2019 HALLE: Federer Wins 10th Halle Title, 102nd ATP

As predicted, Roger Federer won his 10th title in Halle, Germany, by defeating David Goffin. The score was 7-6(2) 6-1 and it was the 102nd ATP tour of Federer's storied career and 19th career grass court title (the most ever). Amazingly, Federer has been in 15 (consecutive!) semifinals at Halle and 13 finals, and now has a 10-3 record at that stage of the tournament. His 10 titles have come at the expense of 10 different opponents and he is now the second man to win a tournament more than 10 times. Rafael Nadal has won the French Open 12 times and Monte Carlo and Barcelona 11 times. Federer is a mere 7 titles behind the all-time career record of 109 titles set by Jimmy Connors and is the first player on the ATP tour to win 3 titles in 2019.

2019 MIAMI: Barty and Federer Win Titles (over Pliskova and Isner)!

As I predicted, Roger Federer and Ash Barty won their respective finals at the 2019 Miami Open. Barty outplayed Karolina Pliskova, continuing 2019's odd streak of every tournament being won by a new player, and breaking into the WTA Top 10 in the process. Federer denied John Isner a chance to repeat as Miami Open champion, becoming the first player on tour to win two titles in 2019, his 100th and 101st of his career. Jimmy Connors record of 109 career titles is starting look more and more doable!

Federer won 6-1 6-4, the first two sets in the tournament where Isner had been unable to win at least 6 games (Isner won 9 of his 10 sets in tiebreaks!). Federer broke Isner in the very first game of the match and although Isner was able to hold his next service game he ended up losing the first set in 24 minutes, with three breaks. At the end of the second set Isner had intense foot pain and could merely move as he gingerly served in the 10th game, refusing to retire. This was Federer's 50th Masters final and he is now 28-22, just behind Novak Djokovic (33) and Rafael Nadal (32) on the all-time leaderboard.

Barty beat Pliskova 7-6(1) 6-3 despite going down 1-3 in the opening set. The diminutive Aussie has an all-court game and deploys slice and topspin backhands. Surprisingly, Barty out-aced the WTA's top server, but this was mostly because Pliskova appeared to stop mounting an offense in the second set and was concentrating on holding her own serve instead of breaking Barty's.

2019 DUBAI: Federer Wins 100th ATP Career Title! #RF100

Roger Federer won his 100th career title in Dubai on Saturday, becoming the second male player to reach this landmark, after Jimmy Connors who ended his career with 109 titles. Can Federer equal or break this record? Possibly, but it will be tough unless either he plays beyond the 2020 Olympics, which many of us doubt he will do, or he goes on a winning spree in the next 15 months or so.

Another question is will Federer's title haul exceed his other rivals for G.O.A.T. status, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, both of whom have more Masters Series shields than the Swiss player. Djokovic has 73 titles while Nadal has 80, but they are both 6 and 5 years younger than Federer, respectively.

Federer's 100th title came at the Duai Duty Free Open, where he has now been champion 8 times in his career. He beat Stefanos Tsitsipas the 21-year-old Greek phenom who ended Federer's title defence of the Australian Open this January. Tsitsipas has a game style reminiscent of Federer's (great movement, shot-making, one-handed backhand) but he's 6-foot-4. Federer had an awful conversion rate on breakpoints in their first meeting in Melbourne but in Dubai he broke in the very first game of the match, defended the 2 breakpoints he had serving out the first set, and then broke Tsitsipas again in the 19th game of the match and easily held serve to win the second set and championship 6-4 6-4.

2018 BASEL: Federer Wins 99th Career ATP Title

Roger Federer won his 99th career ATP title at the Swiss Indoors Championships held in his hometown of Basel, Switzerland. Federer defeated Romanian qualifier Marcus Copil 6-4 7-6(5) in his 14th final in Basel to win his 9th title. The only male player who has won more titles is Jimmy Connors, who won 109 titles. I had previously thought that this total was out of range for Federer, but now I'm not so sure.

2018 STUTTGART: Federer Wins 98th Title (Defeating Raonic), Will Return To World #1

Roger Federer resumed his presence on the ATP tour as the grass season began with a first-ever title in Stuttgart. In two consecutive rounds, Federer defeated Nick Kyrgios (in the semifinal) and Milos Raonic (in the final).

Both of these matches were quite significant. The 6-7(2) 6-2 7-6(5) win over Kyrgios resulted in a return to the top of the ATP rankings by Federer. For the third time in three meetings their match was decided by a 3rd set tiebreak, this time won by Federer; he now leads the head-to-head 2-1.

The final was also significant, and was a 6-4 7-6(3) win, extending Federer's win streak on grass to 16 (including wins at Halle and Wimbledon in 2017). It was Federer's 148th ATP tour final, and he now has a 98-50 record, with an 18-6 record in grass finals. This was Federer's 98th final win (65 of which he won in straight sets) and 3rd title of the year. The all-time record is held by Jimmy Connors at 109. Can Federer reach or exceed this number? It's more likely now than it was last week.

TENNIS TUESDAY: Federer Returns To #1; Kvitova Win Streak Reaches 13 and WTA Top 10; Young-Harrison Racial Controversy

FEDERER RETURNS TO ATP #1; BREAKING EVEN MORE RECORDS
By reaching the semifinals of the Amsterdam indoor tournament (after defending his 2017 Australian Open title last month) Roger Federer is now the #1 player for the first time in 5 years and at age 36 he eclipses Andre Agassi as the oldest player to ever reach the top of the ATP rankings. He sets and breaks multiple records by reaching the pinnacle of men's tennis again, replacing long-time rival Rafael Nadal at #1. He extends his record of most weeks at #1 to at least 303 and 5 years is the largest gap anyone has ever had between losing and regaining the #1 ranking.

FEDERER DEMOLISHES DIMITROV TO WIN 97TH CAREER TITLE
Not satisfied to simply reach the semifinals and return to World #1 at the ABN AMRO Indoors, Federer ended up winning the tournament by defeating Andreas Seppi followed by Grigor Dimitrov to win his 97th career title. His win over World #5 Dimitrov in the final was one of his most one-sided victories in  tour final (6-2 6-2) and is a good measure of his excellent form at the moment. Federer is now looking forward to reaching triple-digits in tour titles and may even be contemplating trying to surpass the all-time record of Jimmy Connnors at 109 before he retires.

KVITOVA WINS 13 MATCHES IN A ROW; INCLUDES BACK-TO-BACK TITLES
Despite having a tough first round loss to Andrea Petkovic (10-8 in the 3rd set!), Petra Kvitova has turned her year into high gear by winning 13 matches in a row (against top competition). The streak has earned her titles at the St. Petersburg and Doha tournaments. In Doha, she beat World #3 Elina Svitolina, World #1 Caroline Wozniacki and World #4 Garbine Muguruza! The win returns the 2-time major champion to the Top 10 on the WTA tour.

DONALD YOUNG ALLEGES RACIST REMARKS PART OF VERBAL DISPUTE DURING MATCH WITH RYAN HARRISON
After losing in straight sets to fellow American Ryan Harrison in a match that clearly features verbal fireworks between the players Donald Young tweeted "I’m shocked and disappointed, Ryan Harrison, to hear you tell me how you really feel about me as a black tennis player." Harrison strongly denied the accusation and an investigation by the ATP has resulted in no corroboration of Young's version of events. However, many people have noted that Harrison has been in several verbal clashes with his opponents in the last year, including  with Dudi Sela a few weeks ago at this year's Australian Open.

TENNIS TUESDAY: Fed Wins 8th Basel, Woz Wins WTA YEC, Venus Wins 2017 $$ Race, Hingis Retires

WOZNIACKI DEFEATS VENUS TO WIN WTA TOUR YEAR-END CHAMPIONSHIP
Caroline Wozniacki won her first WTA Tour Finals championship in surprisingly aggressive style, defeating Venus Williams for the first time (in 8 meetings) 6-4 6-4. The win means that Wozniacki will end the year at World #3 and Venus will be at World #5.

FEDERER BEATS DEL POTRO TO WIN 8TH BASEL TITLE, 7TH IN 2017, 95TH OVERALL
Roger Federer won his 8th Basel title (in 13 finals in his hometown) by defeating Juan Martin del Potro 6-7(3) 6-2 6-3. It was Federer's 7th title in 2017 and he is 49-4 for the year. Those 4 losses ave been to Evgeny Donskoy, Tommy Haas, del Potro  and Sascha Zverev (Cincinnati Masters final). With his win he moved to a clear second on the all-time titles won list with 95, one ahead of Ivan Lendl's 94 and behind Jimmy Connors' 109.

VENUS ENDS 2017 #1 IN PRIZE MONEY
Despite not winning any titles in 2017, Venus reached 2 major finals (Australian Open and Wimbledon) as well as the final match of the year-end championship. Because she was the most consistent at the biggest tournaments of the year, she earned $5,468,741 to end the  year on top of the prize money standings for 2017.

FEDERER CEDES YEAR-END #1 TO NADAL BY WITHDRAWING FROM PARIS MASTERS
Immediately after winning Basel, Federer withdrew from the Paris Masters, which means that Nadal just has to win one match there in order to cement his hold on the World #1 ranking through the end of the year, the fourth time he would have done so (2013, 2010, 2008). Federer has ended the year #1 five times (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009). In other ranking news, 20-year-old Sascha Zverev reached the World #4 ranking.

MARTINA HINGIS RETIRES (FOR THE 3RD TIME) FROM PROFESSIONAL TENNIS
Martina Hingis shocked the tennis world by revealing during the WTA Tour  year-end championships  in Singapore that she intended all year for 2017 to be her last year on the WTA Tour. Hingis retired at age 37 with 43 singles and 64 doubles titles and retired while holding the #1 doubles ranking. She had previously retired in 2003 and 2007. For the last few years she has clearly been the best doubles player in the world. She won 5 major singles titles and 13 major doubles title, including the 2017 US Open.

Federer-Nadal XXXVIII: Federer Beats Nadal In 4th Final In 2017 To Win Shanghai Masters

Roger Federer won his 94th career ATP tour title on Sunday when he defeated his arch-rival (and current World #1) Rafael Nadal 6-4 6-3 in 71 minutes to win the Shanghai Masters. Federer is now tied with Ivan Lendl for second place on the all-time list, behind Jimmy Connors 109 titles. It was the 4th time he had beaten Nadal in a final this year  (Australian Open, Indian Wells, Miami Open and Shanghai Masters). He has now beaten him 5 times in a row and has not lost to Nadal since the 2014 Australian Open semifinal.

This match was the 38th meeting between the two rivals, which Nadal now leads 23-15. Even though the scoreline appears as if today's match was close, in reality Federer never faced a breakpoint, while he converted 3 of 7 breakpoints he earned against Nadal. He had 10 aces to Nadal's 4. Nadal was riding a 16 match win streak which included 3 titles (US Open, Beijing Open and China Open). He is the #1 ranked player in the world and is still 1950 points ahead of Federer, with only 3000 points at stake for the rest of the 2017 season. It is almost certain that Nadal will end the year at #1, for the first time since 2013. Nadal's year-to-date record is 61-10.

Novak Djokovic Will Soon Have The Highest Win-Loss Percentage Of All Time In Tennis

Novak Djokovic is poised to reach another milestone, just days after he notched his 700th ATP win. He is currently tied with Bjorn Borg with the highest win-loss percentage of all time (82.74%). Borg finished his career with 609 wins and 127 losses (due to retiring early) but Djokovic is currently at 700W-146L, his coach Boris Becker coyly pointed out on Instagram today. (Becker himself is #10 on the all0-time list with a 713W-127L record which is 76.91%).

Novak is currently tied with Borg in another important metric (11 career major titles won) but since the current World #1 is 12-0 for 2016 he is almost certainly going to exceed Borg in both win-loss percentage and total majors won very soon.

If Djokovic does make significant progress toward's Federer's total of 17 majors then the discussion of Greatest of al time will most definitely have to include the Serbian.

TENNIS TUESDAY: Djokovic Clinches Year End #1 For 4th Time

Novak Djokovic has clinched the World #1 ranking after winning his 3rd major title of the year on Sunday night. Djokovic previously had earned the year-end ranking in 2011, 2012 and 2014. He becomes the sixth man in history to have been able to be ranked #1 at the end of the year at least four times. The others are Ivan Lendl (4 times), John McEnroe (4 times), Roger Federer (5 times), Jimmy Connors (5 times) and Pete Sampras (6 times),

2015 WIMBLEDON: Djokovic Defeats Federer For 9th Major; 3rd Wimbledon

For the second year in a row, I incorrectly predicted the result of the Wimbledon men's final. Novak Djokovic defeated Roger Federer 7-6(1) 6-7(10) 6-4 6-3 to win his 9th major title and 3rd Wimbledon title. He is now 9-8 in major finals and has pulled even 20-20 in his head-to-head with the Swiss Great by winning Federer-Djokovic XL. He now leads the greatest Grass court player of all time 2-1 on grass!

The match was a nailbiter with Federer playing slightly better in the first set but failing to hold on to na early break and Djokovic saving breakpoints with well-placed serves and then playing a near flawless first tiebreak to steal the first set. The second set was even better with excellent tennis from both players. Djokovic had an amazing seven set points (6 in the tiebreak) but Federer served and volleyed on important point (including his second set point) and grabbed the second. By this pointit was clear that Federer was not going to have an equally transcendent day on serve that he had had against Murray, especially when he got broken despite being up 40-15 in the third game of the third set. Djokovic had sniffs at a second break but was denied. Regardless, he was able to nurse his lead to a 6-4 win of the third set. In the fourth set Djokovic was again able to break early and consolidate the break before a rain delay. After the rain delay it was Djokovic, not Federer who seemed to be playing with more energy and the excitement of the match cooled substantially as the likelihood of a repeat of last year's dramatic run by Federer to force a 5th set seemed unlikely. Djokovic confirmed this by starting to return even better and forced breakpoints that were championship points, winning the second one.

Djokovic is now 8th on the all-time majors won list, pulling ahead of Ivan Lendl, Andre Agassi and Jimmy Connors (who have 8 each) but yet still behind greats like Bjorn Borg and Rod Laver (who have 11) and Rafael Nadal and Pete  Sampras (14 each), and of course Federer at 17.

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.

2015 AUS OPEN: Djokovic Beats Murray For 8th Major; 5th In Melbourne

Somewhat surprisingly, Novak Djokovic demonstrated (again) his dominance over his friend and rival Andy Murray with a four-set 7-6(5) 6-7(4) 6-3 6-0 win in the men's final of the 2015 Australian Open. Djokovic, 27, has now won 8 majors, tying him with other all-time greats like Andre Agassi, Ivan Lendl and Jimmy Connors and moving ahead of John McEnroe. Murray, also 27, has lost 4 finals in Melbourne and 3 overall to Djokovic. The Serbian becomes the first player n the modern era to win 5 Australian Open titles, although he is still one behind Roy Emerson's overall haul of 6.

The first two tiebreak sets took over two-and-a-half hours and featured extended rallies and brilliant shotmaking from both sides of the court. Djokovic struggled with a finger and ankle injury and when Murray went up 2-0 to begin the third set it looked like things might be going his way at last. But Djokovic found another gear and Murray unraveled, losing 12 of the next 13 games, including the last 9, to lose the 3rd and 4th sets 6-3 6-0.

The question for me now is where will both players go from here? Murray is now 2-6 in Major finals and Djokovic is 8-6. They are approximately the same age. Can Djokovic complete the career slam, can Murray win another? I believe the answer to both these questions is yes.

Federer Wins 1000th Career Match; Defeats Raonic for 83rd ATP Title in Brisbane

Roger Federer won his 1000th career match in Brisbane Australia, defeating Milos Raonic in a tight, seesaw final, claiming his 82nd 83rd career ATP title by the score 6-4 6-7(2) 6-4. The 17-time major champion is the 3rd person to reach the 4-digit win threshold, after Jimmy Connors (1,253) and Ivan Lendl (1,071). 21 of those 1000 wins have been against Andy Roddick.

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 DUBAI: Federer Wins 78th Career ATP Title

As I predicted, Roger Federer won the 2014 Dubai title by defeating Tomas Berdych 3-6 6-4 6-3.
It was Federer's 78th ATP career title, placing him in sole possession of the 3rd all-time position, surpassing John McEnroe at 77 and behind Ivan Lendl at 94 and Jimmy Connors at 109. It was also Federer's first title since winning in Halle for the 6th time in June 2013, which was his only title last year. Dubai is good stomping grounds for Federer, he has now won the title there six times (2003-05, 2007, 2012, 2014); he spends a lot of his off-season there, since he owns a house in the emirate and trains in the extreme heat in order to be ready for any conditions. The only tournament he has won more times is Wimbledon, which he has won 7 times (2003-2007, 2009, 2012).

Federer was down a set and break (3-6, 2-3 when he was suddenly able to break back and hold his own serve to go up 4-3 in the second set. The tennis was of a high quality, with both players hitting winners from all over the court. Berdych served especially well, while Federer did not (his serving percentage did go up as the match went on though, which is the preferred direction!). Federer was able to win the second set by breaking Berdych during a streak of  9 consecutive points won and in the deciding set he was able to get the first break and although he faced break points himself, he was able to consolidate the break and serve out the title.

It's clear the 17-time major champion is playing much better than he did in 2013. Last year he lost in the semifinals to Berdych despite having 3 match points, today he beat Berdych (improving to 12-6 lifetime). With his win today, he has 4 top 10 wins (Murray, Tsonga, Djokovic and Berdych) which is the same number he managed all of last year (4-10 for 2013 compared to 4-1 for 2014). With Indian Wells and Key Biscayne coming up, things are looking up for Federer fans!

2013 US OPEN: Men's Final Preview

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

This is my prediction post for the men's final at the 2013 US Open. This year I correctly predicted that Serena Williams would defeat Victoria Azarenka in the women's final. I also correctly predicted 2 of 2 women's semifinals, 2 of 2 men's semifinals, 4 of 4 women's quarterfinals and 2 of 4 men's quarterfinals this year. Last year I correctly predicted Serena Williams would defeat Victoria Azarenka in the women's final and that Andy Murray would defeat Novak Djokovic in the men's final.

How They Got Here: Men's Semifinals Review.
Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1] d. Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) [9], 2-6 7-6(4) 3-6 6-3 6-4. Although this is not the reprise of last year's men's final that everyone was expecting when the draw came out Wawrinka was able to make quite a match out of this match-up. Taking confidence from his previous two rounds where he bounced defending champion Andy Murray from the tournament and outlasted hard-hitting and big serving from World #5 Tomas Berdych, Wawrinka came out firing from the first ball and quickly ran away with the first set. He was up a break relatively late in the second set and threatening to take an impressive 2-0 set lead when the World #1 emerged from his slumber and was able to break back to force a tiebreaker and win it. Having re-set the match into a three-set match, one would have expected Djokovic to dominate the match from that point but instead it was Wawrinka who continued blasting forehands and (one-handed) backhands on to the lines and redlining on his serve. That enabled Wawrinka to win the third set. The fourth set featured an incredible 19 minute game on Wawrinka's second service game where Djokovic had 5 breakpoints and failed to convert them. There was an expectation at that point whomever won that game (which was almost the length of some sets in the tournament) would go on to win the match. But when Wawrinka finally won that third game of the fourth set with an unreturnable serve and roared as he walked to his chair Djokovic just squared his shoulders, proceeded to hold his serve relatively easily in under 3 minutes and put the pressure right back on his opponent and this time he broke. He nursed that service break to win the fourth set and after an injury time-out following a spill to the court Wawrinka's timing was off and shots that were winners earlier in the match became unforced errors and Djokovic pulled through with a win in the 5th set and took the match. Even though Wawrinka lost the match he has to be proud that in both hard court majors played in 2013 he took the #1 hard-court player of the last five years to five sets. He should use these results to build on his confidence for the future.

Rafael Nadal (ESP) [2] d. Richard Gasquet (FRA) [8], 6-4 7-6(1) 6-2. Nadal increased his unbeaten streak on hard courts in 2013 to twenty one by defeating a player who he has beaten ten times before (6 times on clay and 4 on hard courts). Although the demise of the one-handed backhand in the men's game has been prematurely and repeatedly predicted there is no question that a right-handed player with a one-handed backhand has some strategic disadvantages when playing a powerful left-handed player like Nadal. However, half of this year's US Open male semifinalists and four of this year's US Open male quarterfinalists had one-handed backhands, which is somewhat surprising since only 3 out of the Top 10 (and 7 of the Top 20) players on the ATP World Tour rankings play with one-handed backhands. Gasquet demonstrated that he does deserve to be in the top echelon of the men's game by breaking Nadal's serve (for the first time in the tournament!) but also that there is a difference between a legitimate Top 10 player and a contended for World #1.

Who Will Win: Men's Final Preview
The men's final will be Djokovic-Nadal XXXVII, the 37th entry in what is now officially the longest men's rivalry of the Open era, surpassing the 36 times that Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe played. Nadal leads the rivalry 21-15 but Djokovic leads 11-6 on hard courts. The last time they played was on a hard court and Nadal won in a 3rd set tiebreak in the semifinals of the Rogers Cup in Montreal. The two have played in five major finals and Djokovic leads 3-2, including 2-1 in hard court finals. In ATP tour finals the two are tied at 8-all, and in the three times they have played this year Nadal leads 2-1.

Nadal is unbeaten for the year on hard courts, having won 21 consecutive matches, and if there is any time when he should be able to beat Djokovic in a hard court final, it is this year. Although the World #1 ranking is not at stake, Nadal's record of reaching the final of 12 of the 13 tournament's he has played this year (winning an astonishing ten titles in 2013 so far) means that he will almost certainly end the year as #1 regardless of who win this match today. However, it is incredibly important for their places in history. If Nadal wins he will advance to 13 major titles, almost certainly moving to within striking distance of Roger Federer's record 17 titles and the 2013 Roland Garros champion will pick up the 2013 US Open title. If Djokovic wins then the 2013 Australian Open champion will have won both hard court majors in the year and will have a significant ammunition to back up his argument that he is the world's top player, despite what the computer says, having reached 3 major finals and won two of them.

Nadal is playing his most aggressive tennis I have ever seen him exhibit on a hard court. It's his serve and his willingness to come to net to finish off the point that is doing the damage. He has been broken only once in the tournament and has only lost a set once (a tiebreaker against Philip Kohlschreiber in the 4th round). He is playing better than Djokovic so far this tournament, but it should not be forgotten that for a string of 7 finals from 2011 to 2012 Nadal lost 7 times in a row to Djokovic, including their 6-hour titanic battle at the 2012 Australian Open, which was clearly the best men's tennis match of last year.

By looking at the X's and O's Nadal should win this match (as others have predicted) but I am convinced by the hard court head-to-head advantage that Djokovic has and the knowledge that he could have (and should have) won their Roland Garros semifinal this year. Djokovic knows what he needs to do to beat Nadal, and Nadal knows that Djokovic can beat him. I would be very surprised if the match does not go to five sets. Really this is a title that will be decided by a handful of points and very brief moments, but that being said I think that Djokovic will win his 7th major title to cement his status as Nadal's chief rival.

MadProfessah's pick: Djokovic.

CINCY 2013: Sloane Stephens(17) Beats Sharapova(3)

Sloane Stephens came back from a set down to earn her first win against 4-time major champion Maria Sharapova 2-6 7-6(5) 6-3 in the 2nd round of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati on Tuesday. It was the young American's second Top 5 win of the year (and of her career). Thanks to excellent results in the majors, the 20-year-old American is now ranked 17 in the world and is expected to enter the Top 10 by the end of the year.

It was Sharapova's first match with living legend Jimmy Connors as her coach and her first match since losing in the 2nd round of Wimbledon on Wacky Wednesday when 7 former #1's were bounced from the tournament on the same day. Sharapova made many more errors than winners, finishing with 62 unforced errors to just 16 winners. It was Stephens first win in 4 meetings with Sharapova.

On the men's side of the tournament Roger Federer won his first match as a 32 year old, defeating Philip Kohlschreiber in a surprisingly close 6-3 7-6(7). Federer has returned to his regularly sized racquet after trying out a larger head size in two summer clay court tournaments where he lost to two unheralded players in Gstaad and Hamburg. He had lost to three players outside the top 50 in a row and has fallen to #5 in the ATP rankings. However, he is the defending champion at the ATP Cincinnati Masters and hopes to gain enough confidence here to do well in New York at the US Open in two weeks.

Federer Beats Youzhny for 6th HalleTitle

Roger Federer won his 6th title in Halle, Germany by defeating Mikhail Youzhny for the 15th time 6-7(5) 6-3 6-4. It was Federer's first title of 2013, his first since winning the 2012 Cincinnati Masters over Novak Djokovic last August. It was the Swiss great's 77th ATP tour title and 904th career win. He lost his only other 2013 final appearance at the Rome Masters to Rafael Nadal in May. His career finals record is now 77-35.

It was Federer's first win in Halle since 2008, having lost in the final last year to Tommy Haas (who he beat this year in the semifinals) and to Lleyton Hewitt in 2010. He did not play in 2009 and 2011, despite having a lifetime contract to appear at the "German Wimbledon."

Federer is aiming for his 8th Wimbledon title (and is the 2012 defending champion), just one month after Nadal won his record 8th Roland Garros title.

2012 FRENCH OPEN: Men's Semifinals Preview

Here are my predictions for the men's Semifinals at the 2012 Roland Garros. This year I previously predicted 3 of 4 women's quarterfinals correctly and predicted 4 of 4 men's quarterfinals correctly. Last year I correctly predicted 1 of 2 men's semifinals and 1 of 2 women's semifinals. I have also predicted this year's women's semifinals (1 of 2 correctly).


Novak Djokovic SRB (1) vs. Roger Federer SUI (3).  This a rematch of last year's US Open, French Open and Australian Open semifinals. In fact, in the record 31(!) major semifinals that Roger Federer has reached in his career, an inordinate number of them (7) have been played against the kid from Serbia. In those seven major semifinals, Djokovic actually leads 4-3. Only one of them has been on clay, and that was last year's thriller when Federer became the first player to beat red-hot Djokovic in 2011, ending an astonishing 42-match winning streak. Federer leads their career head-to-head 14-11, including a 3-2 lead in clay court matches. In Grand Slam (5-set) matches the two are tied 4-all, with all their matches coming in those 7 semifinals and the 2007 US Open final won by Federer. Djokovic is a very different player now, a deserved World #1 and has won 26 Grand Slam matches in a row, and is a mere two matches from achieving something that Federer has never been able to do, win 4 major titles in a row (28 consecutive Grand Slam matches). Federer knows precisely the historic pressure that Djokovic is feeling, because twice in his career he has won 27 matches in a row, only to be stopped in the 28th match by Rafael Nadal in Paris.

Federer is not playing as well this year as he played last year, but with his talent you never know when he can raise his game and take out anyone, anytime. Last year I predicted that Djokovic would advance to his first major final in Paris and was proven wrong by Federer. This time, even though Federer has reached 5 finals here in the last 6 years as the clear second-best clay court player in that period, I have to go with the higher ranked player, who I think is starting to show that he is about to take over the title of second-best player on clay in the world.  PREDICTION: Djokovic.


David Ferrer ESP (6) vs.  Rafael Nadal ESP (2). David Ferrer showed that even though he is no longer rated in the Top 5 in the world , he is most definitely one of the top 5 clay-court players in the world by dismissing World #4 Andy Murray in the quarterfinals.. These two Spaniards have played 19 times before, with Nadal holding an overwhelming 15-4 edge. On clay, Nadal lost the first time the two met, in 2004 when he was a teenager and has since won 12 matches in a row on the surface. Interestingly, the two have only met three times in Grand Slams and Ferrer has won two of those matches, losing the one match the two have played at Roland Garros, in the 2005 quarterfinals. In fact, the two played on clay just a few weeks ago in Rome and the match ended with a bagel beat down. Nadal has yet to lose a set and Ferrer has only lost a single tiebreak set in the last round. I suspect that Ferrer will be able to at least hold on to reach at least one tiebreak set and will probably break Nadal enough to win some battles and preserve his pride but he will lose the war.  PREDICTION: Nadal.