2019 US OPEN: Men's Semifinals Preview

Here are my predictions for the men's semifinals at the 2019 U.S. Open Championships.  I will also predict the men's semifinals. This year I predicted 4 of 4 women's quarterfinals correctly and 1 of 4 men's quarterfinals correctly. Last year I predicted 1 of 2 men's semifinals correctly and 2 of 2 women's semifinals correctly. 

Stan Wawrinka (SUI) [23] Daniil Medvedev (RUS) [5] vs Roger Federer (SUI) [3] Grigor Dimitrov (BLR).  After bludgeoning the World #1 in the round before I (like many people) would have thought that the 3-time major champion would be able to eliminate the #5 seed in their quarterfinal, but Medvedev keeps on winning, fueled by the enmity of the New York City crowds. The other quarterfinal was even more shocking, with Dimitrov finally earning his first win over 20-time major champion Roger Federer, whose 38-year-old body let him down against his 28-year-old opponent in the last two sets. So the result is that we have two first-time US Open semifinalists competing to reach their first major final. 23-year-old Medvdev has been the hottest player on tour for the past two months, losing only two matches (in the finals of the Citi Open to Nick Kyrgios and in the Cincinnati Masters to Rafael Nadal). He has risen to World #5 in the rankings. Dimitrov and Medvedev have split their two previous meetings, both of which occurred in 2017. Dimitrov is the better athlete and has had the (much) easier route to the semifinals, including a walkover from Borna Coric in the second round. But 6-foot-6 Medvedev has a huge serve and a big game, so even though he must be tired he may have enough firepower to make his way into his first major final. Dimitrov will certainly be the crowd favorite, and the sentimental one.  Mad Professah's pick: Dimitrov.

Gael Monfils (FRA) [13] Matteo Berretini (ITA) [24] vs Rafael Nadal (ESP) [2]. Gael Monfils was up a set and a break before the wheels came off and he lost the next two sets but was able to fight off numerous match points to bring the match to a deciding fifth set tiebreak. In which he inexplicably double faulted, not once but twice! These mental errors basically were the deciding factor as he lost the tiebreak 7 points to 5 when his 23-year-old opponent was able to hit a serve on his 5th match point which Monfils could not return into the court. In some sense it won't matter, because the title is now Nadal's to lose, with Federer and Djokovic and Wawrinka being eliminated it is hard to see anyone preventing him from winning his 19th major on Sunday.  Mad Professah's pick: Nadal.

2019 US OPEN: Women's Semifinals Preview

Here are my predictions for the women's semifinals at the 2019 U.S. Open Championships.  I will also predict the men's semifinals. This year I predicted 4 of 4 women's quarterfinals correctly and 1 of 4 men's quarterfinals correctly. Last year I predicted 1 of 2 men's semifinals correctly and 2 of 2 women's semifinals correctly. 

Belinda Bencic (SUI) [13] vs. Bianca Andreescu (CAN) [15].  Bianca Andreescu is the real deal. The Canadian teenage phenom is playing in her first major draw at the US Open and is in to the semifinals without playing her very best tennis. How? She has a big game, and she is incredibly mentally tough. She outlasted Angie Kerber to win the biggest title of her career at Indian Wells in March and she won another major tournament in her hometown of Toronto when Serena retired with a back injury. Speaking of injury, Andreescu will jump from outside the Top 100 to the Top 10 on Monday despite being injured for nearly 4 months this year! Bencic has her own amazing story. She reached the quarterfinals of the US Open way back in 2014 when she was even younger than Andreescu is now and a horrible sequence of injuries generally prevented her from achieving the results that were expected. The two have never played each other before so it is hard to know what will happen. Bencic has the guile and tennis IQ of  a Latter-Day Hingis but Andreescu has a supernova-hot desire to win and a powerful game to back it up. It should be an incredible match. PREDICTION: Andreescu.

Serena Williams (USA) [8] vs. Elina Svitolina (UKR) [5].  Serena was devastating in her 6-1 6-0 demolition of Wang Qiang in her quarterfinal match, while Svitolina was just a bit better on the big points to ease past Jo Konta 6-4 6-4 in her quarterfinal. Serena and Svitolina have played 5 times and Serena has only lost once, but it was the last time they played, at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Svitolina is a much better player since then, and is playing in her second consecutive semifinal. Serena is playing in her 13 US Open semifinal and has a 9-3 record at this stage. I am hoping that she is mentally prepared for this match, because Svitolina is similar to Halep (whom Serena lost badly to in the 2019 Wimbledon final) with great movement and the ability to not make errors while retrieving a lot of attempted winners. Hopefully Svitolina will not be affected by the fact that her boyfriend Gael Monfils lost his chance to reach another major semifinal in a soul-sucking 5th set tiebreak due to not one but two double faults against Matteo Berretini. It should also be noted that Svitolina beat Venus Williams in the second round, so if she were to beat Serena she would be one of the rare people to beat both sisters in the same major tournament. Regardless, if Serena is focused and patient, which she has basically looked in every match (except for the Round of 16 against Petra Martic) she should prevail. PREDICTION: Williams.

2019 US OPEN: Men's Quarterfinals Preview

Here are my predictions for the men's quarterfinals at the 2019 U.S. Open Championships.  I have also predicted the women's quarterfinals. Last year I predicted 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals correctly and 3 of 4 women's quarterfinals correctly. 

Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1] Stan Wawrinka (SUI) [23] vs Daniil Medvedev (RUS) [5].  The World #1 and defending champion had made his way through the draw rather uneventfully until he ran into a diesel truck named Stan. The 3-time champion who is on his way back up the charts after  very serious knee surgeries basically bullied Djokovic around the court for two and a half sets until the 16-time major champion retired from the match, citing a shoulder injury. Medvedev is the latest of the #NextGen players to break through, having won his first Masters series shield in Montreal during his red-hot summer.  The two have only played only once before, in 2017 on grass (Wawrinka's worst surface), with Medevedev winning. The Russian has been making it through matches by will (fueled by the vocal opposition of the New York City crowds). This scenario should repeat itself again, but this time he'll be facing someone who can take advantage of it. Mad Professah's pick: Wawrinka.

Roger Federer (SUI) [3] vs Grigor Dimitrov (BLR). Formerly known as "Baby Fed," Dimitrov has had a horrendous year and a half since he reached his career-high ranking of World #3 after winning the ATP's Year-End Championships (over Davis Goffin). His ranking had fallen out of the Top 50 before this tournament, so it is miraculous that he was able to reach his first quarterfinal in New York this year. Hopefully this will turn his season around because he is too talented to not be "in the mix" on tour although at 28 he is part of the Lost Generation that the Big 4 denied tennis' biggest prizes. Unfortunately for Grigor he faces Federer, whom he has played 7 times and only won 1 set in the 18 the two have played. Hopefully he will do better than Goffin did in Federer's previous round, who only managed to win 4 games in a best-of-five match. Mad Professah's pick: Federer.

Matteo Berretini (ITA) [24] vs Gael Monfils (FRA) [13]. This is a first-time meeting between these players. Berretini is one of the breakout players of 2019, having already won two tour titles this year. The 23-year-old is listed at 6-foot-5 and 198 pounds while 32-year-old Monfils is "only" 6-foot-4 and 187 pounds. This is an incredibly important match for both players, as every major quarterfinal is. It's Berretini's first but Monfils' 9th. Oftentimes, the older player suffers in this situation with the knowledge of how rare these opportunities are but it can also happen that the younger player is overwhelmed by the occasion. This is basically a "call-em" match and that situation I go with the better athlete. Mad Professah's pick: Monfils.

Rafael Nadal (ESP) [2] vs Diego Schwartzman (ARG) [20] Alexander Zverev (GER) [6]. Diminutive Diego took out Sascha Zverev in four sets the round before, despite playing on the German's best surface and his worst. He has reached 2 other quarterfinals before, but it probably won't matter. He faces Nadal, whom he has played 7 times and only won 2 sets (not in the same match), losing every time. Nadal is playing in devastating form and unless an injury shows up, should make it to another US Open final. Will Federer be waiting for him there?  Mad Professah's pick: Nadal.

2019 INDIAN WELLS: Federer-Thiem and Kerber-Andreescu Finals

The finals of Indian Wells are now set. Sadly, Fedal39 ended up being a bust because Rafael Nadal withdrew from the tournament (and, eventually, the Miami Open) a few hours before his semifinal clash with Roger Federer. Bizarrely, after getting a walkover from Gael Monfils in the quarterfinal, Dominc Thiem defeated Milos Raonic 6-4 in the 3rd set to reach his first final in the Desert. So Federer and Thiem will compete for the first Masters series title of the year. The two have a 2-2 head-to-head record, but both of Federer's wins have occurred on hard courts. Federer is playing in his 9th final in Indian Wells, but last year he lost the final here (after having match point!) against Juan Martin del Potro. I suspect that won't happen this year. MadProfessah's prediction: Federer.

The women's side of the draw has been the more interesting tournament. After Belinda Bencic continued her incredible win streak by taking out World #1 Noami Osaka and Karolina Pliskova before falling to Angelique Kerber in the semifinals. Venus Williams had a resurgence in form, reaching the quarterfinals, winning one of the best matches of the tournament against Petra Kvitova. However, the biggest story of the tournament was the performance of 18-year-old Canadian wildcard Bianca Andreescu. She is in the final of her first WTA premier mandatory tournament on the strength of beating Garbine Muguruza 6-0 6-1 in the quarterfinals and outlasting Elina Svitolina in the semifinals (6-4 in the 3rd set). However, she will face Kerber, who has shut down the two other red-hot players in the tournament already (Venus and Bencic) and can probably do it a 3rd time. MadProfessah's pick: Kerber.

TENNIS TUESDAY: Bencic, Tstisipas Win Titles; Federer Seeks #100; FAA Reaches 1st ATP 500 Final; Monfils Beats Stan To Win Title

FELIX AUGER-ALIASSIME REACHES FIRST ATP 500 FINAL IN RIO
18-year-old Canadian phenom Felix Auger-Aliassime (or FAA) became the youngest player to ever reach an ATP 500 final by playing in the Rio Open final against Laslo Djere. 23-year-old Djere won 6-3 7-5, but both players are now at career highs: FAA is at #60 and Djere shot up 53(!) slots to #37.

BELINDA BENCIC DESTROYS FIELD EN ROUTE TO WINNING IN DUBAI
Reminiscent of her historic 2015 breakout win in Montreal, Belinda Bencic, now 21, won the title in Dubai by defeating four Top 10 players along the way: Aryna Sabalenka, (defending champion) Elina Svitolina, World #2 Simona Halep and World #3 Petra Kvitova. Bencic beat 2019 Australian Open finalist Kvitova in the final, 6-3 1-6 6-2.

ROGER FEDERER IS CHASING ATP CAREER TITLE #100 THIS WEEK IN DUBAI
The men's tournament in Dubai starts this week and Roger Federer will be seeking his 100th career title in a field with Marin Cilic (who lost to Gael Monfils), kei Nishikori and Karen Khachanov (who also lost). Federer bear Phillipp Kohlschreiber and will face Fernando Verdasco for a quarterfinal slot.

STEFANO TSISTIPAS AND GAEL MONFILS WIN TITLES
NextGen phenom (and 2019 Australian Open semifinalist) Stefanos Tsiptsipas won his second career title this week by defeating Mikhail Kukushkin in Merseilles in straight sets. Gael Monfils won his 8th career title last week by outlasting Stan Wawrinka in Rotterdam 6-3 1-6 6-2. La Monf has an atrocious record in finals (8W-21L) so this was a good result for the 32-year-old Frenchman.

2017 FRENCH OPEN: Round 1 Complete; Kerber, Konta, Tsonga, Zverev Out

The first round of the 2017 French Open is now complete. It took three days, and there were a relatively small number of upsets. The biggest upset (but not a surprise) was World #1 Angelique Kerber losing to Ekaterina Makarova 6-2 6-2 on the first day. There was some thought that World #1 Andy Murray would follow suit, but he came back from losing a 6-4 second set against Aelex Kuznetsov to win a 6-0 final set.

Other notable defeats were Jo Konta, 2017 Rome champion Sascha Zverev (to Fernando Verdasco), Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

The usual suspects are still around: Rafael Nadal, defending champion Novak Djokovic, tournament favorite Simona Halep and remaining top seed Karolina Pliskova all won relatively easily. Other players I am interested also won: Venus Williams, Sveta Kuznetsova, Garbine Muguruza and Madison Keys on the women's side and Dominic Thiem, Gael Monfils (who won a fun match with Dustin Brown) and Stan Wawrinka.

2017 AUS OPEN: Men's Semifinals Preview

The men's semifinals are now set at the 2017 Australian Open. Last year, I predicted 2 of 4 women's quarterfinals correctly and 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals correctly. This year I was unable to predict the quarterfinals due to my vacation travel but I am excited to continue my practice of predicting the results of the latter stages of Grand Slams. I have already written a blog post predicting the women's semifinals.

Roger Federer (SUI) [17] vs Stan Wawrinka (SUI) [4]. After not playing a match for more than six months due to a freak injury very few people expected Roger Federer to be able to defend his semifinal ranking points from the 2016 Australian Open. The 17-time major champion is playing in his 41st major semifinal and he is facing his countryman Stan Wawrinka, who is now a 3-time major champion himself and the reigning U.S. Open champion. Although Federer's now the lower ranked of the two Swiss players, he does have an overwhelming 18-3 head-to-head (only 5-2 since Wawrinka won his first major at the 2014 Australian Open) and has never lost to Stan on a hard court. Federer fans like myself are starting to get excited again now that the Greatest of all time is (again) a mere 6 sets from finally winning his 18th major singles title. However, since his arch nemesis Rafael Nadal is still in the tournament there is no guarantee that even seizing this opportunity will be enough to make it happen. I am not one of the millions of tennis fans hoping for another #Fedal final, but I do want to see the GOAT play his record 28th (17-10 record).  Mad Professah's pick: Federer in 4 sets.

Rafael Nadal (ESP) [9] Milos Raonic (CAN) [3] vs. Novak Djokovic (SRB) [2] Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) [15].  When the draw came out this was expected to be a blockbuster semifinal between the new World #3 and the defending champion. However, quite surprisingly neither of htem made it this far, with Djokovic losing to Denis Istomin in the 2nd round and Raonic losing to former champion Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals. Dimitrov is having something of a career resurgence, and is currently on a 10-match wining streak in 2017, having won the Brisbane warm-up tournament by slicing through the highly ranked field like a deadly scythe (he defeated three Top 10 players on the way ti winning that title: Dominic Thiem, Raonic and Kei Nishikori). Nadal has surprised many of his naysayers by reaching this far in the tournament, especially a hard court major. This is probably the best match-up hat the Spaniard could have hoped for, since he has a commanding 7-1 career head-to-head lead over Dimitrov, including a tough quarterfinal win at the 2014 Australian Open on his way to reaching the final in Melbourne that year. Will history repeat itself so that Nadal beats Dimitrov on the way to reaching the final (where he suffered a shock loss to Wawrinka). I'm not so sure, I was very impressed with the way that Dimitrov dismissed David Goffin in straight sets to reach his second major semifinal. Then again, Nadal is playing in his twenty-fourth. What will win out, age and experience or youth and desire? Mad Professah's pick: Dimitrov in 5 sets.

TENNIS TUESDAY: ATP YEC HALFWAY OVER, CZECH WIN FED CUP

ATP WORLD TOUR FINALS HALF OVER: Murray, Djokovic, Raonic, Thiem, Nishikori All Notch Victories
The year-end championships of the ATP tour are underway in London with the 8 players who had the best results in 2016. Novak Djokovic has won this tournament the last four consecutive years and needs to do so again in order to end the year ranked #1. Andy Murray, Kei Nishikori, Marin Cilic and Stan Wawrinka are in one round-robin group (named after JohnMcEnroe). The other round-robin group, which is named after Murray's coach Ivan Lendl, contains Djokovic, Milos Raonic, Dominic Thiem and Gael Monfils. Halfway through the tournament, everyone except Monfils, Cilic and Wawrinka have won at least one match.

Czech Republic Captures Fed Cup After Bravura Performance From Strycova
As I mentioned on Sunday, Babrora Strycova demonstrated her nerves of steel for the second consecutive year, coming up victorious in the fifth doubles rubber to power the Czech team for its 3rd consecutive Fed Cup and fifth title in 6 years. (In 2013 Italy beat Russia 4-0 to win the title.)

Andy Murray Relishes His 2nd Week As World #1, Trying To Win 9th Title in 2016
Andy Murray became World #1 last Monday after he reached the finals of the Paris Masters tournament. Murray eventually won his 8th title of the year by defeating John Isner in the final.

2016 US OPEN: Wawrinka Defeats Djokovic To Win 3rd Major Title

As I predicted, Stan Wawrinka won his 3rd major title on Sunday, by defeating defending champion Novak Djokovic 6-7(1) 6-4 7-5 6-3. Wawrinka is now undefeated in major finals (3-0); in fact he has won his last 11(!) finals played in the last three years. Djokovic has now played in 21 major finals and has a 12W-9L record. As many commentators have stated, Wawrinka is just one Wimbledon away from completing the career slam. He has won one major each year for the last three years. Look out Wimbledon 2017!

2016 US OPEN: Men's Final Preview (and Semifinals Review)

Here are my predictions for the men's final at the US Open for 2016. Last year I incorrectly predicted Roger Federer would beat Novak Djokovic. So far this year, I have correctly predicted 2 of 2 men's semifinals, 1 of 2 women's semifinals, 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals and 4 of 4 women's quarterfinals. I also correctly predicted Angelique Kerber would beat Karolina Pliskova in the 2016 women's final.

MEN'S SEMIFINALS REVIEW

Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1] d. Gael Monfils (FRA) [10] 6-3 6-2 3-6 6-2.  I didn't actually physically see this match myself because I was on a plane from Washington. D.C. to Los Angeles for most of it but I heard that it was a bit of a horror show. The conditions were hot and humid, but Monfils got the New York City crowd against him with his antics which made it appear as if he was not trying when he lost the first two sets. The Frenchman did manage to win the 3rd set but then was unable to sustain the momentum and lost the fourth set and the match. However, reaching his second major semifinal is enough to insure that Monfils will return to the Top 10 when the rankings come out on Monday. One question remaining is whether Monfils can achieve even more? Another more relevant question is what does this match say about the state of Djokovic's game as he reaches his 7th U.S. Open final?

Stan Wawrinka (SUI) [3] d. Kei Nishikori (JPN) [6] 4-6 7-5 6-4 6-2.   I did not expect either of these players to reach this semifinal; since I saw both Stan Wawrinka and Kei Nishikori up close when I visited the U.S. Open on Labor Day I was very surprised that these two were able to get past crowd favorites Juan Martin del Potro and Andy Murray, respectively. I didn't see this match either but it appears as if the warm conditions were harder on Wawrinka than Nishikori and this led to his loss of the first set. With a big push, Wawrinka was able to break at 5-all and serve out the second set to even the match. The roof was then closed and although one would have thought that would favor Kei, it appears as if Stan took more advantage of the climate-controlled conditions and ran away with the last two sets.

MEN'S FINAL PREVIEW

Djokovic is playing in his 21st career major final (12-8 record) and has already won two major finals in 2016, beating Andy Murray in Melbourne and Paris. He is on track to potentially surpass Roger Federer (18-10) and Rafael Nadal (14-6) as the all-time major singles title holder. Wawrinka is playing in his 3rd major final (2-0 record) in as many years. The Swiss player has turned into a remarkable big match player, having won the last 10 finals that he has played in during the last two years.

However, Djokovic has a prohibitive 19-4 career record against Wawrinka, but only leads 4-2 ever since Wawrinka joined the top 5 after winning the 2014 Australian Open. But the two have played some of the most thrilling 5-set matches of the last 5 years, particularly on hard courts. The two have not played in 2016, so it is hard to know what to expect. Djokovic is the #1 player in the world for a reason but he has looked vulnerable ever since he lost (shockingly) in the 3rd round of Wimbledon this summer and was dismissed by an in-form Juan Martin del Potro in straight sets at the Rio Olympics. In this tournament, Djokovic has been the recipient of a walkover (from Jiri Vesely) and not one but two retirements from injured players (Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarterfinals and Mikhail Youzhny in the 3rd round). Because of this we don't know how he will react when truly tested by someone he knows who can beat him, and this is one reason I thought if Andy Murray had reached the final, he would have won. Stan has won more majors in the last two years than Andy has, can he  also challenge Novak? Yes.

MadProfessah's pick: Wawrinka.

2016 US OPEN: Men's Semifinals Preview

Here are my predictions for the men's semifinals at the US Open for 2016. Last year I correctly predicted 0 of 2 women's semifinals and correctly predicted 2 of 2 men's semifinals. So far this year, I have correctly predicted 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals and 4 of 4 women's quarterfinals. I also predicted the women's semifinals this year.

Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1] vs Gael Monfils (FRA) [10].  This is Gael Monfils' first major semifinal since 2008 (and only the second major semifinal of his career) while this is Novak Djokovic's 10th consecutive year he has made the semifinals of the U.S. Open (and his 31st career major semifinal). Head-to-head this is their thirteenth meeting and the Frenchman has lost every single encounter, and only their very first meeting, way back in 2005, was their only competitive match at a major (where they have played three times). However, this should not detract from Monfils' achievement. Now 30-years-old, Monfils has been playing some of his best tennis all year long. He won a rare title in Washington DC (over Ivo Karlovic) and at this year's U.S. Open Monfils is yet to lose a set through 5 rounds of play. This streak is almost certain to end in the semifinals. However, this is sports, and  anything can happen. With Andy Murray's departure from the tournament, perhaps Djokovic will get tight realizing that since he has a combined 41-6 record against the remaining players in the draw (12-0 Monfils, 10-2 Nishikori, 19-4 Wawrinka) in order to win his 13th  major title and reach the 3rd highest total of all-time, behind Roger Federer (17), Pete Sampras (14), Rafa Nadal 14). Mad Professah's pick: Djokovic.

Stan Wawrinka (SUI) [3] vs Andy Murray (SUI) [2] Kei Nishikori (JPN) [6].   I did not expect either of these players to reach this semifinal; since I saw both Stan Wawrinka and Kei Nishikori up close when I visited the U.S. Open on Labor Day I was very surprised that these two would be able to get past crowd favorites Juan Martin del Potro and Andy Murray, respectively. Both Nishikori have previously upended expectations. Nishikori did it at this very tournament two years ago, when he beat Wawrinka, Milos Raonic and Novak Djokovic to reach the final (and lose to Marin Cilic).  Wawrinka has also confounded expectations and broken through the trivalry at the top of men's tennis twice before, winning the 2014 Australia Open (d. Nadal) and the 2015 French Open (d. Djokovic). Can he now win his third major in three years? It's very possible. The head-to-head between Wawrinka and Nishikori is 3-2 in the Swiss player's favor. It is notable that Nishikori beat Wawrinka on his way to reaching the final here two years ago, but he has also lost to him in the 2015 Australian Open. On hard courts the two are evenly matched. The knock on Nishikori is that there is doubt that his body can take the repeated pounding of consecutive crushing 5-set matches, and he played a humdinger against Murray, winning 7-5 in the 5th set in just under 4 hours. Mad Professah's pick: Wawrinka.

2016 US OPEN: Men's Quarterfinal's Preview

Here are my predictions for the men's quarterfinals at the US Open for 2016. Last year I correctly predicted 2 of 4 women's quarterfinals and correctly predicted 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals. This year I have also predicted the women's quarterfinals.

Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1] vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) [9].  These two have played some very important matches against each other (2008 Australian Open Final, 2010 Australian Open Quarterfinal, 2011 Wimbledon Semifinal, 2012 Roland Garros Quarterfinal) with Djokovic almost always prevailing, and he leads their overall head to head 15-6 and  5-1 in majors (the only loss was the 2010 Australian Open quarterfinal). Since Djokovic reached his peak in 2011 and 2015 the matches with Tsonga more often than not have not even been that competitive. There are some lingering doubts about the World #1's form, but those are basically based on the fact that he's been extremely lucky in having opponents retire or withdraw and so has really only played two-and-a-half matches to reach the quarterfinal of  a major. But, to me, that makes him more of a threat to win his 13th major title, not less of one. Then again, He has only won the title here in New York twice (in those two outstanding years) so I would not say he is the favorite right now even though he is the #1 seed. Mad Professah's pick: Djokovic.

Lucas Pouille (FRA) [24] vs Gael Monfils (FRA) [10].  This all-French quarterfinal is a result of an amazing effort by the 22-year-old Frenchman, who made a splash at Wimbledon this year by reaching his first major quarterfinal there but has really heralded his arrival as a Top 10 contender by defeating Rafael Nadal in a 5th set tiebreak which everyone is describing as the best match of the tournament. That being said, he has played a LOT of tennis in New York City this week and he will be playing Gael Monfils, a countryman who is well-rested, having not dropped a set in the entire tournament. Matches between players from the same country can often be nervy, low-quality affairs (c.f. Clijsters-Henin, Jankovic-Ivanovic, Nadal-Ferrer, Isner-Sock) and I suspect that will be the case here. However, you can also get 5-set thrillers, like the one John Isner and Donald Young played in the first round here this year. Monfils and Pouille have only met one on the ATP tour: in the first round f this year's Australian Open, and the match was won by Monfils in 5 sets. It's amazing that there could be another French men's finalist at the U.S. Open for the first time since Cedric Pioline did it in 1993. The only problem is that for that to happen, a French player needs to beat Novak Djokovic, and the Serbian has only lost one match to a Frenchman in the last 3 years. Mad Professah's pick: Monfils.

Stan Wawrinka (SUI) [3] vs Dominic Thiem (GBR) [3] Juan Martin del Potro (ARG). Now this is a compelling match-up, and should be the standout match of the 4 quarterfinals. It's the only meeting between two major champions, and Del Potro is slowly coming back to his own and figuring out how to be effective with his restructure game built around his refurbished wrists. The reason why the 6-foor-6 Argentine won his first  major  at the tender age of 20 (by beating Roger Federer and Nadal along the way) was because he has it all: huge serves, amazing movement for a big guy and blistering groundstrokes, especially the forehand side. However, his backhand is now almost exclusively slice, and I think that Wawrinka will be able to take advantage of that on Arthur Ashe in a way that he could not at his 1st round loss to Del Potro at Wimbledon earlier this summer. However, it really is quite significant that del Potro leads their head to head 4-2 and has won their last  four meetings, including two since Wawrinka became a major champion and Del Potro returned from his injury timeout. I was courtside for Wawrinka's 4th set win against a very stubborn Ilya Marchenko and witnessed the Swiss' fragility. Del Potro is a big step up in class and I'm not sure Wawrinka is ready for that. So,  on paper I would give the slight edge to Wawrinka, but  based on his heart and hunger I give the overall edge to Del Potro. Mad Professah's pick: Del Potro.

Andy Murray (SUI) [2] vs Kei Nishikori (JPN) [6].  From their rankings one would think this would be the most competitive of the quarterfinals, but  I have already awarded that title to the Del Potro-Wawrinka match, primarily because of the lopsided head-to-head between Nishikori and Murray. The Scot leads 7-1 with the one loss coming in the 2014 World Tour Finals which Murray shouldn't even have entered because he was not fully recovered from back surgery. However, I saw Nishikori's vocal fan support first hand when he played Ivo Karlovic in his 4th round match so it's possible that he could make this match competitive. He did reach the final here two years ago beating players like Milos Raonic, Stan Wawrinka and Novak Djokovic along the way. There's no sign that Kei is on another hot streak like in 2014, while it is very clear that Murray is playing at or near the every peak of his powers, having reached three major finals this year and with a very good chance to reach his 4th. Mad Professah's pick: Murray.

2016 US OPEN: #Fedal Era Officially Ends As Pouille Nips Nadal In 5th Set TB R16 Win

Wow! In one of the best matches of the year, 22-year-old Frenchman Lucas Pouille heralded the final death knell for the "Big Four" era by eliminating 14-time major champion Rafael Nadal in the 4th round of the 2016 US Open in a thrilling 5-set, 4-hour affair. The score was 6-1 2-6 6-4 3-6 7-6(6). With 17-time major champion Roger Federer out for half the year rehabbing a knee injury neither Federer or Nadal reached a major final this year. In fact, Nadal has only reached 2 major quarterfinals in his last 10 major appearance dating back to 2014  Wimbledon. Federer reached (and lost) 3 major finals in the same time period. In contrast, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic have each made the QF or better in 9 of the last 10 majors they competed in, with Djokivic's loss coming at the 2016 Wimbledon (to Sam Querrey in the 3rd Round) and Murray's here last year to Kevin Anderson (I saw that match in person!) in the 4th round. The two played against each other in the first two major finals of the year and then Murray won Wimbledon for the second time so it's becoming clear the Big Four era is now over and the era of Djokovic-Murray has begun, with the next generation battling to see if they can break through.

Pouille became the third French player to reach the final 8 of the 2016 US Open, reaching his career first major quarterfinal. He joins his countrymen Gael Monfils and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the first time France has had 3 quarterfinalists in the major era (which is somewhat surprising considering they have had 4 separate Top 10 players in the last decade: Gilles Simon, Richard Gasquet and Tsonga and Monfils).

Pouille's match against Nadal was an astonishing performance, especially since it was Pouille's 3rd consecutive 5-set match, and despite bludgeoning Nadal off the court in a smoking 6-1 opening set in about a half-hour and after losing the second set 2-6, he squeezed out the 3rd set 6-4. However, after losing the 4th set 6-3, Pouille fell behind 0-2, 1-3 and 2-4 in the final set until he finally came back to break at 4-all and both players held serve to reach the 5th set tiebreak (which should be mandatory in all slams!) Pouille played an awful first point but then won 4 consecutive points to go up 4-1, but Nadal fought back and despite going down 3-6, the Spaniard was able to level the match at 6-all when he made a horrofying forehand error into the next, giving Pouille his 4th match point (on Nadal's serve) and after a tense groundstroke battle Nadal was forced into an error and lost the match.

I was in the crowd of tens of thousands of people waiting for Nadal's match to end the the day session before the night session began. There were few cheers when Nadal lost, but even his fans could appreciate the high level of tennis played and the effort it took for Pouille to complete the stunning upset in his very first time playing on the renovated Arthur Ashe, tennis' biggest stage.

TENNIS TUESDAY: Monfils Wins DC; Serena+Big 3 Skip Rogers Cup, Konta Beats #6 Venus

MONFILS WINS CITI OPEN IN WASHINGTON OVER IVO KARLOVIC
I visited the Citi Open in Washington, DC for the second time this weekend. In 2013 I saw Juan Martin del Potro beat Joh Isner in the final. This time I saw Gael Monfils beat Sascha Zverev in the semifinals. Monfils then faced Ivo Karlovic in the final the next day, which was played in brutally hot conditions (90-plus degrees, 50-plus percent humidity, court temperatures exceeding 140 degrees). I elected to stay home and watched on TV while Gael faced a match point but managed to win the match 5-7 7-6(6) 6-4 to claim the biggest title of his career. Gael had previously lost 8 of his 9 previous finals and has now won only 6 of the 25 finals in his career. The win jumped Monfils to World #14 (and #9 in the Race to London).

CANADA'S ROGERS CUP WITHDRAWALS: SERENA(1), MURRAY(2), FEDERER(3), NADAL(4) 
The summer tennis  schedule this year is overly packed and something had to give. It looks like it is the Rogers Cup tournament in Canada. The men's tournament was hit by a raft of high-profile withdrawals: three of the Big Four: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray. The  women's draw was hit by the withdrawal of the World #1 player Serena Williams.

VENUS WILLIAMS RISES TO WORLD #6 RANKING AFTER LOSING STANFORD FINAL TO JOHANNA JONTA
36-year-old Venus Williams has reached the WTA ranking of #6 after a good run at the Bank of the West Classic on the campus of Stanford University. Even though she was the Top seed, Venus lost in the final 5-7 7-5 6-2 to Johanna Konta of Great Britain, who won her first WTA title, and is now ranked at #14.

2016 CITI OPEN: I saw Monfils Beat Zverev

I'm in Washington, D.C. For the summer and so I decided to check out the CitiOpen.

I have attended the final before but it was supposed to be 100 degrees (and 60% humidity) so instead I went no the semifinals and saw Gael Monfils put on a clinic against Next Gen phenomenon Sascha Zverev (the youngest player ranked in the Top 30).

Gael won 6-4 6-0. He broke on the very first game of the match and only faced 2 break points (in the same game), which he saved with good serving and excellent movement.

After losing the first set Sasha was very disconsolate and just started going for too much and lost easily.

2016 MONTE CARLO: Nadal Outlasts Monfils To Win Record 9th Title Here

Rafael Nadal's drought maybe over. Taking advantage of the shocking departure of World #1 (and defending champion) Novak Djokovic earlier in the week, the King of Clay was able to win his 28th Masters series event and 9th Monte Carlo crown by outlasting a surprisingly solid Gael Monfils 7-5 5-7 6-0. Nadal had last won here in 2012.

The final came about when Jo-Wilfried Tsonga dispatched Roger Federer 6-4 in the 3rd set but then lost in straight sets to his countryman Monfils in the semifinals. Nadal, on the other hand, took out the reigning French Open champion Stan Wawrinka and World #2 Andy Murray (both in straight sets), in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively. It's been well over a year (maybe 2) since Nadal has put together a series of such strong performances in a row against Top 5 competition. Monfils was even more impressive, as he was the only player to not lose a set all week during his path to the final.

Monfils was playing in his 25th ATP tour final (Nadal's 100th) and trying to win his first ATP Masters Shield (and 6th career title). Instead, Nadal won his 68th career title and became the first player to win two different tournaments an incredible NINE different times (he has also won the clay-court grand slam Roland Garros 9 times). Both players are twenty-nine years old.

The two tour veterans put on one of the most entertaining finals of the year to date, sharing 34 breakpoints between them, in a contest which lasted 2 hours, 46 minutes. In the end, though, Monfils simply ran out of gas and Nadal was able to punish his erstwhile rival's lack of energy in the deciding set without conceding a game.

2016 AUS OPEN: Men's Semifinals Preview

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

Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1] vs  Roger Federer (SUI) [3].  This will be the 45th meeting between these two champions and the two are currently evenly matched at 22-all. However, a more significant feature of their recent rivalry is that in 5-set matches, Djokovic has prevailed three consecutive times (2015 US Open, 2015 Wimbledon and 2014 Wimbledon). Federer-Djokovic XLV is occurring on turf where Djokovic is the most comfortable, since he has won a record 5 Australian Open titles in Melbourne, and he has played in the final here every year since 2011 except for 2014 where he lost in the quarterfinals to eventual champion Stan Wawrinka. If Federer has lost to Djokovic twice in two consecutive Wimbledon finals where he ostensibly plays his best tennis how can he possibly win on a slow hard court at night in Melbourne where Djokovic has been most successful? Additionally, Federer has lost in the semifinals of Australia the last four times he was here, losing to Djokovic (2011), Nadal (2012 and 2014), and Murray (2013). I'm a huge Federer fan and would love him to win this match with all my heart, but my head says that today is not the day that will happen (and I do think he will win his 18th before he retires). Mad Professah's pick: Djokovic in 5 sets.

Andy Murray (GBR) [2] vs Milos Raonic (CAN) [13].  Interestingly, both semifinal matches are between competitors who have completely even head-to-head records. Raonic and Murray are playing for only the 7th time (although they have been scheduled two other times they have each ceded a walkover to the other player). Raonic is playing in only his second ever major semifinal, while Murray is playing in his 6th major semifinal here (in the last seven years) and the 18th of his career, the most ever for a British male player. Raonic actually has a slight advantage 3-2 in hard-courts but the one time they played at the US Open in 2012 Murray dismissed the Canadian youngster  on his way to winning his very first major. Raonic has definitely improved and I am rather bullish on his chances of (eventually) reaching a major final. However, I just don't think that he has the mobility or fitness to outlast Murray in a 5-set match at this stage of his career. He did incredibly well serving and volleying to upset World #4 Stan Wawrinka in the 4th round but I just don't believe that will be an effective against one of the best service-returners in the game. Mad Professah's pick: Murray in 4 sets.

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.