TENNIS NEWS: Djokovic Returns To #1, Khachanov Breaks Through, ATP YEC Field Set (Isner, Nishikori IN, Nadal, Delpo OUT)

DJOKOVIC RETURNS TO WORLD #1 AFTER  NADAL WITHDRAWS FROM PARIS MASTERS
Because Nadal cut his entire season short (he ended up not playing the rest of the year after retiring with an injury against Del Potro in the US Open semifinals) Djokovic was assured to  return to World #1 last Monday when the Paris Masters points dropped off the calendar. This was a historic changeabout for Djojkovic who started 2018  with 6 losses and 6 wins but then had a 20-match winning streak which resulted in 3 titles (2018 Wimbledon and 2018 US Open).

FEDERER LOSES TIGHT 3-SET SEMIFINAL TO DJOKOVIC WITHOUT LOSING SERVE
The highlight of the Paris Masters was the 47th match between Federer and Djokovic, which the Serbian was able to win the 3-hour semifinal showdown 7-6(6) 5-7 7-6(3) despite never breaking Federer's serve.

DJOKOVIC ENDS YEAR-END #1 FOR FIFTH TIME IN CAREER
By Nadal being unable to compete in the ATP World Tour Finals, Djokovic will end up as the year-end #1 since World #3 Roger Federer will be unable to get enough points to surpass the Serb by the end of the year. This is the fifth time Djokovic has ended the year at #1 (2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2018).

KHACHANOV WINS FIRST ATP MASTERS TITLE
Karen Khachanov defeated Djokovic in the final of the ATP Paris Masters in straight sets 7-5 6-4 to win the biggest match of his career. The 6-foot-6 Russian reached a career high of World #11 and seized the ATP World Tour Finals first alternate spot with the win.

ATP YEAR-END CHAMPIONSHIP SET WITHOUT NADAL, DEL POTRO
The Elite Eight is set with the field consisting of Djokovic, Federer, Sascha Zverev, Kevin Anderson, Dominic Thiem, Marin Cilic, John Isner and Kei Nshikori. The two alternates are Borna Coric and Karen Khachanov. The draw is set, with Djokovic, Zverev, Isner and Cilic in the Guga Kuerten group and Federer, Thiem,  Nishikori and Anderson in the Lleyton Hewitt group.

TENNIS TUESDAY: Osaka Reaches World #4; Kiki Hits Top 10, Sabalenka at 11; Fed/Nole/Delpo Battle For #2 In Shanghai; Woz Wins Title #30

OSAKA, BERTENS, SABALENKA REACH CAREER HIGHS
2018 US Open champion Naomi Osaka reached World #4 in the rankings, matching the highest ever ranking by a Japanese female player (Kimiko Date). Osaka has played very well since becoming a major champion, reaching a final and semifinal in consecutive tournaments. Kiki Bertens cemented her career-best year by reaching the Top 10 for the first time on the back of winning 3 titles in 2018. She becomes the first Dutch woman to reach this height since Brenda Shultz-McCarthy. Bertens just edged out Aryna Sabalenka, who is at #11 in the rankings and clearly poised to go higher. Sabalenka was the only player to take a set off of Osaka in New York and won the Wuhan Open and followed that up by defeating Garbine Muguruza in Beijing, where she reached the quarterfinals. Sabalenka first reached the Top 100 for the first time almost exactly a year ago.

FEDERER, DJOKOVIC AND DEL POTRO IN RACE FOR WORLD #2.
The 2018 US Open finalists Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin del Potro are in the hunt to replace Roger Federer at the World #2 spot. Federer is the defending champion at the Shanghai Masters (which has one of the fastest court speeds on the ATP Tour). All Djokovic reaches the final in Shanghai he will be the new world #2, and has a chance to end the year at World #1 by doing well at the year-end championships in London, which he as won 5 times already. Del Potro has to hope the Serbian loses before the semifinals and that he wins the title to reach world #2. In the unlikely event that happens, a streak of 13 years where the top 2 spots have been held by members of the big 4  (Federer, Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray) will come to a close.

HALEP LIKELY TO END 2018 AS YEAR-END #1
Since Angie Kerber lost early in Beijing, Simona Halep should be able to maintain her lead at the top spot through the Year-End Tour Championships in Singapore. Wozniacki is the defending champion so she can't increase her points total to challenge Halep at the top of the WTA rankings, despite winning her 30th career title in Beijing last weekend.

2018 US OPEN: Djokovic Wins 14th Major (defeating del Potro)

Surprising some, Novak Djokovic won the 2018 U.S. Open men's singles title by defeating Juan Martin del Potro 6-3 7-6(4) 6-3. With this win Djokovic has jump started hisyear by winning two majors, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, and brought his career total to 14 majors, tying Pete Sampras at #3 on the all-time list, behind Rafael Nadal at 17 and Roger Federer at 20. Since he is 31, Nadal is 32 and Federer is 37 the Serb has a reasonable chance of ending his career with more majors than the Spaniard, and may even catch the Swiss's total. His partisans note that, right now, he has a head-to-head advantage of 24-22 over Federer, 27-25 over Nadal and 25-11 over Andy Murray and 19-5 over Stan Wawrinka.

Could these two consecutive major title wins be the first half of a second Nole slam (to be completed in 2019)?

2018 US OPEN: Men's Final Preview (and Semifinals Review)

Juan Martín Del Potro (ARG) [3] vs. Novak Djokovic (SRB) [6]

Here are my predictions for the men's final at the US Open for 2018. Last year I correctly predicted that Rafael Nadal would defeat Kevin Anderson in the 2017 men's final.  This year I have correctly predicted 3 of 4 women's quarterfinals, 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals, 1 of 2 men's semifinals and 1 of 2 women's semifinals. I also predicted the result of the women's final between Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams.

MEN'S SEMIFINALS REVIEW

Juan Martín Del Potro (ARG) [3] d. Rafael Nadal (ESP) [1] 7-6(3) 6-2 RET. Even though I didn't predict that this would happen, I'm not really surprised that Del Potro left with the win. Nadal was looking increasingly fragile, having had to battle through multiple epics just to reach the semifinals. It turns out that he had spent almost 15 hours on court before this match, including the fifth set tiebreak win against Dominic Thiem most people are calling the best of the tournament. So the fact that his body let him down and he realized that after losing the first two sets that he did not have enough in the tank to come back and win this match, especially with a persistent pain in his knee which was hampering his movement so he retired, for the second time this year in an important grand slam match (first was against Cilic in the 2018 Australian Open quarterfinals).

Novak Djokovic (SRB) [6] d. Kei Nishikori (JPN) [21] 6-3 6-4 6-2.  This was an unsurprising result, especially given the fact that Nishikori has only won two matches against Djokovic despite having played against him 16 times and that Nishikori was coming off a huge 5-set 4-hour win versus Marin Cilic the round before. Even so, Djokovic showed that he has basically returned to his world-beating level of tennis which had him dominating the tour for the 2 years prior to his 2016 departure from the sport.

MEN'S FINAL PREVIEW

This is not the final anyone expected when the draw was announced. (Many predicted a Nadal-Djokovic final.) Djokovic is coming off his surprising title run at the 2018 Wimbledon (his 13th career major) while Del Potro is at his career-high ranking of World #3. The 6-foot-6 Argentine has won the title in New York before, coming back from a 2-1 set deficit against the great Roger Federer in 2009 to snatch the title, one round after demolishing Rafael Nadal. Djokovic is playing in his 8th major final in New York, but has a surprisingly weak 2-5 record, having lost to Federer (2007), Nadal (2011, 2013), Andy Murray (2012) and Stan Wawrinka (2016). Del Potro is 1-0 in major finals, while Djokovic is playing in his 23rd major final (13-9), which is 3rd all time, behind Federer's 20-10 record and Nadal's 17-7.

Head-to-head, Djokovic has a dominant 14-4 record over Del Potro but the two have not played in 2018 where Del Potro has been resurgent. Also, Del Potro is a big match player, having beaten Djokovic both times they have met in the Olympics (2012 in London and 2016 in Rio) with the Argentine ending up with a medal both times. It's amazing Del Potro is even playing tennis, since he has had four(4!) surgeries since winning the 2009 US Open. To come back to be competing for a major title again after he was thisclose to retiring from tennis in 2015 is incredible. For Djokovic, if he wins his 14th major he will be back in the conversation about the Greatest of all time, by matching Pete Sampras haul, and getting within striking distance of Nadal's 17 and Federer's 20.

MadProfessah's prediction: Del Potro.

2018 US OPEN: Men's Semifinals Preview

Here are my predictions for the men's semifinals at the US Open for 2018. Last year I correctly predicted 3 of 4 women's quarterfinals, correctly predicted 2 of 4 men's quarterfinals, 2 of 2 men's semifinals and 1 of 2 women's semifinals.  This year I have correctly predicted 3 of 4 women's quarterfinals, 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals and 1 of 2 women's semifinals. 

Rafael Nadal (ESP) [1] vs. Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG) [3].  This is  a reprise of the 2017 US Open semifinal, which was handily won by Nadal in four sets that included a bagel. However, this year has been a resurgent one for the 2009 champion: he's at career high ranking of World #3 and (finally) one his first ATP Master series title (on American outdoor hardcourts) at Indian Wells.  Additionally, Nadal has had some surprisingly tough matches en route to the semifinals this year, including two 4-set wins against low-ranked players like Karen Khachanov and Nikoloz Basilashvili. And no one expected that his meeting with Dominc Thiem (not exactly known as a hardcourt powerhouse) would become the epic 5th set tiebreak match it did. Del Potro has beaten Nadal 5 times in 16 meetings and while Nadal has battled to get to this point, del Potro has only dropped one set (a first set tiebreaker to John Isner) to date at this year's Open. With all that being said, it's hard to see del Potro achieving the upset here against the #1 player in the world. Mad Professah's pick: Nadal.

Novak Djokovic (SRB) [6] vs. Kei Nishikori (JPN) [21].  This is a reprise of the 2014 US Open semifinal which was one of the two times Nishikori has beaten the 13-time major champion in their 16 meetings. Of course major semifinals are incredibly important matches. Nishikori is playing in his 3rd, all of which have happened in New York. I believe that he will win a set and possibly two sets, against Djokokovic but I have a hard time envisioning him winning three sets today. Nishikori had a great result in the quarterfinal outlasting Marin Cilic in five sets, getting revenge for losing the 2014 US Open final to the same opponent, despite being up an early break and losing it late in the deciding fifth set. In fact, Nishikori has a hall-of-fame record in deciding sets on the ATP tour including an astonishing 18-6 record in 5th sets. So if the match gets that far I would give him the edge, but I don't think the match will get that far. Mad Professah's pick: Djokovic.

2018 US OPEN: Men's Quarterfinals Preview

Here are my predictions for the men's quarterfinals at the US Open for 2018. Last year I correctly predicted 3 of 4 women's quarterfinals and correctly predicted 2 of 4 men's quarterfinals.  I will also predict the women's quarterfinals.

Rafael Nadal (ESP) [1] vs Dominic Thiem (AUT) [9] Kevin Anderson (RSA) 5].  This is  a reprise of the 2018 French Open final, which was handily won by Nadal. Surprisingly, even though the two have played 10 times before, this is their first meeting on a hard court and Thiem has a surprising 3 wins. Although Thiem is widely considered the second-best clay court player in the world and a clear resident of the Top 10 he has almost no pedigree on hard courts. Nadal is the defending US Open champion and has won 4 hard court majors in his career. I actually think that Thime would have a better chance of winning this match if it was on clay, which means he has almost no chance at all. Mad Professah's pick: Nadal.

Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG) [3] vs John Isner (USA) [11].  Del Potro is up to a career high of #3 playing someone who is also playing the best tennis of their life. Both Isner and Del Potro have won their first masters 1000 tournaments this year (Isner won Miami, Del Potro won Indian Wells) but tennis results usually come down to match ups. In this one, Delpo has a significant 7-4 head-to-head edge against Isner, who is playing in the 3rd(!) quarterfinal of his career (2nd in New York City).I am pretty sure Delpo's best exceeds Isner's best by a good deal. That all being said, If Isner hits his spots on his serve, there's not much you can do except hope that he misses or you get lucky in the inevitable tiebreaker. Most observers were astonished that Isner was able to get past Milos Raonic in 5 sets with zero tiebreak sets. in the round before while Del Potro dismissed a still-improving Borna Coric in straight sets. Those results may be indicative of the result in this match. Mad Professah's pick: Del Potro.

Marin Cilic (CRO) [7] vs Kei Nishikori (JPN) [21].  This is a reprise of the 2014 US Open final which was won by Cilic. These two have a closer rivalry than one would expect, with Cilic leading their head-to-head 8-6 with a slight 2-1 edge in their meetings in New York. The reason why I give Cilic the edge in this match is that he has begun to show that he is a big-match player. He has reached two major finals in the last two years (2017 Wimbledon final and 2018 Australian Open final), and even though he lost both of these to Federer, just reaching these finals show how much Cilic's game has improved. While Cilic's level has been rising Nishikori has been stuck in neutral, off the tour either due to injury, surgery or rehab. I don't doubt that Kei is hungry for success, but I think Marin is even hungrier. Mad Professah's pick: Cilic.

Roger Federer (SUI) [2] John Millman (AUS) vs Novak Djokovic (SRB) [6].  The match up between Djokovic and Federer in this last quarterfinal was salivated over once the draw was revealed before the tournament began. But John Millman, the 29-year-old Aussie journeyman playing in his first-ever 4th round of a major took advantage of a  37-year-old Federer who played some truly awful tennis to lose a match in a major before the quarterfinal stage for only the fifth time in the last fifteen years. At one point in the second set Federer's service percentage was 10% (2 out of 20) and for the match it was barely above 50%. It's not exactly sure what was wrong, bur even if he had somehow managed to win against Millman (which he did not deserve to) there's no doubt that Djokovic would have destroyed him in this round. Djokovic didn't look convincing in his win over Jaoa Sousa to reach the quarterfinal but I'm confident that he will find a way to get past a player who just had his very first win against a Top 10 player in his career (Federer on Arthur Ashe court at night!) to reach another major semifinal. Mad Professah's pick: Djokovic.

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: Men's Semifinals Preview (and Predictions)

Here are my predictions for the men'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 also predicted this year's women's semifinals.

Roger Federer (SUI) [1] Kevin Anderson (RSA) [8] vs John Isner (USA) [9].  Things were going so well for the 8-time major champion Roger Federer in the tournament right before he was shockingly dismissed in a 5-set thriller, losing 13-11 in the decider. He had equaled his record of 34 consecutive sets won after taking the first two sets of his match with Kevin Anderson, who had never won a set against him, and he sported a 266-2 record in majors when up 2-0. However, somehow Anderson maintained his composure and won the last 3 sets and the match, to reach his first Wimbledon semifinal. There he will face a familiar opponent, John Isner who will also be playing in his first Wimbledon semifinal which is also his first major final. Isner has not had his serve broken through 5 matches, the best of any of the semifinalists. Of course this means that he has played a lot of tiebreakers in this tournament, but Isner plays a lot of tiebreaks in every tournament. At age 33, Isner is clearly playing the best tennis of his career. And instead of facing the best grasscourt player of all time to reach a major final, he will face Anderson, someone with whom he has a 8-to-3 head-to-head lead. There's also the statistic that the last 3 people to beat Federer before the final went on to lose their next match (Raonic in 2016, Stakhovsky in 2013 and Tsonga in 2011). Aderson is serious enough that I believe this will be at least a 4-set match and *probably* not a reprise of Isner's 70-68 match with Mahut, but there are going to be a LOT of aces between the two, and not a lot of rallies. PREDICTION: Isner.

Rafael Nadal (ESP) [2] vs. Novak Djokovic (SRB) [12]. Although the Federer-Nadal rivalry is more heralded, but the Djokovic-Nadal rivalry is at least as significant to men's tennis. The two have played 51 times and Djokovic leads 26-25. But this doesn't tell the entire story because they have met 13 times at majors and Nadal leads 9-4. Nadal-Djokovic LII is happening in the semifinals of Wimbledon, where Djokovic is a 3-time champion (he has never lost a final here, even despite playing Federer twice!) and Nadal has won twice in 5 finals, with this year being the 10th anniversary of his very first win here (over Federer) in the Greatest Match of All Time. I am fairly confident whomever wins this semifinal will win the 2018 title over whomever wins the other semifinal. The real question that will be answered by the result of this match is whether Djokovic is back and ready to compete at the very top of men's tennis again. From the looks of things, that answer is yes. We know Nadal is already at the top of his game (after all he is the World #1 ranked player, and will probably end the year at #1 unless Djokovic manages to win both of the last two majors of the year or Federer wins in New York. Regardless, this should be a battle of epic proportions. PREDICTION: Djokovic.

2018 WIMBLEDON: Men's Quarterfinals Preview (and Predictions)

Here are my predictions for the men'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 also predicted this year's women's quarterfinals.

Roger Federer (SUI) [1] vs. Kevin Anderson (RSA) [8].  The defending champion has looked nearly flawless so far. He has not dropped his service in any match and has faced less than a handful of breakpoints in four matches. However, those  breakpoints did all come in his last match against Adrian Mannarino so maybe he is getting more vulnerable? One thing that may take him off his stride against Anderson will be the fact that he is playing on Court 1, not his beloved Centre Court. But I expect this will actually redound to his favor because the crowd will be so appreciative to be getting a Federer match I suspect it will be like a home Davis Cup venue in favor of the Swiss. The fact that he is playing a big server is somewhat problematic, but Federer has taken dow big servers before, especially when they have movement issues. However despite the fact that Federer is 4-0 against Anderson I suspect this match will be tighter than expected and  I would not be surprised if the South African wins a set in his very first major quarterfinal at Wimbledon. Despite playing the best grass court player of all time, I believe Anderson has some confidence earned from his 2017 US Open final run to believe he at least has a chance of winning the match and he does. But I still think that he won't  PREDICTION: Federer.

Milos Raonic (CAN) [13] vs. John Isner (USA) [9].Somewhat surprisingly, the older Isner has a 3-1 head-to-head advantage on Raonic. Unsurprisingly, 7 of 9 sets the two have played so far have gone to tiebreaks, with Isner leading 4-3. Raonic has better pedigree at the all-England Club, having reached the 2016 Wimbledon final (losing to Murray but beating Federer in the semifinals) while Isner is playing in his first Wimbledon quarterfinal and only the second in his career while Raonic is in his 8th. However, at age 33 Isner is playing some of his best tennis, having won his first ATP Masters shield in April in Miami and has been demonstrating a more aggressive style of play that his coaches have been urging for years. This will certainly not be the most scintillating of matches, but one of of these players will be reaching a Wimbledon major semifinal. PREDICTION: Isner.

Kei Nishikori (JPN) [24] vs. Novak Djokovic (SRB) [12]. It's hard to believe that just two years ago, Djokovic had just completed the Nole slam, having won 4 consecutive slams and he bestrode the tennis world like a Collossus, with a gaudy haul of 12 major titles before the age of 30. However, it was here at Wimbledon where he suffered a stunning upset to Sam Querrey in the third round as the defending champion. Remember, Djokovic has won this tournament three times (2011, 2014, 2015) and it looks like he is starting to get his groove back after a long injury break from the game. Luckily for him, he plays someone who he has an excellent head-to-head of 13-2 although of course one of those losses came famously in the 2014 US Open semifinal. Nishikori is playing in his first Wimbledon quarterfinal and he just looks to me that he is happy with that result and is not hungry to go further, while Djokovic is very motivated to return to his pedestal at the top of men's tennis. PREDICTION: Djokovic.

Rafael Nadal (ESP) [2] vs. Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG) [5]. The head-to-head is strongly in Nadal's favor at 10-5 which includes 2 grass courts win. Many people have been saying Del Potro has a good chance of beating Nadal but they said that at the US Open after he beat Federer in the quarterfinal and the Spaniard just rolled over the big Argentine on his way to his third US Open title. Del Potro did not look mentally tough in his match against Gilles Simon, needing 5 match points and an extra day to dispatch the tricky Frenchman to reach his first Wimbledon quarterfinal since 2011. Nadal is playing exceptional tennis and is in his first quarterfinal here since 2011 as well. It's amazing that a decade after they played the Greatest Match of all Time here in 2008, Federer and Nadal are just two matches away from a reprise. PREDICTION: Nadal.

2018 FRENCH OPEN: Men's Semifinals Preview

Here are my predictions for the men's semifinals at the 2018 French Open. Last year I correctly predicted 2 of 4 women's quarterfinals, 1 of 2 women's semifinals, 4 of 4 men's quarterfinals, and 2 of 2 men's semifinals. This year I correctly predicted 4 of 4 women's quarterfinals, 2 of 2 women's semifinals and 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals.

Rafael Nadal (ESP) [1] vs Juan Martin del Potro (ARG) [5].  For the second round in a row the World #1 will be facing off against a player from Argentina. As I predicted before the quarterfinals, diminutive Diego Schwartzman was able to end Nadal's streak of 37 consecutive sets won at Roland Garros that extends back to 2015. In fact for a full set and a half, "Little Diego" outplayed the King of Clay on his home turf of Court Philippe Chatrier. Del Potro continued his dominance of Marin Cilic, extending his head-to-head record to 11 and 2. The decidedly not diminutive Argentine is in his first semifinal at Roland Garros since 2009 as a result and will face Nadal. Interestingly, although the two have played 14 times, Del Potro has a healthy 5 wins. Unfortunately, none of these wins have come on clay (oddly, the two have only met twice on that surface including one straight sets win for Nadal way back in 2007 at Roland Garros). The two have also met a fair number of times in major tournaments (four) and Nadal leads that head-to-head 3-1. In fact, the two met at this stage of the 2017 U.S. Open and Nadal prevailed relatively easily on his way to winning his 16th major title. Mad Professah's pick: Nadal.

Marco Cecchinato (ITA) Novak Djokovic (SRB) [20] vs Dominic Thiem (AUT) [7].  In one of the greatest upsets in Grand Slam history, an unheralded and unseeded Italian who had never won a Grand Slam match prior to the beginning of this tournament outplayed and outlasted the 12-time major champion to win in four sets. This result was not due to bad play by Djokovic, it was more of a result of great play by Cecchinato. He is the first Italian male player to reach a major semifinal since 1978. (Of course two Italian female players have won majors in the last decade: Flavia Pennetta won the US Open in 2016 and Fancesca Schiavone won the French Open in 2010.) However now Cecchinato will play the world's second best clay court player in Dominic Thiem, who dispatched an ailing Sascha Zverev in his quarterfinal and is seeking to reach his first major final, at the place where most people think he is most likely to be successful. This will be the Roland-Garros final that we have been expecting for awhile, although it must be said that this is Thiem's third consecutive appearance in the semifinals at Roland-Garros and he is yet to win a set. I'm confident that will change on Friday and Thiem will finally realize his potential to compete for the Coupe des Mousquetaires. Mad Professah's pick: Thiem.

2018 FRENCH OPEN: Men's Quarterfinals Preview (and Predictions)

Here are my predictions for the women's quarterfinals at the 2018 French Open. Last year I correctly predicted 2 of 4 women's quarterfinals and correctly predicted 4 of 4 men's quarterfinals. This year I have also predicted the women's quarterfinals.

Rafael Nadal (ESP) [1] vs Diego Schwarztman (ARG) [11].  Schwartzman showed his mettle in the previous round coming back from being hammered  in the first two sets against Kevin Anderson to win in 5 sets. Can the diminutive Schwartzman put an end to Nadal's streak of sets won at Roland Garros? Possibly, yes. Can the Argentine win the match? No. Mad Professah's pick: Nadal.

Marin Cilic (CRO) [3] vs. Juan Martin del Potro (ARG) [5]. Amazing that the one country that has two men in the quarterfinals is not Spain, France or Italy but Argentina! Del Potro is playing excellent tennis, and was very sharp in his straight set dismissal of John Isner in the round before, but Cilic is an even sterner challenge due to his better movement. However, for some reason the head-to-head between these two Big Boys is skewed way in favor of the Argentine. The two have played twelve times and Cilic has only won twice, with 7 consecutive losses sets including all three of their career meetings on clay. Cilic will be motivated to win this match, but his enthusiasm may be dampened realizing that he gets Nadal as a reward. I think this will probably be a tough 4 or 5 set match, which just gives the winner even longer odds against Nadal in the semifinals. Mad Professah's pick: Del Potro.

David Goffin (BEL) [8] Marco Cecchinato (ITA) vs. Novak Djokovic (SRB) [20].  It looks like Djokovic may actually be getting his groove back, even though he is still not back to his colossal form of 2016 (and may never return to that form again). He is a 12-time major champion playing against a first-time major quarterfinalist who has won a handful of Grand Slam matches. Cecchinato did well to take out the very good clay court player David Goffin in the round before. Mad Professah's pick: Djokovic.

Dominic Thiem (AUT) [7] vs. Sascha Zverev (GER) [2].  This is the popcorn match of this round. Thiem is widely considered the heir apparent to Nadal on clay and Zverev is the breakout star of the Next Generation cohort, having won 3 ATP Masters Shields before his 21st birthday (by contrast, Del Potro just won his first ATP Master Shield in Indian Wells this year) and has earned his #2 seeding. However, Zverev has played three consecutive 5-set matches to reach his very first major quarterfinal, while Thiem has reached the semifinals of Roland Garros for two consecutive years and is the only player to beat Nadal on clay this year. But that win in Madrid was followed by a relatively straightforward loss to Zverev, so this is not an easy match to call. However, it's hard to see how Zverev has enough to go the full distance with Thiem. However since they both know that isn't it possible Zverev could come out and blast Thiem off the court like he did in Spain? Possibly, but that's awfully hard to do on a clay court. Mad Professah's pick: Thiem.

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.

2017 US OPEN: Men's Final Preview

RAFAEL NADAL (ESP) [1] VS. KEVIN ANDERSON (RSA) [28]

Here are my predictions for the men's final at the US Open for 2017. Last year I correctly predicted Stan Wawrinka would beat Novak Djokovic. This year I did not predict that  Sloane Stephens would beat Madison Keys in the women's final but I did correctly predict 2 of 2 men's semifinals, 1 of 2 women's semifinals, 3 of 4 women's quarterfinals and 2 of 4 men's quarterfinals. 

MEN'S FINAL PREVIEW

The men's final will be between World #1 Rafael Nadal and #28 seed Kevin Anderson. The main story of this year's U.S. Open on the men's side is the absence of "the usual contenders" such as defending champion Stan Wawrinka, 2016 U.S. Open finalist Novak Djokovic, World #2 Andy Murray, and 2016 U.S. Open semifinalist Kei Nishikori. Because of this, Nadal has not faced a single Top 15 player on his way to the 2017 U.S. Open final. He even avoided having to face World #3 Roger Federer due to the inspired play of Juan Martin del Potro in the quarterfinal. On the other half of the draw, Kevin Anderson has reached his first major final after many seeds fell early, leaving #12 Pablo Carreno Busta as the highest seed remaining in the 4th round. Regardless, you can only play against the people that the draw presents you, and so it is very likely that Nadal will win his 16th major title and 3rd U.S. Open today, cementing his hold on the #1 year-end ranking. MadProfessah's prediction: Nadal.

2017 US OPEN: Men's Semifinals Preview

Here are my predictions for the men's semifinals at the US Open for 2017. Last year I correctly predicted 2 of 2 men's semifinals, 1 of 2 women's semifinals, 4 of 4 women's quarterfinals and correctly predicted 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals. This year I correctly predicted 1 of 2 women's semifinals.

Rafael Nadal (ESP) [1] vs. Juan Martin Del Potro (ESP) [24] Roger Federer (SUI) [3].  For the second time, Juan Martin del Potro has served as the spoiler to prevent a meeting between Federer and Nadal at the U.S. Open, which is the only major the two have not played a match against each other. In 2009, del Potro beat Nadal and then Federer to win his only major in New York City. He has already played the match of the tournament in his 4th round escape from Dominic Thiem when he was down two sets and two match points. I actually argued Del Potro was a better opponent for Federer because he had a losing record (5W-16L) versus Thiem's 2W-1L. But, unfortunately Federer did not play his best tennis in the quarterfinal and Del Potro was boosted by the crowd at key moments to come through. The third set tiebreak was pivotal. Federer had 4 set points and made multiple mental errors (like serving to Del Potro's forehand, failing to make an easy backhand volley) and ended up losing it on Del Potro's first set point (on an ill-advised serve-and-volley point). Federer admitted in press that he never felt like all aspects of his game were together in this tournament and that he probably would not have done well against Nadal if they had met.  Del Potro has a pretty good record against the Spaniard on hard courts (5W-3L) but has a losing 5W-8L record overall. Nadal is the #1 player in the world and has an amazing opportunity to win his 16th major without having faced a single Top 10 player (Del Potro has already faced and defeated #6 and #3). My heart would like to see Del Potro win this but my head says that this may be too big an ask even for someone as big as Del Potro. Mad Professah's pick: Nadal.

Kevin Anderson (RSA) [27] vs Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP) [12].  Both of these players are in their first ever major semifinal and they have the good fortune of facing each other so that one of them will make it to their first-ever major final. For both players, they know they are very unlikely ever to be in such a position again. So the result of the match will probably come down to who wants it more. That being said one cannot discount  the matchup and so far it has been a good one for Anderson, who leads the head-to-head 2W-0L including in Cincinnati just a few weeks ago. Carreno Busta is currently the higher ranked player and is playing in his second major of the year where he has made a quarterfinal so he should have confidence but I think he still may be overwhelmed by the occasion. Usually in these situations the edge goes to the better mover and that would be Carreno Busta but I think Anderson's ability to hold his serve so easily and put the pressure back on his opponent will be deicisive. Mad Professah's pick: Anderson.

2017 US OPEN: Men's Quarterfinals Preview

Here are my predictions for the women's quarterfinals at the US Open for 2017. Last year I correctly predicted 4 of 4 women's quarterfinals and correctly predicted 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals. This year I have also predicted the women's quarterfinals.

Rafael Nadal (ESP) [1] vs Andrey Rublev (RUS) David Goffin (BEL) [9].  Nadal and Federer have never played at the U.S. Open despite playing over 150 matches between the two of them in New York. Now they are both just one match away from meeting in the semifinals on Friday. Nadal will not even have to face a seeded player as 19-year-old Andrey Rublev became the first of the #NextGen ATP players (that includes people like Frances Tiafoe, Taylor Fritz, Denis Shapovalov and, technically, Sasha Zverev) to reach a major quarterfinal by dismissing a clearly injured David Goffin in straight sets before a subdued crowd that included yours truly on the wretched temporary Louis Armstrong court. Nadal has not been playing his best tennis but he looked sharp in eliminating the always-tricky Aleksandr Dolgopolov and now the chances seem very high that Federer and Nadal will meet for the fourth time in 2017, with Federer having won all 3 previous meeting, but is still down 14-23 in their storied head-to-head. Rublev is clearly talented, but is a 19-year-old playing in his first major quarterfinal going to beat a 15-time major champion? He's good, but not that good. Mad Professah's pick: Nadal.

Roger Federer (SUI) [3] vs Juan Martin Del Potro (ESP) [24] Dominic Thiem (AUT) [6].  In the highlight of the tournament (and almost certainly one of the best matches of the year), Juan Martin del Potro came back from losing the first two sets 6-1 6-2 in under an hour to defeat the #6 player in the world, Dominic Thiem of Austria. For sheer melodrama and emotional wallop, this match was exceptional. Del Potro has a special place in tennis fans' hearts because he is a really nice guy and he has mouth-dropping power. That he continues to persevere after having ridiculously bad luck with injury after beating Federer in the 2009 U.S. Open final is inspirational. Sadly, I didn't have a ticket to Grandstand while the match was being played but I was able to be part of the standing room only to see him save two match points (down 3-5 in the 4th set) with two consecutive service aces and then dominate the 4th set tiebreak after Thiem blinked when serving for the match at 5-4. In the fifth set everything was on serve until Thiem doublefaulted on breakpoint and match point at 4-5. It will be a match that will be talked about for years! The end result is probably good for Federer, because I think he has a better chance against del Potro (who he leads 12-5 head-to-head instead of Thiem who actually leads his head-to-head with Federer 2-1! Since Del Potro mostly uses slice on his backhand instead of bludgeoning the ball on both wings I think an in-form Federer should not have much to worry about, and will probably enjoy the chance of revenge for the 2009 loss. Mad Professah's pick: Federer.

Sam Querrey (USA) [17] vs Kevin Anderson (RSA) [27].  Sam Querrey is just going from strength to strength as he approaches nearly 30 years old. Many think of him as a smaller, lesser John Isner but Querrey is showing that he may be the more significant player in the end, having delivered two major upsets at Wimbledon in the last two years by defeating two defending champions (Djokovic in 2016 and Murray in 2017). Also, one round after Isner was dispatched by the serve-and-volley skill of Mischa Zverev, Querrey showed how one defeats such a tactic (with blazing passing shots). Honestly, Querrey's dismissal of Zverev in 77 minutes losing only 5 games was as close to being in the zone as we have seen this tournament and is probably the second best match of the tournament (behind Del Potro-Thiem). Anderson tends to play his best tennis in New York and these two play a very similar style of big man tennis which is basically reached its peak in the play of Marin Cilic. In these situations the edge goes to the better mover and that would be Querrey. Mad Professah's pick: Querrey.

Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP) [12] vs Diego Schwartzman (ARG) [29] Lucas Pouille (FRA) [16].  This was the part of the draw most affected by the withdrawal of Andy Murray as the #2 seed after the draw was announced on the Friday before the tournament started.  Schwartzman defeated #5 seed Marin Cilic and #16 seed Lucas Pouille en route to reaching his first major quarterfinal. Many are remarking on the power and stamina of the diminutive Colombian (he's 5-foot-7).  Schwartzman leads the tour at the percentage of service return games won in 2017 (ahead of World #1 Nadal who is at #2 in this stat) so you can see that he is a tough out. However I was courtside for his Pouille victory and he was clearly struggling with an upper thigh injury (heavily strapped and he wasn't moving that well after he won the first two sets). Carreno Busta is playing his best tennis and is going for his second major quarterfinal of the year after defeating the darling of the tournament, 18-year-old  Canadian phenom, Dennis Shapovalov who dismissed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga  in straight sets in the second round. In some since it doesn't matter who wins this match because I don't think they will be reaching the final, but I still go with the Spaniard. Mad Professah's pick: Carreno Busta.

2017 US OPEN: R16 Is Set, Both Draw Wide Open

The 2017 US Open continues in New York City. I will be visiting the tournament today and tomorrow but the weather is not cooperating, with rain scheduled until mid-afternoon on Sunday (but Monday should be bright and sunny).

On the men's side there are 16 players remaining in the draw and 11 of them are seeded, although only six of these are in the top 16 and in the lower half of the draw the highest seeded player is #12 Pablo Carreno Busta! Meanwhile in the top 1/2 of the draw Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are still on track for their first-ever meeting at the U.S. Open, which could happen in the semifinals, if they both win 2 more matches. Federer will play Phillip Kohlschreiber (whom he has never lost to in 11 meetings) while Nadal will face Aleksandr Dolgopolov who actually has won 2 of 8 meetings. But also in the top half remains 2009 U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro and #6 Dominic Thiem. This is one impact of the fact that in addition toAndy Murray, three of four 2016 U.S. Open semifinalists (Wawrinka, Djokovic and Nishikori) did not play the tournament this year.

There's a lot of buzz about how wide open the tournament is but on the women's side while there are only 9 seeded players in the remaining seven of these are top 16 seeds. In fact, there are still 4 major champions remaining (although they are all in the bottom half of the draw): Venus  Willliams (7), Maria Sharapova (5), Garbine Muguruza (2), Petra Kvitova (2). Happily, I will get to see Muguruza and Kvitova fight for a quarterfinal slot tonight. In the top half of the draw #1 Karolina Pliskova and #4 Elina Svitolina and #15 Madison Keys are lurking. There are 5 remaining American left in the round of 16, the most since 2002: Keys, Venus,  Jennifer Brady, Sloane Stephens and CoCo Vandeweghe (who finally beat her bete noire Aga Radwanska in the round before and may be building on her 2017 Australian Open semifinal run).