2015 CINCY: Federer Claims 87th ATP Title; 7th Here; Reclaims World #2 Ranking

As I predicted yesterday, Roger Federer defeated Novak Djokovic to win the 2015 Cincinnati Masters. Federer won his 87th career ATP title, 7th in Cincinnati and 24th ATP Masters title of his career. Federer won 7-6(1) 6-3, never getting his serve broken for the entire tournament.

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

Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1] v. Roger Federer (SUI) [2]

Here are my predictions for the men's final at the Wimbledon Championships for 2015. Last year I did not predict that Novak Djokovic would beat Roger Federer in the final. This year I correctly predicted that Serena Williams would defeat Garbiñe Muguruza in the women's final. I also  correctly predicted correctly 2 of 4 women's quarterfinals, 2 of 2 women's semifinals, 2 of 2 men's semifinals and 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals.

The Men's Semifinals: A Review
Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1] d. Richard Gasquet (FRA) [23] 7-6(2) 6-4 6-4. The winner of this match was never really in doubt. Richard Gasquet is a good grass-court player and deserves respect, but sometimes people are overmatched, and there's a reason why Djokovic has been #1 for more than a year while Gasquet is seeded #20. That being said, the Frenchman acquitted himself well and did not embarrass himself like he did at his hometown slam a month ago where none of the three sets he played against Djokovic were even remotely competitive. At this point in his career Djokovic simply doesn't lose in big tournaments to players outside the Top 10 (and rarely even loses to those players in those moments). His record in the last four majors is 25-2.

Andy Murray (GBR) [3] l. Roger Federer (SUI) [2] 5-7 5-7 4-6. This match-up between the 2012 Wimbledon champion (Federer) and the 2013 Wimbledon champion (Murray) for the right to face the 2014 Wimbledon champion (Djokovic) is a plot worthy of a Hollywood script. Many people thought that Murray would win this match because arguably he has been playing as well as Federer this year (they each have 6 losses but the Scot has 10 more wins, although bizarrely the Swiss has won one more title but Murray has had a better record at the Slams so far in 2015.) They both came into this match undefeated on grass for the year but Federer has worked himself into a deadly efficiency on his serve at this year's Wimbledon. He has only faced four breakpoints in the tournament to date and saved three of them(!). In this match against one of the best service-returners in the game Federer faced a breakpoint only in the very first game, and ended up winning 70 of 91 service points. This resulted in relentless pressure on Murray in his service games, who played very well, serving at a very good 74% but he was outmatched by Federer's 76%. The British player was only broken at the end of sets when the importance of the points increased geometrically and the tension ratcheted up exponentially. A key point was in the 10th game of the second set where the two played an excruciatingly long game, where Murray faced and saved 5 breakpoints that were set points. He saved them all with incredible defense and displaying his elite foot speed to bring the set score to 5-all and the capacity crowd in Centre Court (and Murray Mound/Henman Hill) roaring to its feat with joy. Federer shook off the lost opportunities, held serve in under a minute and the next time Murray served he was unable to again save all the breakpoints (which were also set points). Part of the reason Federer was so effective was that his movement was extraordinary and he was hitting his topspin backhand with authority, deferring the use of his effective slice backhand mostly to service return points. Murray played well but lost to the better player on the day.

The Men's Final: A Preview and Prediction

Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1] vs. Roger Federer (SUI) [2]. Of course this match is a reprise of last year's men's final, which was won by Djokovic in 5 sets, despite losing the first set in a tiebreak, and losing the fourth set when he was up a break (and had chances for a double break). These two players have the second longest rivalry in the history of men's tennis, having met 39 times before (Federer has a slight 20-19 edge). Even though the Federer-Nadal rivalry is more famous (and compelling) it actually only consists of 33 meetings (with the Spaniard dominating 23-10), the Djokovic-Nadal rivalry is men's tennis longest, stretching to 44 games, with Nadal slightly ahead (23-21). The two have played three times so far this year with Djokovic winning twice (Indian Wells final and Rome final) and Federer once (Dubai final). Federer-Djokovic XL is happening on grass at  the 2015 Wimbledon championships where the numbers indicate that the 17-time major champion is playing slightly better than the 8-time major champ. Federer has more winners, less errors, a higher service percentage, a higher service return percentage and an impeccable record on his serve at this year's tournament. Djokovic has been broken 5 times (but saved an incredible 20 of 25 break points) while Federer has been broken once (saved 3 of 4 breakpoints). If Federer does get into pressure situations for the first time in the tournament, how will he handle them? I'm sure his game plan is to serve well enough not to get into those positions in the first place (like he did against Murray), but Djokovic is an even better returner than Murray so I can't believe that this match will be that one-sided. That being said, I do think that Federer is playing better than he did last year and with Djokovic's loss in the French Open final a few weeks ago, he is the one who really has more mental pressure to still demonstrate that he has the game to take him into the upper pantheon of the tennis greats. Federer already knows that he will be in any conversation about the Greatest Of All Time regardless of the outcome of this match, which is his 10th Wimbledon final and 26th major final of his career (17-8); his legacy is assured. For Djokovic, playing in his 17th major final (4th in five years at Wimbledon) he is only 8-8 with the final determination of his relative greatness still to be determined. MadProfessah's prediction: Federer.

2015 WIMBLEDON: Men's Semifinals Preview

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

Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1] vs. Stan Wawrinka (SUI) [4] Richard Gasquet (FRA) [23]. The #1 seed  has only lost two tiebreak sets in the first 5 matches played in his title defense here and is now rewarded with not having to face his good friend Stan Wawrinka (who denied him his most desired trophy last month) in order to reach his 4th Wimbledon final in the last five years. Wawrinka demonstrated with his inability to close out Richard Gasquet that despite winning two major tiles in the last 18 months it is still premature to talk about a "Big 5" at the top of men's tennis. The Frenchman, who still has the best one-handed backhand in tennis, was able to show his mental fortitude in a surprising (to some) 6-4 4-6 3-6 6-4 11-9 victory over the #4 seed. The win was only Gasquet's second in seventeen tries over Top 10 opponents but he is now undefeated in the three major quarterfinals of his career. Unfortunately, he is 0-2 in the two major semifinals (l. to Rafael Nadal at 2013 U.S. Open  and l. to Roger Federer at 2007 Wimbledon) he has contested. Unfortunately for him, he has to face Djokovic who has a 11-1 head-to-head advantage over him and as recently as last month beat him easily (6-1 6-2 6-3) at the French Open. I doubt this match will be that lopsided but the result will be the same. PREDICTION: Djokovic.

Andy Murray (GBR) [3] vs. Roger Federer (SUI) [2]. This is much more likely to be the more compelling semifinal of the two that will be played on Friday. The head-to-head between these two players is quite close (12-11 lead for Federer) and the two have not played so far in 2015 with Federer winning their last meeting 6-0 6-1 at the end of last year in London. The two have only played on grass twice despite meeting 23 times on tour, with Federer winning the 2012 Wimbledon title and Murray winning the Gold Medal match a few weeks later (both played on Centre Court at the All-England Club). Federer is playing in his record 37th major semifinal (25-11) while Murray is playing in his 17th major semifinal (8-all). It has to be acknowledged that Federer is the better "big match" player (which is sort of amusing to say considering that Murray won the biggest match of maybe any tennis player's career by ending Great Britain's long drought for a home grown champion in Wimbledon in 2013.) Murray was actually well on his way to winning their first meeting in the 2012 Wimbledon final when Federer was able to change tactics once the roof was closed in the second set and won the match in four. Murray has the better record than Federer so far this year (41-6 win-loss record compared to 34-6) but at this year's Wimbledon Federer has had his serve broken once and has faced only three breakpoints total. If they both play as well as they have played up to this point, I expect a repeat of last year's final. PREDICTION: Federer.

TENNIS TUESDAY: Czechs Win Fed Cup; Serena-Woz Friendship, Federer Still In Hunt For 2014 #1 Rank

Czech Win Fed Cup (Again)
The Czech Republic dominated Germany to win the 2014 Fed Cup title; it is the country's 3rd win in four years (2014, 2012 and 2011). Anchored by 2-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, the 2014 Wimbledon champion scored wins over Angelique Kerber and Andrea Petkovic. Combined with Lucie Safarova's win over Kerber, this gave the Czech team a unassailable lead over Germany.

Serena-Wozniacki Friendship Puzzles Observers

Despite playing against each other in two recent high profile matches (2014 US Open final and the Year-End Championships semifinals) World #1 Serena Williams and former World #1 Caroline Wozniacki continue to be best friends and unafraid of showing the world they can be friendly off the court and fierce competitors off it.

Federer Likely To Reach Year End Championships Semifinals, Year End #1 (Theoretically) Possible

Roger Federer has won his first two matches at the ATP World Tour Finals in London by defeating Milos Raonic and Kei Nishikori in straight sets. However since Nishikori and Murray have both won and lost one match each, it is theoretically possible that if Federer loses against Murray and Nishikori beats Raonic that they could qualify. But all Federer has to do is win a set against Murray and he will definitely qualify. Since Nishikori beat Murray it would be more likely that Nishikori could qualify before Murray along with Federer. If Raonic beats Nishikori then Federer and Murray will automatically qualify regardless of the result of their match. Federr could end the year #1 if he wins the Year--End Championships by remaining undefeated *and* wins multiple live rubbers in the Davis Cup final the following week.

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 AUS OPEN: Double Surprise! Federer Beats Murray, Aggie beats Vika!

In two more surprising results on the hard courts in Melbourne, Australia (following defending champion Novak Djokovic's loss), World #6 Roger Federer upset World #4 Andy Murray and World #5 Agnieska Radwanska upset World #2 Victoria Azarenka in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.

I had predicted neither of these results, in my men's quarterfinals predictions where I was right 1 out of 4 times (Rafael Nadal d. Grigor Dimitrov) nor in my women's quarterfinal predictions, where I was right 1 of 4 times (Li Na d. Flavia Pennetta).

I am not unhappy with these results. I think it shows that rankings do not always mean anything, and even when one person leads a match-up, as in Vika-Aga (13-2), you never know what can happen. Hopefully, Federer can take this to heart as he plays Rafa for the 33rd time in the semifinals. where he trails 10-22, and lost in 4 sets to the Spaniard at this stage in 2012 and in the final of 2009. It's hard to argue that Federer now is playing better than Federer then and that Nadal now is worse than Nadal then. But, at least on hard courts Federer has his best chance of making another major final, where he would be favored against whomever he plays: Tomas Berdych or Stanislas Wawrinka.

Tennis Tuesday: Federer Splits With Coach Paul Annacone

17-major champion Roger Federer announced on his website this weekend that he is ending his "coaching relationship" with Paul Annacone. The statement reads:

After a terrific 3 ½ years working together, Paul and I have decided to move on to the next chapter in our professional lives. When we started together we had a vision of a 3 year plan to win another Grand Slam title and get back to the number #1 ranking. Along with many other goals and great memories, these 2 main goals were achieved. After numerous conversations culminating at the end of our most recent training block, we felt like this was the best time and path for both of us. Paul remains a dear friend, and we both look forward to continuing our friendship. I want to thank Paul for his help and the value he has added to me and my team.

Federer is currently at #7 on the latest ATP Tour rankings, his lowest position in nearly a decade and for the first time since 2002 he failed to reach a single major final and only reached a single major semifinal (in Australia, losing to Andy Murray) in 2013. His arch-rival Rafael Nadal is back at #1 in the rankings.

This is probably a good sign that the 32-year-old Federer is serious about changing things up in his team in order to improve his results in 2014 and hopefully eke out one more slam win before he calls it a career. I'm just curious as to whom he would get to coach him. Darren Cahill seems interested and did a good job with Agassi when he was over 30 years old.

Federer Falls To #5 In ATP World Tour Rankings

As a result of failing to defend his 2012 Wimbledon title, Roger Federer falls two places to #5 in the newly released ATP World Tour rankings. He is replaced there by David Ferrer of Spain, who reaches a career high. Despite winning Wimbledon yesterday, Andy Murray is still more than 2,500 points behind Djokovic and since he won the US Open last year, Murray can not gain any more points by repeating his win so he will have to look at the hard-court Master series tournaments in Montreal, Cincinnati  Paris and China if the Scot wants to make  a real run at World #1.

Federer's rank is the lowest he has been on the tour in a decade (June 23, 2013), which was right before the Swiss great won his first of seven Wimbledon titles (and 17 major titles) a few days later.

2013 WIMBLEDON Round 1: Nadal(5), Errani(5), Kirilenko(10) Upset

Round 1 of the 2013 Wimbledon Championships is complete. Of course the most significant result of the first two days of play is 2-time Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal's shocking loss in the first round to Belgian Steve Darcis. However there were other surprising results in the first round on the men's side: Former Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt eliminated #11 seed Stanislas Wawrinka in straight sets. In another curious result Feliciano Lopez beat #17 seed Gilles Simon; this was the second time in three days they had met because Lopez also beat Simon in the finals of Eastbourne on Sunday.

On the women's side of the draw, the #5 seed also went out in the first round when Puerto Rican teenager Monica Puig beat clay court specialist Sara Errani and British hope Laura Robson ignored the pressure of a nation and beat Maria Kirilenko in straight sets.

Top seeds Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, David Ferrer, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga all won their first round matches relatively easily. Additionally, on the women's side Serena Williams won her first match in 57 minutes, extending her current winning streak to 32 consecutive matches. She will face talented French youngster Caroline Garcia in the 2nd round. Maria Sharapova, Angelique Kerber, Aggie Radwanska, and Victoria Azarenka all won their first round matches. Azarenka had an injury scare after she went down hard in her match but she was still able to win easily. If she is not 100% she could be in trouble in her second round match against Flavia Pennetta.

Second Round matches to take note of
Li Na [6] versus Simona Halep, Madison Keys versus Mona Barthel [30], Sloane Stephens[17] versus Andrea Petkovic and Marion Bartoli [15] versus Christina McHale.

Feliciano Lopez versus Paul-Henri Mathieu, James Blake versus Bernard Tomic, Tsonga versus Ernests Gulbis and Hewitt versus Dustin Brown.

2013 WIMBLEDON: The Draw Is Out; Rafa-Raja QF Likely

Oh my! When the news was confirmed that 2-time champion (and 3-time finalist) Rafael Nadal was seeded #5 at this year's Wimbledon, the immediate question was, whose quarter would he be in? It turns out that he landed in 7-time champion Roger Federer's quarter. This is both good and bad news for Roger. It is bad because he has lost to Nadal twice so far this year, on hard courts in Indian Wells and on clay in Rome and all of his losses at Wimbledon have occurred in either the quarterfinals (2011 l. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or 2010 l. Tomas Berdych) or in the 2008 final to Nadal. However it is also good news for Federer fans, because while Nadal still has a 20-10 overall head-to-head lead on Federer, the Great One has a 2-1 lead on grass. The quarterfinal, if it occurs would be Federer 37th consecutive in a major, and occur on Monday July 1.

In fact, the bottom half of the draw not only contains former champs Federer and Nadal, it also contains Andy Murray, the #2 seed and the Great Hope of Britain for the first homegrown Wimbledon champion since 1936. Murray could meet Tsonga in the quarters, a repeat of last year's semifinal won by the Brit in four nervy sets. Also lurking in the bottom half of the draw are 2002 champion Lleyton Hewitt, John Isner and Mikhail Youzhny. In the top half of the men's draw 2011 champion and World #1 Novak Djokovic has Berdych in his quarter, with the other quarter being an unlikely match-up between David Ferrer and Juan Martin del Potro.

On the women's side of the draw World #1 and defending champion Serena Williams is the clear favorite to win the tournament. She should have no problem getting to her quarterfinal against Angelique Kerber, last year's semifinalist (if the German gets past Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the first round). In the bottom quarter of the top half of the draw, last year's finalist Agnieska Radwanska (Andy Murray's favourite WTA player!) could face Li Na in the quarterfinals. Just like with the men, the bottom half of the draw is where all the action is. 2013 Australian Open champ Victoria Azarenka and 2004 champion Maria Sharapova could meet in yet another major semifinal, while 2011 Wimbledon champion also lurks, as the Belarussian's potential quarterfinal opponent. Sharapova could potentially meet Sara Errani in a quarterfinal matchup, but most likely either Marion Bartoli or the winner of the first round slugfest between American youngsters Sloane Stephens and Jamie Hampton will be the Russian's opponent there.

Other first round match-ups of note are Heather Watson versus Madison Keys, Daniela Hantuchova versus Klara Zakopalova, Sabine Lisicki versus Francesca Schiavone, and Laura Robson versus  Maria Kirilenko.

Men's first rounders to keep an eye on are Hewitt versus Stanislas Wawrinka, Bernard Tomic versus Sam Querrey and Marcos Baghdatis against Marin Cilic.

Last year I correctly predicted all men's and women's quarterfinals, semifinals and finals, so it is unlikely I will repeat that performance again. However, I am sure this year will of course be an exciting tournament.

Play!

MIAMI 2013: Murray Faces Ferrer For Title, #2 Spot

Andy Murray is 1 match win away
from the World #2 ranking

World #3 Andy Murray of Great Britain reached the final of the Miami Masters tournament for the third time by outlasting (and outplaying) a resurgent Richard Gasquet 6-7(3) 6-1 6-2. Murray will face David Ferrer who came from behind to dispatch a red-hot Tommy Haas, still basking in his stunning win over World #1 Novak Djokovic, 4-6 6-2 6-3. The two traded breaks repeatedly throughout the deciding set, with the indomitable Spaniard prevailing. Djokovic was the 2-time defending champion at the tournament, now called Sony Open Tennis, so his exit means a new champion will be crowned for the first time since 2010.

In addition to a coveted Masters shield, Murray is also playing for an even bigger prize: the #2 ranking on the ATP World Tour. If he wins the title he will return to the #2 spot (which he last held for 3 weeks in August 2009), but more importantly he will be ranked ahead of Roger Federer for the first time in his career. Murray deserves the #2 ranking, he is the only player to have been in the last 3 consecutive major finals (2012 Wimbledon final l. Federer, 2012 US Open final w. Djokovic, 2013 Australian Open final l. Djokovic). Although, if you look at the last 4 majors, both Murray and Djokovic have been in 3 of the last 4 majors. If Murray wants to be #1 in the world by the end of the year (which is a possibility) he will need to dramatically improve his clay court results, especially in the Masters Shields events in Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome. Unfortunately for Murray's plans to reach #1, the King of Clay Rafael Nadal is back, and appears to be playing well.

To even have a chance at #1 he has to reach #2, and to get there Murray has to beat Ferrer in the final. The Briton has a surprisingly slight 6-5 career head-to-had advantage over. This record sounds closer than it is because 4 of the 5 losses have been on clay, where Murray has under-performed in the last few years. On hard courts Murray leads 5-1, with the one loss coming at the 2011 ATP World Tour Finals which Murray withdrew from after that match. On a (relatively fast) hard court, Murray is showing that he is at least the second best player in the world, and has been for probably more than a year. Soon his ranking will reflect that fact, since that is the surface most of the important tournaments on the tour are played on.

MadProfessah prediction: Murray.

2013 AUS OPEN: Men's Final Preview

Novak Djokovic (SRB) [2] vs. Andy Murray (GBR) [3]

Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray were born exactly a week apart from each other in 1987 and have faced each other 17 times on the ATP tour, with the younger player currently leading 10-7 in their career head-to-head.

The two have met in 2 major finals so far, with Djokovic winning the 2011 Australian Open in straight sets and Murray winning the 2012 U.S. Open in 5 sets. The two have only met one other time in a major and that was their thrilling 2012 Australian Open semifinal won by Djokovic 7-5 in the 5th set which was one of the best matches of the year.

Here is my prediction for the 2013 Australian Open men's final. I correctly predicted the winner of the men's final last year. I previously correctly predicted 4 of 4 men's quarterfinals and 2 of 2 men's semifinals this year. On the women's side of the draw, I correctly predicted 3 of 4 women's quarterfinals and 1 of 2 women's semifinals this year. This year I incorrectly predicted the winner of the women's final.

How They Got Here
A. Murray (GBR) [3] d. R. Federer (SUI) [2] 6-4 6-7(5) 6-3 6-7(2) 6-2. Murray had never beaten Federer at a major tournament despite meeting in three major finals (2008 US Open, 2010 Australian Open and 2012 Wimbledon). However, in the 2013 Australian Open semifinal the Briton came in to the match having not dropped a set while Federer had survived a tough 5-set test against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Murray looked like he had the match wrapped up in the 4th set when he served for it at 6-5 but he was broken and then played a horrendous tiebreak which lead to a 5th set. Surprisingly, Federer completely faded relatively early in the deciding set and Murray quickly garnered an insurmountable lead and won the match.

Novak Djokovic (SRB) [2] d. D. Ferrer (ESP) [4] 6-2 6-2 6-1. David Ferrer is known as "The Beast" and "Iron Man" for his stamina and off-court regimen which has led to him optimizing the amount of power and tennis talent capable of emerging from his diminutive frame. The fact that Djokovic was able to demolish such a respected player who has been a fixture in the Top 5 for years in just 89 minutes is nothing less than astonishing. The Serb played absolutely other-worldly tennis, probably his best performance of the tournament.

Who Will Win
It is a very hard call to pick who will win the match. Since this is sports, the unexpected can always happen. Who would have thought that Li Na would turn her ankle and fall twice in the women's final despite almost never having done so in a professional match before? There are multiple dimensions to the contest on a tennis court, the primary being the mental and the physical. (And the two can be related and interrelated of course.)

Mentally, I would have to give a very slight edge to Djokovic. He survived a nearly 6 hours match against Rafael Nadal in the final last year and has beaten his current opponent just two years ago at this very same stage, so the Serb's confidence must be high and he believes that he can win this match. Murray knows that it is definitely possible that he can win this match as well, since he beat Djokovic in a tough 5-set match under very tough, windy conditions in New York a mere four months ago.

Physically, I can not really distinguish the two. Djokovic has the better groundstrokes (backhand and forehand) and movement around the court, but Murray has faster speed, a stronger serve, and a better service return. But Djokovic has slightly more stamina (as far as we know so far).

Who wants to win it more? Most definitely Murray wants it more than Djokovic at this point since the Brit only has one major while the World #1 has won four of the last 8 majors played and has a total of 5 majors so far in his career. Murray has been more efficient in his play throughout the tournament but Djokovic has the tougher competition even though he didn't have to face Federer.

If Djokovic plays the same level of tennis he exhibited against Ferrer he could win in straight sets again, but if he plays the tennis he has played throughout the championship and so does Murray then we could have another instant classic on par with last year's final with the winner being anyone's guess. Interestingly, Federer gives Djokovic the slight edge to win the title, but this may be sour grapes for his loss to Murray, since he was visibly upset and caught on tape swearing repeatedly during his semifinal loss. Federer's reasoning is that Djokovic has had an extra day of rest and he had a straight sets semifinal win while Murray had a 5-set win. But last year, Djokovic had a 5-set win in the semifinals over Murray while Nadal had a 4-set win over Federer and Djokovic was still able to win. But that was more because Djokovic is simply the better hard court player. At this point I think Djokovic is still slightly the better hard court player (51% to 49%) but that doesn't mean he will win the match.

What I do know is that I feel very lucky that we have two players entering the primes of their tennis careers while two of the greatest ever (Federer and Nadal) are still relevant and competitive. Regardless of who wins this particular major, the four will be exchanging wins and losses relatively evenly for the next 12-18 months at least.

Mad Professah's pick: Djokovic in 3 or 4 sets OR Murray in 5 sets.

2013 AUS OPEN: Men's Semifinal Preview

The men's semifinals are now set at the 2013 Australian Open. Last year, I predicted 4 of 4 women's quarterfinals correctly and 4 of 4 men's quarterfinals correctly. This year I  correctly predicted 3 of 4 women's quarterfinals and correctly predicted 4 of 4 men's quarterfinals.

I have also correctly predicted 1 of 2 women's semifinals this year.

Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1] vs David Ferrer (ESP) [4]. Ferrer is very lucky to be here because he was down 2 sets and a break against his good friend and countryman Nicolas Almagro whom he had never lost to before in 12 previous matches.

With this belief, Ferrer was able to battle back to win the 3rd set and then after repeatedly trading service breaks he was to win a 4th set tiebreak and then easily run away with the win. Djokovic continued his domination of Tomas Berdych  by winning his 12th match in 13 meetings against the tall Czech, this time in 4 sets. Ferrer and Djokovic have met 14 times in their career with the World #1 enjoying a significant 9-5 edge, including 3-0 in 5-set Grand Slam matches.  In fact, the two met at this very same stage in the previous major in New York with Djokovic prevailing in 4 sets but Ferrer was in control of that match for a significant stretch of time under very difficult windy conditions.  There's nothing that Ferrer does better than Djokovic and he is yet to show that his residency in the Top 4 of Men's Tennis will not be temporary as we await the return of his friend and compatriot who has a dominating record against him: Rafael Nadal. Last year Djokovic was able to outlast Nadal in an instant-classic, nearly 6-hour final (the best match of the year), is there anyone who thinks that Ferrer can exceed that performance? I didn't think so. Mad Professah's pick: Djokovic in 3 sets.

Andy Murray (GBR) [3] vs Roger Federer (SUI) [2].  This has been the most anticipated match-up of the tournament since the draw was released before the 2013 Australian Open began. The big question was with Nadal out of the tournament, in whose part of the draw would the #3 member of the trivalry at the top of men's tennis: Djokovic's half or Federer's half? Not only did Murray finish in Federer's half but so did numerous other problematic opponents like Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Milos Raonic and Bernard Tomic. In fact, of the top four players, Federer's path to the final was by far the most difficult. Amazingly, he was able to win a tough 5-set match against Tsonga in the quarterfinal despite playing his worst tennis of the tournament, with what is very likely a career low of a mere six aces in a 5-set match, with less errors but also less winners than his opponent. If you look at the stats of the match, it is astonishing that Federer was able to win 7-6(4) 4-6 7-6(4) 3-6 6-3 despite converting far less breakpoints than his opponent as well. With this   win Federer has now made 10 consecutive Australian Open semifinals, and has a 5-4 record in those matches.

Murray on the other hand was able to easily dismiss the hard-hitting Frenchman Jereny Chardy who earlier had upset Juan Martin del Potro 2 round before. In fact, the winner of the last contested major tournament has yet to drop a set in this tournament, the only semifinalists to do so. Murray is simply playing the best tennis of the four and despite Djokovic's head-to-head advantage over him and should be considered the favorite to win the entire tournament at this point. Murray has always matched up well with Federer and has a slight 10-9 career head-to-head edge which he should use to give him confidence to win this mach. Before winning his first major title in New York, Murray often had difficulty playing his best tennis in big matches but that is probably a thing of the past. Mad Professah's pick: Murray in 4 sets.

ATP TOUR FINALS 2012: Nole, Raja, Andy in Semis

Novak Djokovic qualified for the semifinals by  going 3-0 in the round-robin section of the 2012 ATP World Tour Finals in London, beating his rival Andy Murray for the 4th time in 7 meetings this year as well as Tomas Berdych and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Murray also qualified for the semifinals, by beating Berdych and Tsonga. Berdych beat Tsonga for the 3rd consecutive time in an important match, leaving last year's World Tour finalist winless in the tournament this year.

Roger Federer is already through to the semifinals by winning his first two matches without dropping a set and today will face Juan Martin del Potro. David Ferrer faces Janko Tipsarevich in the other round-robin match.

If Federer wins a set off of del Potro he will be at the top of his group and thus play Murray in the semis while Djokovic will play either Del Potro or Ferrer (whichever wins by losing the fewest number of sets or games).

So, the most likely semifinal match-ups are Djokovic vs Ferrer and Murray vs Federer with a Djokovic-Murray final match for the title of player of the year on the line.

SHANGHAI 2012: Djokovic(2) v Murray(3) in Final

As predicted yesterday, Andy Murray defeated Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic defeated Tomas Berdych in the semifinals of the 2012 Shanghai Masters tournament to set up a reprise of the 2012 US Open final, Murray versus Djokovic, which was won by Murray.

Murray beat Federer 6-4 6-4 on a disastrous serving performance from the Swiss great (at one point he served three consecutive double faults in a row!) to improve his career head-to-head to 10-8. Djokovic has now only lost once to Berdych in 11 meetings, winning 6-3 6-4.

Djokovic and Murray were born a week apart and have met 5 times in 2012. Murray has won 3 of those 5 meetings, including the last two times they played (US Open final and London Olympics semifinal). Djokovic has a slim 8-7 lead on Murray all-time career head-to-head. Murray plays well in Shanghai and has won the title twice before here. This is an important match for the future of this rivalry, with Federer now well over 31 years old and Rafael Nadal injured and having not played a professional match for well over 3 months with an unclear return date, the Murray-Djokovic rivalry could dominate men's tennis in 2013 and beyond.

This could actually be a very good match, since Djokovic should be full of confidence since he has reached his 10th tour final of the year and won his 4th title of 2012 last week in Beijing. Murray knows he has been able to outlast Djokovic in recent matches, and winning this match will set him up for trying to claim the #1 ranking sometime in the next year.

MadProfessah's Prediction: Murray.