TENNIS THURSDAY: Medvedev Wins Shanghai; Coco Wins 1st WTA Title At Age 15; Federer Reveals 2020 Tokyo Plans; Rafa Gets Married 10/19

MEDVEDEV CONTINUES HOT STREAK WITH SHANGHAI TITLE
Daniel Medvedev continued his streak of extremely-hot tennis which began over the summer by winning his second Masters series event of the year, defeating Alexander Zverev in the final of the Shanghai Rolex Masters Open 6-4 6-1. It is Medvedev's sixth consecutive final appearance and third title of the year. Earlier in the tournament, Zverev had beaten Roger Federer and Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Novak Djokovic to open up the draw for the 23-year-old Russian.

GAUFF MAKES HISTORY WITH FIRST TITLE AT AGE 15

CoCo Gauff again made good use of one of her limited opportunities to compete in a WTA professional tournament due to her age (15 years old) and became the youngest player since 2004 (the year she was born!) to win a tour title. Gauff defeated 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko 6-3 1-6 6-2 to the Linz, Austria tournament. With her win CoCo will rise to #71 in the WTA rankings and will be guaranteed direct entry into the 2020 Australian Open.

FEDERER CONFIRMS HE WILL PLAY OLYMPICS AND ROLAND GARROS
Although not a huge surprise, Roger Federer finally confirmed that between Wimbledon and the U.S. Open next year he will participate in the 2020 Olympics, hoping to finally win a singles Gold medal. He has Gold medal in Doubles (from Beijing 2008) and a silver medal in singles (from London 2012) and did not play the Rio 2016 Olympics due to injury.

RAFA WILL MARRY LONGTIME GIRLFRIEND ON OCTOBER 19 IN MALLORCA
Finally! After 12 years of dating, Rafael Nadal will marry his girlfriend Xisca Perrello on October 19. The World #2 is the last of the Big 4 (Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Nadal) to get married. The others have 8 children between them and Murray is expecting his 3rd child any day now.

2019 FRENCH OPEN: Barty Wins First Major Title, Reaches World #2

As I predicted, #8 seed Ash Barty, 23, defeated Czech lefty Marketa Vondrousova, 19, in the final of the 2019 French Open, 6-1 6-3. Barty's win means that her new ranking will be World #2 on Monday. In fact, she will be less than 200 points behind World #1 Naomi Osaka who has won the two previous majors (2019 Australian Open and 2018 U.S. Open).

In the final, Barty was quickly up a set and a break (6-1, 2-0) and unlike the last two women who were in that situation in the Roland Garros final (Simona Halep in 2017 and Sloane Stephens in 2018), Barty did not falter and went on to win the title, instead of losing in three sets.

Barty had never passed the second round in her five previous appearances before this year. By winning the major she became Australian's latest major champion after a gap of 8 years (2011 US Open) and her ascent to World #2 is the first time an Aussie woman had been ranked that high since 1976.

2019 FRENCH OPEN: Women's Final Preview (and Semifinals Review)

Marketa Vondrousova (CZE) vs Ash Barty (AUS) [8]

This is my prediction post for the 2019 French Open women's final. Last year I correctly predicted that Simona Halep would defeat Sloane Stephens.  This year I predicted 1 of 1 men's semifinals correctly, 2 of 2 women's semifinals correctly, 0 of 4 women's quarterfinals correctly and 4 of 4 men's quarterfinals correctly. 

 WOMEN'S SEMIFINALS REVIEW

Ashleigh Barty (AUS) [8] d. Ananda Anisimova (USA) 6-7(4) 6-3 6-3. Barty lost the first set to the teen phenom Amanda Anisimova but then was able to remain calm and simply outlast and outplay her opponent to win the last two sets relatively easily to reach her first major final and prevent an all-teen major final, the first since the 1999 US Open with Serena Williams and Martina Hingis.

Marketa Vondrousova (CZE) d. Johanna Konta (GBR) [26] 7-5 7-6(2).  As I predicted, Vondrousova was able to use the complexity of her game to outlast her more experienced and more powerful opponent to win, although it was a rather close match the winner depended on being better on just a few very important points. Surprisingly, the younger player was able to be that player.

 WOMEN'S FINALS PREVIEW

The 19-year-old Marketa Vondrousova has reached her first major final without losing a set over 6 rounds at this year's French Open. In fact, the Czech lefty is playing in her 3rd final of the year (she lost the first two) and has reached the quarterfinal or better of every tournament she played this year. She is the first teenager in a major final since Ana Ivanovic did it in 2007. Vondrousova has a 28-6 record for the year (27-5 since the Australian Open), which is the best on tour. She will face 23-year-old Ash Barty, whom she has played twice before (on grass in 2017 and hard court on 2018) and lost both times without winning a set. Barty will reach World #3 by reaching the final and can get as high as World #2 by winning the tournament, which would make her the highest rated Aussie female player in over 40 years(!) What's nice about the match is that it should be entertaining, since both Barty and Vondousova have crafty, smart games and tend not to overwhelm their opponents with power. Barty in particular is one of the few players who is in the Top 10 in doubles and singles, which shows in her comfort in all portions of the court. That, and the extra experience she has give Barty the edge. PREDICTION: Barty.

2019 FRENCH OPEN: Women's Semifinals Preview

Here are my predictions for the women's semifinals at the 2019 French Open.  I will also predict the men's semifinals. This year I predicted 0 of 4 women's quarterfinals correctly and 4 of 4 men's quarterfinals correctly. Last year I predicted 2 of 2 men's semifinals correctly and 2 of 2 women's semifinals correctly. 

Simona Halep (ROU) [3] Ananda Anisimova (USA) vs. Ashleigh Barty (AUS) [8]. 17-year-old American phenom Amanda Anisimova, who Matt Roberts of the Tennis Podcast says "has the best backhand in women's tennis" pulled off the biggest upset of an already surprising women's tournament at Roland Garros. She defeated last year's French Open champion and the prohibitive favorite Simona Halep in straight sets. In fact, Anisimova has won all 10 sets of tennis she has played at Roland Garros this year!  She will face Ash Barty who is the only player to be ranked in the Top 10 of both singles and doubles simultaneously on either side of the draw. Barty has been playing excellent tennis all year, having won her biggest title in Miami by defeating World #2 Karolina Pliskova. Barty was able to blunt the power of last year's semifinalist Madison Keys to reach her first major semifinal. Barty is now the highest rated player remaining in the draw, and has an excellent chance of winning her first Grand Slam singles title (she has two Grand Slam doubles titles). She has never played Anisimova before but her game is difficult for anyone to handle, with lots of spins and fearlessness at the net. Who will feel more nerves, the 23-year-old favorite or the 17-year-old upstart? Anisimova showed (almost) no nerves in her dismissal of Halep, so I suspect it will be Barty, but I think the Aussie's game will get her to the finish line. PREDICTION: Barty.

Sloane Stephens (USA) [7] Johanna Konta (GBR) [26] vs Marketa Vondrousova (CZE).  What is it about the French Open that so many players win their first (and perhaps only) major title here? Jelena Ostapenko (2017), Francesca Schiavone (2011)  and Anastaasia Myskina (2004) are just a few that come to mind. Can Johanna Konta join this list? She had never won a main draw match at Roland Garros yet when she defeated last year's finalist Sloane Stephens in straight sets Chris Evert said it was one of the best clay court performances she had ever seen. I definitely did not expect that to happen! Her opponent in her first major semifinal will be the 18-year-old Czech lefty Marketa Vondrousova who has reached the quarterfinals (or better) in every tournament she has played this year.  She already has demonstrated that she has made a quantum improvement in her game by defeating Petra Martic in the quarterfinals, a player she had lost 4 consecutive matches to  (including a clay court final this year). The two have  a 1-1 head-to-head record but Konta beat Vondrousova on her way to reaching the final in Rome just a few weeks ago (where she lost to Pliskova, who is no longer in the tournament). Konta has only one style of play while Vondrousova's game is much more creative and stylish, thus she can find multiple ways to win, and I think she will. PREDICTION: Vondrousova. 

2018 US OPEN: Kerber(4), Zverev(4), Kvitova(5), Garcia(6), Ostapenko(10)

I am attending the US OPEN this weekend and was treated to some amazing matches and more than a handful of shocking upsets (especially on the women's side) on Saturday.

The most prominent results of the day were the departure of the #4 seeds on both sides of the draw, who both happen to be German: Angelique Kerber and Alexandra Zverev. The matches I saw in person with my Day Session ticket to Arthur Ashe (which provides general admission to Louis Armstrong and Grandstand) were: Roger Federer defeating Nick Kyrgios, Naomi Osaka defeating Aleksandra Sasnovitch (6-0 6-0!), Kei Nishikori beat Diego Schwartzman, Philip Kohlschreiber beat Zverev and Aryna Sabalenka beat Petra Kvitova.

Other upsets that I didn't see were Maria Sharapova extending her undefeated night match record to 23-0 with a straight sets win over Jelena Ostapenko, Dominika Cibulkova outlasting Kerber in 3 tight sets, Carolina Garcia losing a 3rd set tiebreak to Carla Suarez Navarro and Kiki Bertens losing to 19-year-old Czech Marketa Vondrousova in a 3rd set tiebreak. These results mean that there is no Top 10 player remaining in the bottom half of the Round of 16 draw:

• Carla Suarez Navarro-Maria Sharapova
• Madison Keys-Dominika Cibulkova
• Aryana Sabalenka-Naomi Osaka
• Marketa Vondrousova-Lesia Tsurenko

It does feature some ferocious hard-hitters though: Sharapova, Keys, Cibulkova, Sabalenka and Osaka all bludgeon the ball, so I imagine it would come down to movement I would give Cibulkova and Osaja the edge in that department. Also, speaking of NextGen, Sabalenka, Osaka and Vondousova are all 20 years old or younger. Meanwhile the Top half of the women's draw looks like this:

• Kaia Kanepi-Serena Williams
• Ash Barty-Karolina Pliskova
• Sloane Stephens-Eise Mertens
• Anastasija Sevastova-Elina Svitolina

Defending champion Sloane Stephens is still in the mix and so is 23-major champion Serna Williams but Serena has a rough draw with Halep-beater Kaia Kanepi and a potential Karolina Pliskova (who has beat her in New York two years ago in the 2016 semifinals) in the way of a major semifinal meeting with Stephens.

Meanwhile the men;s draw look like:

• Nadal-Basilashvili
• Thiem-Anderson
• Del Potro-Coric
• Isner-Raonic
• Cilic-Goffin
• Nishikori-Kohlschreiber
• Djokovic-Sousa
• Millman-Federer

So there are only 4 unseeded players remaining in the men's draw, representing 15 different countries, with Croatia represented twice. The top half of both draws play today. I'll be watching (again) in person!

2018 US OPEN: Draw Preview and Tournament Predictions

The 2018 US Open, the last major of the year, starts tomorrow on Monday August 27. I will be attending the tournament, as I often do, in the middle weekend this Saturday to Monday. I'm looking forward to seeing the new Louis Armstrong stadium. Hopefully neither roof will be necessary while I'm in New York.

The defending champions are Rafael Nadal and Sloane Stephens. Interestingly, both reached the final of the French Open this year, with Nadal winning his 11th title in Paris and Stephens losing her first ever tour final against Simona Halep. Halep is the #1 player in the world and the #1 seed, as is Nadal.

Women's Draw (Preview and Predictions)
Serena Williams was seeded #17 and is in the same quarter as her sister Venus, which could lead to a 3rd round match-up. I doubt that will happen though, because Venus, who reached the semifinal last year before losing to the eventual champion, will face an in-form Svetlana Kuznetsova in the first round. Other first-round matches to watch are Garbine Muguruza versus Zhang Shuai (who upset Venus in the French Open first round this year), Johanna Konta versus Carolina Garcia, Maria Sharapova versus Patty Schnyder (blast from the past!) and Andrea Petkovic versus Jelena Ostapenko. The expected  women's quarterfinals (if seedings hold) are:

• Simona Halep ROU [1] versus Karolina Pliskova CZE [8]
• Sloane Stephens USA [3] versus Elina Svitolina UKR [7]
• Angelique Kerber GER [4] versus  Caroline Garcia [6] 
• Carolina Wozniacki DEN [2] versus Petra Kvitova [5]

However, I am picking my semifinalists to be Halep versus Stevens, and Ostapenko versus Kiki Bertens, with a Halep-Ostapenko final and a Halep win.

Men's Draw (Preview and Predictions)

The men's side should be exciting with all of the Big 4 (or 5) competing in the same tournament for the first time in nearly two years. Andy Murray will be playing his first grand slam match since Wimbledon 2017 against Jamie Duckworth of Australia. Amazingly, for the second major in a row, Stan Wawrinka will meet Grigor Dimitrov [8] in the first round. This time when the Swiss wins it will not be considered an upset, because his level of play has risen since Wimbledon while Dimitrov's has fallen. Other mouthwatering first-round matchups include: Frances Tiafoe against Adrian Mannarino, Felix Auger-Aliassime versus Denis Shapovalov, and two all-Spanish matchups: Nadal versus David Ferrer and Feliciano Lopez versus Fernando Verdasco.

The expected men's quarterfinals (if seedings hold) are:

• Rafael Nadal ESP [1] versus Kevin Anderson RSA[5]
• Juan Martin del Potro ARG [3] versus Grigor Dimitrov BUL [8]
• Sascha Zverev GER [4] versus  Marin Cilic[7] 
• Roger Federer SUI [2] versus Novak Djokovic [6]

My predictions are for the semifinals to be Nadal versus Del Potro (like last year!) and Cilic versus Djokovic, with a Nadal-Djokovic final and a Djokovic victory.

MadProfessah championship predictions: Novak Djokovic and Simona Halep.

2018 WIMBLEDON: Kerber Outplays Serena To Win 3rd Major

Upending most observer's predictions including my own, Angelique Kerber outplayed Serena Williams 6-3 6-3 to win her 3rd major title and first Wimbledon title (on her second attempt).

The 30-year-old German became the first of her countrywomen to hold up the Venus Rosewater dish as Wimbledon champion since 22-time major champion Steffi Graf won the last of her 7 Wimbledon titles in 1996. By doing so, she denied Serena her 24th major and extended the American's quest to match (and then exceed) Margaret Court's all-time record of 24 major single titles won. The 36-year-old amazed many by returning to a major final in just her 4th match back from a year-long absence from the tour due to a successful pregnancy and difficult aftermath. Due to a historic flurry of upsets, the 25th seed did not have to face anyone in the Top 50 of the WTA until the semifinal, when she dispatched  Top 15 player Julia Goerges in straight sets. Meanwhile, Kerber did not drop a set despite facing a slew of talented and up-and-coming youngsters: 2017 French Open champ Jelena Ostapenko, Belinda Bencic, Daria Kasatkina and 2018 Indian Wells champ Naomi Osaka. This disparity in the competition was one reason some people suspected Kerber might win, but very few would have thought that Serena would fail to win a set in the final. Her loss brings her record to 23-7 in major finals and Kerber becomes the first woman (other than Venus Williams) to beat Serena in two major finals.

2018 WIMBLEDON: Women's Semifinals Preview (and Predictions)

Here are my predictions for the women's semifinals at the Wimbledon Championships for 2018. This year I correctly predicted 2 of 4 men's quarterfinals and correctly predicted 4 of 4 women's quarterfinals. Last year I correctly predicted 2 of 2 men's semifinals and 2 of 2 women's semifinals. I will also predict this year's men's semifinals.

Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) [12] vs. Angelique Kerber (GER) [11]. This should be a great match; the two major champions have never met before on the WTA tour! Kerber played one of the best matches of the tournament in her straight sets win against Daria Kasatkina. Ostapenko has reached her second career semifinal (first at Wimbledon) by not dropping a set and blasting winners into the corners over and over again. Can she continue to do this against one of the great defensive players in the game? We shall see. My default position is usually that great offense wins against great defense, which would indicate Ostapenko has the better chance to reach her first Wimbledon final but I just think that Kerber has shown that she has what it takes to get to major finals, having reached three of them in the same year (2016), winning two, just two years ago. However, she hasn't face Ostapenko before, so maybe all our expectations need to change. PREDICTION: Kerber.

Julia Goerges (GER) [13] vs Serena Williams (USA) [25]. These two played a rather good match at the French Open just a few weeks ago and many of us were actually surprised Serena was able to come away with the win because it demonstrated just how quickly she was returning to a high level of play. Goerges has become one of the top players on tour; she reached the Top 10 this spring has been hovering just out of that circle for the last few months. But appearing in the Wimbledon semifinal is the first real tangible result of her rise in the rankings to show itself at the majors. I think it is very likely the occasion of being there will provide enough of an impediment to her playing er best tennis that it will make what should be a tough matchup for Serena not as complicated as one would expect. PREDICTION:  Serena.

2018 WIMBLEDON: Women's Quarterfinals Preview and Predictions

Here are my predictions for the women's quarterfinals at the Wimbledon Championships for 2018. Last year I correctly predicted 2 of 4 men's quarterfinals and correctly predicted 4 of 4 women's quarterfinals. I will also predict this year's men's quarterfinals.

Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) vs. Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) [12]. This should be a great match of pint-size powerhouses. Both of these players have reached major finals before. 21-year-old Ostapenko did it in last year's French Open, outlasting Simona Halep, to win her first major. Cibulkova did it way back in the 2014 Australian Open final but also won the 2016 Year-End Championships. These are both elite layers and Cibulkova was miffed when the All-England Club bumped her from the seeded players list by inserting Serena Williams at #25.  And she has a 2-0 head-to-head lead over Ostapenko, although bot meetings came before Alona became a major champion. . PREDICTION: Ostapenko.

Daria Kasatkina (RUS) [14]  vs. Angelique Kerber (GER) [11]. To me, this is a "pick-em" match. The two have split their previous 6 matches, including the two they played this year. In fact, they played in Eastbourne just a few weeks ago and the winner (Kerber) was decided by a 3rd set tiebreak! Unfortunately Wimbledon requires a 2-game advantage in the deciding set so this match may become a marathon. If it does, I give the ultra fit German the edge. However, Kasatkina is the modern-day Martina Hingis with her court sense and shotmaking ability and this may drive her opponent crazy.This is the 20-year-old Russian's first major quarterfinal, and I think experience may be the decider here. PREDICTION: Kerber.

Kiki Bertens (NED) [20] vs. Julia Goerges (GER) [13]. Surprisingly, the lower ranked player, Bertens, holds the 2-0 head-to-head lead here and has been having an amazing run, beating Venus Williams and Karolina Pliskova in consecutive rounds to make her career-first major quarterfinal. Both players are very near their career-high rankings so they are both brimming with confidence. Goerges is at or near the top of the tour in numerous important serve statistics categories, including aces hit (257 for the year). On grass serve is so important that I think that will be the deciding factor here. PREDICTION: Goerges.

Serena Williams (USA) [25] vs. Camila Giorgi (ITA). I'm much more worried about this match then other commentators. I have seen Giorgi play in person and she demolishes the ball, as often as she can, with absolutely no plan B (sorta like a diminutive Madison Keys). Serena is definitely getting closer and closer to her pre-pregnancy form and if she does, no one in the draw has much of a chance to stop her from claiming another title. But she's not there yet, and if she has a serious lapse in any of her remaining matches, she could definitely lose. That being said, she has a 3-0 head-to-head against Giorgi and thus should not be surprised by the Italian player's game even though the two have not played since 2016. (They couldn't have played in 2017 because Serena was basically AWOL all season long after winning the Australian Open.) However, here again experience should help Serena and hurt Giorgi, who is playing in her very first major quarterfinal. PREDICTION: Serena.

2018 FRENCH OPEN: Simona Halep Wins 1st Major (Over Sloane Stephens)

As I predicted, World #1 Simona Halep of Romania won her first major title today, defeating American Sloane Stephens 3-6 6-4 6-1. This was a seesaw match that resembled last year's final with Jelena Ostaphenko but this time Halep was the one who came back from a set and break down to even the match and then ran away with the deciding set as Stephens seemed to tire and lose focus as she lost the first five games and then avoided the bagel by holding once but lost the match when Halep easily served it out to win the championship.

Halep joins great players like Chris Evert and Kim Clijsters who lost their first 3 major finals and then went on to win multiple majors. She strengthens her case as the best player in the world, having been ranked #1 for most of the last year and is now also a major champion.

HOW THE FINAL WAS WON
The match began with Halep looking extremely tight and making several unforced errors in the first game. One of Stephens' strengths is her metal equanimity and she calmly broke early and consolidated it to go up 3-1. Play stayed on serve with Sloane making very few errors and Halep pressing and overhitting; she lost the set 6-3. She then had the worst possible start to the second set by losing her serve and Sloane again consolidated and went up 2-0. Then, amazingly in the 4th game, serving 2-1 up, Sloane appeared to get nervous and and started making errors to lose the next three games and go down 2-4. However, the plot twists continued because now Halep was unable to maintain her lead and was broken while serving up 4-3 and the score was tied all up at 4-all. Halep then held her serve and in the 10th game earned a breakpoint which was a set point. She won the point and the match was dead even. Stephens definitely looked shaken and Hlep looked determined. She got behind in the first service game of the third set but was able to hold and after that really didn't look back, racing out to a 5-0 lead and eventually won the match 6-1 in the 3rd.

2018 FRENCH OPEN: Women's Final Preview (and Semifinals Review)

Simona Halep (ROU) [1] vs Sloane Stephens (USA) [10]

Here is my predictions post for the women's final at the 2018 French Open. Last year I incorrectly predicted that Simona Halep would defeat Jelena Ostapenko. This year I correctly predicted 4 of 4 women's quarterfinals, 2 of 2 women's semifinals, 2 of 2 men's semifinals and 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals.

WOMEN'S SEMIFINALS REVIEW

Simona Halep (ROU) [1] d. Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP) [3] 6-1 6-4.  This was expected to be a tough 3-setter but the World #1 ran away with the first set, doing to Muguruza what she did to Sharapova in her quarterfinal match. The second set was far more competitive, with Muguruza earning an early break but then was unable to maintain the advantage to the end of the set and was broken in the 8th game. The key turning point of the match was the epic 9th game with Halep serving. Muguruza had multiple breakpoints but was unable to convert, despite the fact Halep was missing more than two-thirds of her first serves. However eventually (after 13 minutes) she was able to hold and serving to stay in the match Muguruza faded quickly, succumbing to a love break to lose the set and the match.

Sloane Stephens (USA) [10] d. Madison Keys (USA) [13] 6-4 6-4. This was a closer match than their match at the 2017 US Open final, because this time Madison could actually control some of her emotions and was able to show the hard-hitting tennis that makes her one of the most feared opponents on the WTA tour. But her good friend Sloane, who is just two years older (25 instead of 23) appears to be more than 2 year more mature than Madison and this shows in how they treat big matches. Sloane has only lost 1 set in her 6 tour finals she has appeared in, while Madison has only won 3 titles. Despite all that the match score line ended up being relatively close, even if the result of the match never felt much in doubt primarily due to the lack of unforced errors coming off the Sloane racquet compared to the large number Madison was hitting.


WOMEN'S FINAL PREVIEW
For the second time in the last three major tournaments both of these players will be appearing in their secod major final. Sloane at  the 2017 US Open while Halep's was at the 2018 Australian Open. (Halep is also appearing in her 3rd Roland-Garros final). Sloane is definitely the mentally tougher of the two, sporting a perfect 6-0 in WTA tour finals while Halep has a less than stellar 16-14 record in finals. However the two have played 7 times before and Halep leads 5-2. Interestingly, most pundits seem to be giving Stephens the edge in this match up but I'm not so sure. I'll be happy with either player winning, but I think I would be happier if Halep were to finally get that inaugural slam win and cement her standing at the top of the women's game. After all, if she loses her first four major finals that may start reducing the belief that she will actually win one of these eventually. Last year Halep was the prohibitive favorite against Jelena Ostapenko and played like it for a set and a half but when thing started to get tight Halep crumbled and lost after being up a set and a break ahead. I do believe she has learned from these experiences and the fact that Sloane is a known quantity should assist Halep in treating this like a regular tour match, in which case she would win easily. The problem is that it's not just a tour match and as the end of the match approaches I think Halep will have even more difficulty handling the pressure. However, with all that being said, I still give her the edge to (finally) win her first major title. PREDICTION: Halep. 

2018 FRENCH OPEN: Early Rounds Complete

The early rounds of the French Open are now complete as the second Grand Slam of the year reaches it's halfway point on Sunday.

WOMEN'S DRAW
There have been some surprising upsets in early rounds with the most notable being defending champion Jelena Ostapenko [5] losing in the very first round (in straight sets 7-5 6-3!) on the very first day of the tournament (which I attended). On the same day (a few hours before) Venus Williams [9] also lost in the 1st round, also in straight sets, 6-4 7-5, Qiang Wang. Other "early" round losers were Petra Kvitova [8] (l. Anna Kontaveit) and Elina Svitolina [4] (l. Victoria Kuzmova).

Serena Williams is playing in her first Grand Slam tournament since having a child and getting married (in that order :)) and although she had looked scratchy in her earlier tournaments this year (in Indian Wells and Miami) in Paris she has surprisingly looked quite solid and yesterday defeated Julia Georges [11]  to make it to a 4th round meeting with Maria Sharapova who also looked very sharp in taking out Karolina Pliskova [6]. It will be there 22nd meeting and Serena has won the last 18 times the two have played since 2004.

Simona Halep [1] and Garbine Muguruza [3] have looked the sharpest so far in the tournament but Caro Wozniacki [2], Sloane Stephens [10] and Madison Keys [13] are all dangerous contenders still in the draw.

MEN'S DRAW
The biggest seed on the men's side to fall in the early days of the tournament was Grigor Dimitrov [4] who lost in straight sets to 34-year-old Fernando Verdasco in the 3rd round. The story on the men's side has been the travails of Sascha Zverev [2] to live up to his outstanding ATP tour play and make a move in the majors. After cruising in his 1st round match by losing 4 games against Richar Berankis, Zverev has played three consecutive 5-set matches, and saved a match point in the 3rd round. The German is now in his first major quarterfinal.

Rafael Nadal is going for his 11th French Open title and it doesn't look like anyone will be able to stop him from doing so this year. He was forced into a tiebreak in his very first match with Simone Bolleli but since then the King of Clay has not given up more than 3 games in a set.

The other contenders remaining in the tournament are Dominic Thiem [8], Marin Cilic [4], Juan Martin del Potro [6], David Goffin [9] and John Isner [10].

TENNIS TUESDAY: Stephens, Isner Win Big Titles In Miami; Rafa Returns To #1; Federer Skips Clay (Again); Nole-Agassi Split;

 SLOANE STEPHENS WINS MIAMI OPEN OVER JELENA OSTAPENKO
2017 U.S. Open champ Sloane Stephens beat 2017 French Open champ Jelena Ostapenko 7-6(5) 6-1 to win the second biggest title of her career. Interestingly, this result improves to 5-0 in career finals, which is a very strong indication of the 25-year-old's mental toughness. The win also catapults her up to a career-high ranking; she is at World #9 this week.

JOHN ISNER WINS HIS FIRST ATP MASTERS 1000 TITLE IN MIAMI OVER SASCHA ZVEREV
John Isner played some of the best tennis of his career in Miami to reach his 4th ATP Masters 1000 final. He defeated Juan Martin Del Potro in the semifinal 6-1 7-6(2), snapping the Argentine's 15-match winning streak. His serve was never broken in either match and in fact, by the time he beat Sascha Zverev in the final, Isner had not had his service broken in 46 consecutive service games. Like Stephens, this win catapults Isner to a career-high ranking of #9. Isner now has the best results of any player over the last 12 months: 2018 Miami title, 2017 Rome semifinal, 2017 Paris semifinal and 2017 Cincinnati semifinal.

RAFA RETURNS TO #1 JUST AS CLAY SEASON BEGINS
Thanks to Roger Federer's shock 3-set loss to Thanasi Kokkinakis in the 2nd round of the Miami Open, Rafael Nadal is the new #1 player on the ATP Tour.

FEDERER CONFIRMS HE WILL SKIP ENTIRE CLAY SEASON (AGAIN)
Like he did in 2017, 20-time major champion Roger Federer has decided to skip the 2018 clay court season, including the French Open, resting his 37-year-old body in order to maximize his chances of winning another major championship, either in London or New York City.

DJOKOVIC AND AGASSI ANNOUNCE END TO COACHING RELATIONSHIP
After he lost early at Indian Wells (to Taro Daniels) and Miami (to Benoit Paire) tongues have been wagging about what is ailing 12-time major champion Novak Djokovic as he attempts to regain his position at the top of men's tennis. The news that the coach-player relationship with Andre Agassi has come to an end will definitely not stop the whispers. However, I for one think Djokovic still has a good chance of winning more majors in the future.

2018 MIAMI OPEN: Ostapenko-Stephens and Zverev-Isner Finals Predictions

The second big (non-major) event of the year is coming to and end: the Miami open. Last year Roger Federer and Johanna Konta won the tournaments. This year we will have new champions as both of these players lost relatively early, Federer to a resurgent Thanasi Kokkinakis and Konta fell to Venus Williams.

WOMEN'S FINAL

This year the women's final is between two reigning major champions : 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko and 2017 US Open champ Sloane Stephens, in their first ever meeting on tour. Stephens s playing her best tennis since winning her first major title and will reach the Top 10 for the first time after beating 3-time Miami Open champion Victoria Azarenka in the semifinals. Ostapenko has backed up her shock win of her first major at the age of 20 with play that has kept her in the Top 10 even if she doesn't defend her title in Paris. Stephens has shown that her defense can outlast big hitters and she's not afraid of going for the lines herself when it matters.

MadProfessah's prediction: Stephens.

MEN'S FINAL

On the men's side, Juan Martin del Potro has been by far the hottest player on the ATP tour. He beat defending champion Roger Federer in the Indian Wells final (in a 3rd set tiebreak after saving 3 match points!) and there was talk that he might achieve a rare "Sunshine Double" by winning Miami. But, amazingly, his 15-match winning streak was stopped by none other than John Isner. Isner basically beat del Potro by serving incredibly (which is typical) but he also was aggressive from the back of the court. Isner beat 2018 Australian Open finalist Marin Cilic a few rounds before as well as 2018 Australian Open semifinalist Hyeong Chung on his way to the final. Sascha Zverev finally got past his Next Gen peers Borna Coric in the quarterfinals, Nick Kyrgios in R16 and Daniil Medvedev in the 2nd round. But what probably sparked this good run was his ability to surve a grinding tussle with David Ferrer in the 3rd round. Zverev has already won 2(!) ATP Master and is not yet 21 (in contrast Del Potro won his first ATP Masters shield in Indian Wells this year). Isner has actually done quite well in the Masters, having reached 4 finals at 4 different events. I think this is a very close match (last year the two played in Miami and Zverev won 2 of 3 tie-break sets) and generally in a pick 'em situation I go with the better athlete/mover, which in this case is the 6-foot-6 20-year-old ad not the 6-foot-9 30-year-old.

MadProfessah's prediction: Zverev.

TENNIS TUESDAY: Federer Has 1st 2018 Loss; Delpo Wins 1st Masters; Osaka Wins 1st Title, Will Face Serena 1R in Miami

OSAKA WINS NEXT GEN BATTLE WITH KASATKINA FOR INDIAN WELLS CROWN
Defying my prediction to the contrary, Naomi Osaka of Japan defeated Daria Kasatkina 6-3 6-2 to win her first WTA tour title on the big stage of the BNP Paribas Open. Both players had impressive runs to reach with final, with Osaka taking out World #1 Simona Halep, former World #1 Karolina Pliskova and 5-time major champion Maria Sharapova (in round 1!). Kasatkina took out 4 major champions in a row Venus Williams, Angelique Kerber, 2018 Aussie Open champ Caroline Wozniacki and 2017 US Open champ Sloane Stephens!

JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO WINS 1st ATP MASTER TITLE OVER FEDERER
In one of the best matches of the year, Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina demonstrated his fearlessness against Roger Federer by outlasting him 6-4 6-7(8) 7-6(2). This was the 25th match the two have played and is Delpo's 7th win, which have often come in the finals of tournaments (Delpo leads 4-2). Delpo saved an amazing 3 match points (and Federer saved 2 himself) to beat the World #1 and win his first Masters series title after playing in 4 finals (interesting he lost these finals to the other members of the big 4: Nadal, Murray and Djokovic). At 7, Delpo has more wins against World #1 players than any other player who has not become World #1 themself.

OSAKA WILL FACE SERENA WILLIAMS IN FIRST ROUND OF MIAMI OPEN
Osaka's prize for winning Indian Wells? In addition to doubling her career prize money with a $1.3 million check she was drawn to face 8-time Miami Open champion Serena Williams in the first round. Serena lost to sister Venus last week, will she now lose to Osaka this week? I think she might, but my prediction mojo has been weak recently. If she does lose, I do think it will provide excellent motivation for Serena to double her efforts to reach top shape sooner rather than later.

FEDERER LOSES 1ST MATCH OF 2018 (DESPITE HAVING MATCH POINTS)
After eking out a win against Borna Coric to reach his 17th win of 2018, Federer was not able to do so against Juan Martin del Potro despite actually playing better and having more chances to win in the final. He lost a 3rd set tiebreaker and is now a dismal 1-7 in championship-deciding tiebreaks for his career. His 5th set record is not great either. The reason for this (many believe) is that even though Federer is the greatest player of all time, he so rarely is put in positions where he has to REALLY fight in high stakes situations that he has less experience and is less suited to performing his best when it happens. Still, a 17-1 record to start 2018 must be something Federer is happy with; at age 36 he is tied with most wins on tour this year. Interestingly, Juan Martin del Potro is 17-3 for 2018 and Dominc Thiem is 17-4.

ATP RANKINGS MOVERS: DEL POTRO, ANDERSON, POUILLEFederer remains #1 despite not defending his title at Indian Wells and will need to defend his title in Miami if he is to keep the #1 ranking for the entire clay court season. Del Potro is now at World #6, Kevin Anderson is pu to World #8 and Frenchman Lucas Pouille enters the Top 10 for the first time at #10.

WTA RANKINGS MOVERS: OSTAPENKO, KASATKINA, OSAKA, VICKERY
2017 French Open champion Jelena "Alona" Ostapenko is at #5 while Kasatkina is just outside the Top 10 at #11 (career high) and Osaka cut her ranking in half to a career high of World #22. 22-year-old  African-American Sachia Vickery ousted Garbine Mugruza before losing to Osaka and is now up to World #89.

CELEBRITY FRIDAY: Serena To Play First Match As A Married Mom This Weekend

Serena Williams and Jelena Ostapenko are the first women to appear at the Mubada World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi, a prestigious and lucrative exhibition tournament that usually features the top male players at the end of the year and signals the beginning of next year's tennis season.

Serena has not played a match since winning the 2017 Australian Open (while pregnant) and gave birth to her daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian, Jr on September 1 (during the U.S. Open!) and married Alexis Ohanian, Sr in a celebrity-studded event in New Orleans on November 16.

Serena will be playing her first public match as a married mother this Saturday December 30th. She will face the 2017 French Open champion. Serena is expected to defend her Australian Ope title next month.

Welcome back to tennis, Serena!

2017 WTA YEC: 7 of 8 Players Can End Year At #1; Muguruza,Pliskova,Wozniacki,Halep Have Wins

The 2017 WTA Tour Year-End Championships, i.e. "the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global" began in Singapore over the weekend. It is a big deal to qualify for this tournament, as only the 8 players with best record for the year are allowed to compete. They are put into two groups and after 3 round-robin matches, the Top 2 players in each group go forward to the semifinals where the winners advance to the last match of the year.

Interestingly, although Halep is the current #1 player in the world, 7 of the 8 players could end up with the #1 ranking since the winner of the tournament gets 1500 points and Halep's lead over Muguruza is a mere 40 points.

This year the two groups are:

WHITE GROUP

• Jelena Ostapenko
• Venus Williams
• Karolina Pliskova
• Garbine Muguruza

RED GROUP

• Simona Halep
• Elina Svitolina 
• Caroline Wozniacki
• Caroline Garcia 

So far one round-robin round has been completed in both groups and Muguruza beat Ostapenko, Pliskova beat Venus in the White group on Sunday and on Monday Halep beat Garcia and  Wozniacki beat Svitolina. 

Play continues tomorrow with White Group competition: Venus versus Ostapenko and Pliskova versus Muguruza.

I really think they should switch the names of the groups to classic champions. Would the "Graf" group versus the "Evert" group be more interesting?

TUESDAY TENNIS: Nadal,Federer Top 2 Again; Two #1's from Spain; Two Young Black Phenoms Advance

NADAL & FEDERER BACK AT #1 AND #2 IN ATP RANKINGS
Look at the calendar. It's 2017, but look at the ATP rankings. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are at the top of the rankings again, although this time it is Nadal at #1 and Federer at #2. Federer was briefly at #2 last year in May 2016 but the two have not been in this particular position since 2009. Nadal and Federer have played the fewest tournaments of any player in the Top 10, but they have the most points, since both have won 2 majors and 2 Masters shields this year. Novak Djokovic is out of the Top 5 for the first time since 2007! 2017 U.S. Open semifinalist Pablo Carreno Busta makes his debut in the Top 10 at #10.

SPANISH PLAYERS LEAD ATP (NADAL) AND WTA (MUGURUZA) RANKINGS
With Nadal at the top of the ATP rankings and Garbine Muguruza the new #1 on the WTA tour (thanks to Karolina Pliskova failing to repeat her U.S. Open final appearance in 2017) Spain has the top players in the world. The last country to do this was the United States, way back in 2003, when Andre Agassi and Serena Williams were #1 simultaneously. Muguruza is the 24th woman to head the WTA rankings since they began in the mid 1970s.

STEPHENS BECOMES SECOND UNSEEDED PLAYER IN 2017 TO WIN MAJOR
Following in the footsteps of Jelena Ostapenko at the 2017 French Open, Sloane Stephens became the second unseeded player to win a major tournament in 2017 when she beat Madison Keys in the U.S. Open final. Stephens will move up to #17 (up from 957 at the beginning of the year) while Keys is at #12. Venus Williams is at #5, while Serena Williams is down to #2.

FELIX JOINS ELITE GROUP OF YOUNG PHENOMS TO REACH TOP 200 BEFORE 18
17-year-old Felix Auger-Aliassime, who shares a birthday with Roger Federer (19 years later) has made history by wining his second ATP challenger title and rising to #168 in the rankings. Only rafael Nadal, Rihcard Gasquet and JuanMartin del Potro have achieved a similar feat. That's a nice list to be on. Canada now has two teenage phenoms to be proud of, Felix and Denis Shapovalov, who beat Nadal earlier this summer and reaches the 3rd round of the U.S. Open after beating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

AFRICAN-AMERICAN CORI GAUFF REACHES U.S. OPEN GIRLS FINAL AT AGE 13!
In other phenomenal Black youth tennis news, American Cori ('CoCo") Gauff reached the U.S. Open girls final at age 13, where she lost to another American, Amanda Anisimova. The future (of American tennis) is so bright, we gotta wear shades!