his match-up with Murray is very close (currently 10-11 in the Scot's favor). The fact that Nick Kyrgios eliminated Nadal and that Dimitrov eliminated Murray is great news for Federer's chances. 

Although I think many people think that Djokovic is going to win this match, I agree with Nick Bolleteri that Federer has an excellent chance at the "upset." In fact I don't even think it is that much of an upset if Federer wins another grass court title. The number of times he has lost on grass in his career is miniscule. He has only ever lost once in a Wimbledon final once, in 2008's "Greatest Match Ever Played." Federer has already beaten Djokovic twice this year (Dubai and Monte Carlo, both places where the Serb was the defending champion). He also beat Djokovic on grass in 2012 in the Wimbledon semifinals when Djokovic was playing some of his best tennis, having just reached the 2012 Roland Garros final just weeks before. Federer has won 99% of his service games in the tournament to date, and even though he has not had to face  a great returner like Djokovic, I still feel like he is delivering enough variety and power with his new racquet that this will make this aspect of his game even stronger. The area where Djokovic has improved is in his serve. He currently has 73 aces to Federer's 69 (but he has also lost 3 more sets than Federer) so far. With both players serving well I suspect this match will resemble a 1990s-2000s era grass court match of the Sampras era, which would suit Federer perfectly. If it becomes a match with long drawn out points, then that is advantage Djokovic. If it rains and the roof is closed, that is advantage Federer.
I definitely expect it to be a close match, not a mismatch like this year's women's final.

To me the best thing about this match is that I will be happy with whomever wins. If Djokovic wins, he will improve to 7-7 in major finals, surpassing the career major total of his coach, Boris Becker, and reclaiming the World #1 ranking from Nadal, most likely cementing the top ranking for the year. If Federer wins, he will win his record 18th major, improving to 18-7 in major finals, increase his lead to 19-16 over Djokovic, rise to World #3 in the rankings and break his tie with Pete Sampras for the most Wimbledon titles (7) won in the modern era. He will also become the oldest player (at age 32) to win Wimbledon, and (presumably?) the first married father of four to do so. By the time next year's Wimbledon comes around Djokovic will also be a husband and a father and statistics have shown this decreases your likelihood of winning major titles. That being said, I am still confident that even though I expect it to be close (probably 4 sets) Federer will prevail.

MadProfessah's pick: Federer.

2014 WIMBLEDON: Kvitova Dominates Bouchard To Win 2nd Major Title

As I predicted yesterday, Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic won her second major title by defeating Genie Bouchard in the 2014 Wimbledon final. However, what was unexpected was the lopsided nature of the match: 6-3 6-0 (the fewest amount of games lost by the champion since Steffi Graf beat Monica Seles in the Wimbledon final in 1992). Kvitova just dominated her opponent in all aspects of the game: 28 winners to just 12 unforced winners in 15 games played and winning 6 of 13 breakpoints while serving at 68%. Bouchard hit 8 winners to just 4 unforced winners but the outcome of the match was not really in her hands due to Kvitova's stellar performance.

Kvitova will now be ranked #4 in the World on Monday while Bouchard will be World #7. By winning her second major final, Kvitova joins others like Lindsay Davenport, Monica Seles and Jennifer Capriati who won their first two major finals played. Kvitova clearly plays her best tennis at Wimbledon: in the last 5 years she has won 2 titles here (reaching the quarterfinals or better) and lost two Serena Williams in 2010 and 2012 when the American won the title instead.

Interestingly, the toughest match that Kvitova had in the entire two weeks this year was her amazing 3-set match against 5-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams where she won 5-7 7-7(5) 7-5. For Bouchard, this year in every last major tournament she has lost to the eventual winner, which is a very good sign for the 20-year old, especially considering she has only played six major tournaments in her career and just two years ago she won the Junior Wimbledon title.

It will be very interesting to see how the rest of their years will go. With something not right with Serena, there is an opening at the top of women's tennis right now. Will one of these players occupy the void?

2014 WIMBLEDON: Women's Final Preview

Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) [13] vs Petra Kvitova (CZE) [6]

The players for the 2014 Wimbledon women's final are set. 20-year-old Canadian Genie Bouchard will face 2011 Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, 24-year-old Czech lefty. Last year I incorrectly predicted that Sabine Lisicki would defeat Marion Bartoli.  This year I correctly predicted 1 of 2 women's semifinals, 2 of 4 women's quarterfinals, 2 of 2 men's semifinals, and 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals. Below is my preview and prediction post for the women's final.

WHAT HAPPENED: Women's Semifinal Review
Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) [13] d. Simona Halep (ROU) [3] 7-6(5) 6-2. Bouchard becomes the first Canadian woman to reach a major final by being incredibly aggressive on her return position, refusing to receive serve behind the baseline. At one point during the tournament her contact point on service return was 100% within the court. This brought her great success against the talented Halep who got up an early break but then immediately relinquished it. When they got to the tiebreak, Halep was leading 3-2 when play was delayed for 5 minutes to deal with an injured fan in the stands. Halep won the next point to take a 4-2 lead but then only won one other point to lose the breaker and the set. Then the fourth set was just a disaster for people like myself who expected the Romanian to rally, as Bouchard broke at will, running up a 5-2 double break lead and after some small wobbles on match point, the young Canadian was able to serve it out.

Petra Kvitova (CZE) [6] d. Lucie Safarova (CZE) [23] 7-6(6) 6-1. The two semifinals were eerily similar, with one break for each player in the first set followed by a nail-biter of a tiebreak. This was an excellent result for Safarova who had barely ever managed to hold pace with her countrywoman. She was able to reach 6-all in the tiebreak and simply played a bad point that allowed Kvitova to gain  a set point on her serve, which she won with a patented 1-2 play (serve out wide and then hit the return for a winner in to the open court). After that she opened her shoulders and just overpowered Safarova in the next set. Bizarrely, 3 of the 6 opponents that Kvitova beat to reach her 2nd Wimbledon final were fellow Czech players. I wonder if this will impact how they will view her on the Czech Fed Cup team?


WHAT WILL HAPPEN: Women's Final Preview

Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) [13] vs Petra Kvitova (CZE) [6]. The two have played once before, with Kvitova winning on the home turf of her opponent on the hard courts of Montreal last summer, 6-3 6-2 in 86 minutes. The match was much closer than the score indicates, with long points and multiple deuce games. This is good news for Bouchard because she has made a quantum leap since then, reaching 3 consecutive major semifinals, showing a resolve and consistency that her opponent here has really only shown once (in her 6-3 6-4 demolition of Maria Sharapova in 2011, where I was one of the rare people who predicted that result in advance.) That being said, Bouchard is 20-years-old and playing in her first major final. Few players win their first appearance in a major final, and there have been a lot of first time finalists in the last year: Halep lost in Paris, Dominika Cibulkova lost in Melbourne, Sabine Lisicki certainly did not do it in last year's Wimbledon final. Will Bouchard break this string? I think it is very possible that she will. It is fair to note here that Kvitova did do it in her first final, and it is clear that grass is her best surface at this point.

The match-up is interesting. Kvitova's lefty serving and go for broke power versus Bouchard's naked aggression and unbridled hungry, coupled with calmness under pressure. Bouchard has had her path to the final made much easier by Serena Williams upset by Alize Cornet and Angelique Kerbers clutch win over Sharapova. But there's no pressure like the pressure in a major final and Kvitova is more familiar with these moments. In fact, she was two points away from losing her 3rd round match against 5-time champion Venus Williams and came through that test with flying colors. Somehow I think she will repeat this feat tomorrow and win her 2nd major title. MadProfessah's pick: Kvitova.