TENNIS TUESDAY: WTA & ATP Year-End Rankings; France Wins Davis Cup

FRANCE WINS DAVIS CUP BY DEFEATING BELGIUM 3-2
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Lucas Pouille, Richard Gasquet and Pierre-Hugues Herbert all contributed to France's win over Belgium in the 2017 Davis Cup final. The most important win was Pouille's over Belgium's Steven Darcis in the live fifth rubber after David Goffin defeated Gasquet and Tsonga in the singles matches but Herbert and Gasquet teamed up to win the crucial doubles point. This was France's 10th Davis Cup win and its first since 2001 after losing in the final in 2010 to Serbia and 2014 to Switzerland.

END OF YEAR ATP RANKINGS

END OF YEAR WTA RANKINGS

2016 WIMBLEDON: Men's Quarterfinals Preview

Here are my predictions for the men's quarterfinals at the Wimbledon Championships for 2016. Last year I correctly predicted 4 of 4 men's quarterfinals and correctly predicted 2 of 4 women's quarterfinals. I will also predict this year's women's quarterfinals.

Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1] Sam Querrey (USA) [28] vs. Milos Raonic (CAN) [6]. After accomplishing the biggest upset of the year by defeating 2-time defending champion Novak Djokovic in the previous round, Sam Querrey followed this up by defeating Nicolas Mahut, a grass-court specialist, to reach his first major quarterfinal. The Canadian Missile also had to traverse uncharted territory to reach this position, after dropping the first two sets to Belgian David Goffin, Raonic did not panic, but just concentrated on using his 130+ MPH serving ability to help him hold his serve and hunkered down to try and win the last three sets of the match. This was the first time in ten attempts that Raonic had been down 0-2 in sets and this was the first time that he was able to come back (in all the other matches he had lost in straight sets). Surprisingly, Querrey has a 3-1 head-to-head advantage over Raonic including a 4-set win at the 2012 Wimbledon, but the two have not met in the last three years, and certainly not since Raonic became a top 10 player. By adding John McEnroe to his coaching team, Raonic has signaled his intent to claim this title, and with Djokovic removed from the equation, this is a near golden opportunity for him, one everyone around him will recognize and want to take advantage of.  PREDICTION: Raonic.

Roger Federer (SUI) [3] vs. Marin Cilic (CRO) [9] Kei Nishikori (JPN) [5]. Sadly, the mouthwatering reprise of the 2014 US Open final ended up being a bust when a clearly injured Nishikori was only able to put up token resistance and  gave up before completing two sets. So, this gives us a reprise of the 2014 US Open semifinal, which is the last time these two met in competition, and the result was Cilic basically blasting Federer off the court. Can he do so again? Possibly. But Center Court Wimbledon is very different from Arthur Ashe stadium. Federer has always handled big servers well, but Cilic also moves exceedingly well for a 6-foot-6 man. However, I have to believe that Federer has planned all year for just this moment, and will be properly prepared to optimize his chances of winning this match (and the next two). That being said, I seriously doubt this will be a straight sets win (in either direction), and I do worry about the impact of a long, physical affair on Federer's chances. However, there's a reason he has reached 14 quarterfinals and 10 finals (and semifinals) at this tournament in his career. I think he will reach #11 this year. PREDICTION: Federer.

Stan Wawrinka (SUI) [4] Lucas Pouille (FRA) [32] vs. Tomas Berdych (CZE) [10] Jiri Vesely (CZE). The "Next Generation" players that have been getting the most buzz all year are players like Sascha Zverev (19), Dominc Thiem (22) Taylor Fritz (18) and Borna Coric (19) but here on the grass courts of Wimbledon the two youngsters that have made the loudest impression on the draw are two 22-year-olds: Lucas Pouille from France and the Jiri Vesely from Czech Republic. Pouille is playing in only his second main draw in Wimbledon and he has reached his first major quarterfinal by eliminating Juan Martin del Potro (after the Argentine took out Stan Wawrinka) and Bernard Tomic. Vesely impressed earlier in the year, handing World #1 Novak Djokovic a defeat on clay in Monte Carlo but he also impressed here in Wimbledon by forcing a 5th set in his fourth round match with countryman Tomas Berdych after losing the first two sets, saving 5 match points in the process. I don't expect that to change on Wednesday. These two have never played before, but despite Berdych's emotionally draining previous round, he has the experience of being here before, and the confidence of knowing he has reached the final here before (in 2010). Pouille is talented, but is he that talented to win his first major quarterfinal? Perhaps, After all, Thiem did it in Paris a few weeks ago. But I'm doubtful that feat will be repeated here. PREDICTION: Berdych.

Andy Murray (GBR) [2] vs. Richard Gasquet (FRA) [7] Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) [12]. Tsonga is very lucky to be in this position. He was down 2 sets to none against John Isner in the 3rd round late on Saturday when he won a 3rd set tiebreak and eventually was able to even up the match by winning the fourth. He was serving second in the fifth set so eventually every breakpoint became a match point and yet he was able to save them and eventually broke Isner's serve and successfully served it out to win the fifth set by the ridiculous score of 19-17. Then his countryman Richard Gasquet gave him a gift by retiring after playing a mere six games to allow him to reach another quarterfinal here at the All-England Club.  Unfortunately, he is playing someone whom he has a 2-12 head-to-head record against, and has really only been able to beat when playing his very best tennis (i.e. 2008 Australian Open and 2014 Rogers Cup in Montreal) and it is very unlikely that will not be the case on Wednesday. In fact, I would be very surprised if Murray lost a set, but I suspect atleast two of the sets will be very tight, single service-break or tiebreak affairs. PREDICTION: Murray.

2016 FRENCH OPEN: Men's Quarterfinals (and R16) Preview, Part 1

Here are my predictions for the 2016 men's quarterfinals and remaining Round of 16 matches at the French Open. Last year I correctly predicted 3 of 4 women's quarterfinals and correctly predicted 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals. I will try to predict the women's quarterfinals (and remaining Round of 16 matches) in a separate post.

QUARTERFINAL MATCHES

Andy Murray [3] vs Richard Gasquet (FRA) [9] Kei Nishikori (JPN) [5]. Andy Murray has clearly been the second best player on clay this year (behind Novak Djokovic) and this year has a win on clay against Nadal (in Madrid!) and also a win against Djokovic (in Rome!). After playing 13 times in his home country's slam and never getting to the second week, Richard Gasquet put on a clinic of stylish tennis to dismiss a surprisingly erratic Kei Nishikori in their Round of 16 match on Sunday. Murray will not be daunted by the fact that the vast majority of the crowd on Roland Garros' largest court will be backing his opponent, hoping a Frenchman can finally reach a final again (Henri Leconte did it in 1988). Over the years, Murray has done well when he has been faced with dashing the hopes of Gael Monfils and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga He will probably play better knowing that the fans don't want him to win. I think Murray has an excellent chance of reaching his first French Open final this year. He has a 7-3 head-to-head against Gasquet and has won their last five consecutive meetings. There's not much to suggest that this match will have a different result. Mad Professah's pick: Murray.

Stan Wawrinka (SUI) [3] vs Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) Milos Raonic (CAN) [8]. This is not the Spanish lefty anyone would have predicted would be playing in the Roland Garros quarterfinals this year. All his compatriots: Rafael Nadal, Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez have left the tournament but Ramos-Vinolas is still here, playing in his first major quarterfinal.  This is a lucky break for Wawrinka, but the defending champion would not have had much of a difficulty against the seed who should have made it this far, Milos Raonic. I'll be shocked is he has trouble against someone who has never won a clay court tournament on the ATP tour. Mad Professah's pick: Wawrinka.

ROUND OF 16 MATCHES

Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1] vs. Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) [14]. This match was suspended at 3-6 6-4 4-1 but even if it wasn't I would still be surprised to see Djokovic lose this match even if the scores were reversed and play was resuming. With Nadak out of the picture, this is Novak's year to complete his career slam. Mad Professah's pick: Djokovic.
David Ferrer (ESP) [11] vs. Tomas Berdych (CZE) [7]. This could have been a semifinal or quarterfinal a few years ago when both players were in the top 5. Surprisingly, Ferrer owns a 8-6 career head-to-head over his much taller opponent, but they have split their head-to-head meetings on clay. Even more surprisingly, despite playing so badly that he was double bageled in Rome (by David Goffin), just the week before this horrible performance Berdych was able to beat Ferrer on clay in Madrid. This match should be a nearly interminable war of attrition. In that case, I'll give the edge to the indefatigabe Spaniard (although Berdych has one their one best-of-five grand slam match). Mad Professah's pick: Ferrer.

Marcel Granollers (ESP) vs. Dominic Thiem (AUT) [13]. 
The 21-year-old from Austria is one of the hottest players on tour all year long and is finally making it count in a major. I wouldn't be surprised to see Thiem reach a semifinal here. After all, he has a win on clay this year against Nadal, even after being down match point! Mad Professah's pick: Thiem.

Ernests Gulbis (LAT) vs. David Goffin (BEL) [12].
Gulbis was the beneficiary of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga's 30-year-old body giving up on him in the round before. Goffin is a clear-thinking counterpuncher who loves clay and has been steadily rising up the rankings and this is an excellent time for him to make his first major qurterfinal. Mad Professah's pick: Goffin.

BASEL 2015: Roger Wins Federer-Nadal XXXIV 6-3 5-7 6-3 To Claim 88th ATP Title

As I predicted yesterday, Roger Federer was able to beat Rafael Nadal in their 34th career meeting. The match was actually quite close, with one break of serve deciding each set, as the final score of 6-3 5-7 6-3 demonstrates. Play lasted just over 2 hours and the rallies were often long and intense.

Federer's win stopped a three and a half-year drought of success against his most famous rival (he had lost the last 5 matches he played against Nadal). However, this match was literally played on Federer's turf (indoor hardcourt in his home town of Basel). The Swiss Great was playing in his twelfth final in Basel, and with the win earned his seventh title here and 88th career ATP title. He now improves to 11-23 against Nadal and 88-46 in career finals while Nadal falls to 67-31 in career finals.

By reaching the final (and beating Richard Gasquet) to do so Nadal set the field for the ATP Year-Ending Championship in two weeks in London will have the same eight players it did last year and made the result of whoever wins the ATP Paris Masters this week irrelevant to that race. (Novak Djokovic clinched the Year-End #1 earlier in the season when he won his 3rd major of the year at the U.S. Open.) However, Nadal's improved play on one of his worst surfaces (indoor hard courts) may augur good things for an upside in his fortunes in 2016.

2015 US OPEN: Men's Semifinals Preview

Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1] vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) [19] Marin Cilic (CRO) [9]. Proving that last year's title run here was no fluke, Marin Cilic outlasted Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarterfinal by winning the fifth set 6-4 despite blowing a 2-0 set lead. It's somewhat unfortunate that the draw has produced Djokovic-Cilic and Federer-Wawrinka instead of Djokovic-Wawrinka and Federer-Cilic. This alternate draw would be more suspenseful because those in those matchups the higher ranked player has lost to the lower ranked player in important meetings (Wawrinka beat Djokovic in the finals of the 2015 French Open and Cilic beat Federer in the semifinals of the 2014 U.S. Open. However, what we have instead is a pair of matches where the higher ranked player has a clear head-to-head advantage. Djokovic leads Cilic 13-0 and Federer leads Wawrinka 16-3. The last meeting between  Cilic and Djokovic was at Wimbledon and was a pretty routine win by the World #1. A win here will let Djokovic reach his 4th major final of 2015, and his 8th final in the last 10 majors (where he has been 3-4). For such a great hard court player he deserves another opportunity to demonstrate his prowess in New York. Mad Professah's pick: Djokovic.

Roger Federer (SUI) [2] vs Stan Wawrinka (SUI) [5].  This should be the more compelling and emotionally resonant of the two major semifinals played. Things are always complicated when two players from the same country compete on the world stage and the dynamics between Federer and Wawrinka are in a transitional state. For almost a decade, Wawrinka has been looking up to Federer, not really believing he was his equal and but in the last 8 majors played Wawrinka has won twice and Federer has won none. Combined with the fact that in their last meeting Wawrinka essentially blasted Federer off the court at Roland Garros this year on his way to winning his 2nd major. It's hard to believe that Wawrinka can duplicate such a performance, especially on the hard courts of New York where Federer has won 5 times (although he has not been in a final here since losing to Juan Martin del Potro in 2009). That being said, if Donald Young could win a 6-1 set against Wawrinkain the 4th round then I am fairly confident that Federer will be able to beat even the new and improved Wawrinka, Mad Professah's pick: Federer.

TENNIS TUESDAY: A Short Photo Essay On My Labor Day Trip To The U.S. Open

Fourth Round match between Kevin Anderson and Andy Murray

This shot is taken from Section 111 (right next to the ESPN commentators booth). I arrived during the middle set of the Halep-Lisicki match and basically every seat in the stadium (including the one I had paid for!) was taken. I waited until Halep won the second set and then kicked the person out of my seat. Then I proceeded to sit there through the last set of the women's match (which Halep won 6-7 7-5 6-2) and the first  three sets of the Murray-Anderson match (which took well over three-and-a-half hours). The tennis was excellent, and I was quite impressed with Anderson's two-handed backhand and his ability to move for a 6-foot-8 guy. I was also impressed by Halep's grit fighting through physical difficulties herself even as Lisicki started cramping at 2-all in the final set. He is much more than just a huge serve and  a big forehand; moves about as well as Del Potro. Like the Argentinean, Anderson can crush the ball. The forehand winner he hit at 6-5 in the first set tiebreak was clocked at 108 miles per hour!

Shot of Section 111 (where I sat  for the Murray-Anderson match)
showing how empty the stadium was for the Berdych-Gasquet
match

I left the court at the end of the third set tiebreak (which Murray won) to give my aching bladder some relief and to try, recharge my iPhone at the American Express lounge (they have portable mophie chargers for cardmembers) and see if I could see some of the Federer match on the big screen. Every screen was showing the last set of the Murray-Anderson match so I saw the last few games and the tiebreak on the 60" TV screen in the Amex Cardmembers upstairs lounge.

Courtside shot of Richard Gasquet in his 4th Round
match against Tomas Berdych

I went and got some food and a drink and by this time the Federer match was on the big screens outside (it was 9pm so the lounge was closed). After Federer won the first set (curiously by the same score that Anderson won his tiebreak less than 30 minutes before--7-0) I went back to Louis Armstrong, which was like a ghost town. Berdych had won the first set 6-2 but the second set was starting. There were announcements that only Day session reserved seat holders were being let in but no one checked my ticket and I walked in and in a few minutes was sitting courtside near the right-hand baseline (from the perspective of the umpire). It was a great perspective to see the amazing talent and skill of both Gasquet and Berdych. I saw the second and third sets of the Berdych-Gasquet match and then around 11:15pm I had had enough tennis and left the courts. While on the 7 train back to Manhattan I got notification on my phone that Gasquet and Federer had closed out their matches.

It was a great experience, it will be interesting to see how next year is different since they are changing the Louis Armsrong stadum and moving Grandstand to over by Court 17, to make two "small show courts" and two "large show courts" (Ashe and Armstrong).

2015 US OPEN: Men's Quarterfinals Preview

Here are my predictions for the men's quarterfinals at the US Open for 2015. Last year I correctly predicted 2 of 4 women's quarterfinals and correctly predicted 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals. This year I have also predicted the women's quarterfinals.

Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1] vs Feliciano Lopez (ESP) [19] Rafael Nadal (ESP) [8]. It was expected that the World #1 would have to face a Spanish lefty in this quarterfinal, but Feliciano Lopez was not the Spanish lefty that the draw would have indicated would have made it this far. Thanks to a career-best performance by Fabio Fognini on Friday night, the 14-time major champion Rafael Nadal was bounced from the last major tournament of the year. However, as is often the case, Fognini could not recover from such a huge win in time to build on it, and instead went down in straight sets (blowing a 4-1 lead in the 2nd set) two days later to Lopez. Although Lopez was the initial beneficiary of Fognini's upset of Nadal, ultimately it will almost certainly accrue to Djokovic's benefit, because he is playing someone whom he has never lost to in 5 meetings (although they have not faced each other since 2012 but even so, Djokovic leads the set count 11-1). Lopez gets some great pop on his serve and is a good volleyer, but his backhand side is simply not a Top 20 shot and Djokovic is talented enough to direct many, many shots to that wing to make this match up a mismatch. This is Djokovic's 26th consecutive major quarterfinal, a positively Federian statistic. A win here will let Djokovic reach his 8th consecutive U.S. Open semifinal, which, somewhat bizarrely, he has only won once (in 2011, when he also won the Australian and Wimbledon) Mad Professah's pick: Djokovic.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) [19] Kei Nishikori (JPN) [4] vs Marin Cilic (CRO) [9].  This quarterfinal was predicted to be a reprise of last year's major final, with the defending champion attempting to get revenge for the defeat he had against Nishikori at the Citi open in Washington. However, despite winning the U.S. open final, Cilic is 3-6 career against Nishikori lifetime so he actually caught a big break when Nishikori was bounced out of the tournament by his Frenchman Benoit Paire, who  is the person Tsonga eliminated in straight sets to reach this quarterfinal. Tsonga has been playing excellent, efficient tennis through four rounds: he has not had his service broken in the 12 sets he has played and won so far. Cilic on the other hand has lost three sets in his last two rounds, although he has been winning the decisive set each time by a dominating margin. Somewhat surprisingly, Cilic has a distinct advantage in their career head-to-head and is currently sporting a 4-1 lead.  However, Tsonga dominated their first two earlier meetings on the challenger tour and their hard court matches have always been close. This should be a cracker of a match. I definitely believe Tsonga has the weapons to beat anyone on the day that all his weapons are working at maximum effect. If he does so, he will reach his seventh career semifinal (his first at the U.S. Open--Cilic only has one career semifinal, but then he went on to win the tournament). Mad Professah's pick: Tsonga.

Stan Wawrinka (SUI) [5] vs Andy Murray (GBR) [3] Kevin Anderson (RSA) [15]. The tall South African player has been getting closer and closer to his first major quarterfinal, despite having lost seven previous 4th round matches at majors, including at Wimbledon this year where he led the defending champion Noval Djokovic 2-sets-to-0 up and was at 5-all in the 5th set before succumbing to the eventual tournament winner. It must have seemed like deja-vu when Anderson won the first two sets against Andy Murray on Monday evening but despite Murray winning a 3rd set tiebreak, he could not win a 4th set tiebreaker, and thus his string of 18 major quarterfinal appearances ended in a dramatic 7-6(5) 6-3 6-7(2) 7-6(0) that lasted well more than four hours. and delighted and entertained the capacity-plus crowd on Louis Armstrong stadium (including  yours truly!) Thus Anderson will play 2-time major champion Stan Wawrinka, who dismissed American lefty Donald Young in four sets. Could Anderson's breakthrough against Murray duplicate Marin Cilic's breakthrough last year? Cilic had never beaten Gilles Simon in 5 meetings and won a tough 5-setter against the French player and used that confidence to win his first major title, beating two Top 5 players along the way. Anderson actually has a 4-3 head-to-head edge against Wawrinka, and has won the last 4 matches he played against him, including at Queen's Club, just a few months ago. However, the two have never played in a major (best-of-five set match) before. You have to believe that Anderson must believe that he can beat just about anyone at this point, considering his recent results, and this is a winnable match for him. I think that pressure may get to him, and I suspect Wawrinka will use his experience in these situations to pull through. Mad Professah's pick: Wawrinka.

Roger Federer (SUI) [2] vs Tomas Berdych (CZE) [6] Richard Gasquet (FRA) [12].  Amazingly, in both men's matches I managed to be in the audience for on Labor Day there were surprising upsets (where the  lower seed one). Gasquet has been playing excellent tennis all summer, as his Wimbledon semifinal indicates, but I doubt very many people thought that the Frenchman would get past the tall Ccech player despite their even head-to-head at 6-all. Because, the Murray match was so long and it's conclusion coincided with the beginning of the Federer match, Louis Armstrong was deserted b the crowd and barely a few hundred hard-core fans (like yours truly!) stuck around to watch this important match. Happily, this meant I was able to view the match from courtside! Gasquet's backhand and movement is very impressive but what won him this match was his impeccable serving. After blowing the first set, Gasquet dominated the next 3, winning 2-6 6-3 6-4 6-1. This is great news for Federer, because he is 14-6 against Berdych but 14-2 against Gasquet. Gasquet has only been in two major semifinals in his career, while Federer has been in a record 37 (6 more than Jimmy Connors previous record) and he is clearly not finished breaking records, especially here in New York. Mad Professah's pick: Federer.

2015 US OPEN: Order of Play For Labor Day Visit (Halep, Murray, Berdych, Kvitova, Federer)

Well, I have a ticket for Louis Armstrong and a grounds pass so these are matches I will be able to see today. I'll try and do more updates today but I doubt I'll have as good seats today as I did yesterday, when I was courtside on Grandstand!

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

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

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

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

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

The Men's Final: A Preview and Prediction

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

2015 WIMBLEDON: Men's Semifinals Preview

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

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

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

2015 WIMBLEDON: Men's Quarterfinals Preview

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

Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1] vs. Marin Cilic (CRO) [9]. The #1 seed never lost to the newest member of the major champion club despite playing him a dozen times. I think that Cilic believes that he can win this match, and he will probably will one and possibly two sets, but I find it extremely unlikely he will be able to win three sets against the 8-time major champion. Novak Djokovic has demonstrated that even when he loses the first two sets against as big a server as Kevin Anderson he can still find a way to win by somehow finding a way to break serve. The Serbian is now starting to become more widely acknowledged as the best service-returner of all time and this talent is what he will use to put pressure on Cilic. Djokovic is playing in his 25th consecutive major quarterfinal (Federer's streak of 36 is pretty safe, but Jimmy Connors' 27 is in jeopardy.) Although Cilic managed to disrupt the Big 4 grip on majors at last year's U.S Open, I don't think he will be able to repeat that feat at this year's Wimbledon. PREDICTION: Djokovic.

Stan Wawrinka (SUI) [4]  vs. Richard Gasquet (FRA) [23] Nick Kyrgios (AUS). These two have played each other only twice on tour and have split these meetings, with Wawrinka winning their one Grand Slam meeting (in 5 sets) at Roland Garros in 2013. Both players are renowned for their artistic, powerful one-handed backhands, a shot that a few years ago was prophesied to be extinct by now with the rise of Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic and their two-handed backhands. Gasquet got here by getting revenge for his heartbreaking 5-set loss to tennis' bad boy Nick Kyrgios despite having nine(!) match points last year by this year winning in a 4th set tiebreak. Kyrgios had gotten his own revenge by eliminating #8 seed Milos Raonic, the man who beat him in last year's Wimbledon quarterfinal and who was expected to hold this quarterfinal slot. However, with his recent win of two major titles in the last 18 months and his tight loss in last year's quarterfinals to Federer, Stan Wawrinka is determined to demonstrate that he belongs at the top of the men's game by finally reaching the final four at Wimbledon (the only major which he has not done this so far). I believe he will end tat drought, and he might make it all the way to the final. PREDICTION: Wawrinka.

Andy Murray (GBR) [3]  vs. Viktor Troicki (SRB) [22] Vasek Pospisil (CAN). These two competitors have reached the 2015 Wimbledon quarterfinals through very different paths and are occupying very different career trajectories. The Canadian is playing in his very first major quarterfinal while the Scot is playing in his eighth consecutive Wimbledon quarterfinal and eighteenth consecutive major quarterfinal. Additionally, Pospisil has played two consecutive 5-set singles matches in his two previous rounds while Murray has only lost two of the last fourteen sets he played and has spent far less time on court. The two have met three times before and the 28-year-old Murray has never lost to the 25-year-old Pospisil. I don't expect that to change on Wednesday. PREDICTION: Murray.

Roger Federer (SUI) [2]  vs. Gilles Simon (FRA) [12] Tomas Berdych (CZE) [6].  Federer is playing sparkling grass court tennis. He has not been broken in the entire tournament; in fact he has only been broken once in the entire grass court season this year.  Simon is the surprise quarterfinalist because from the time the draw was released this spot was expected to be occupied by Tomas Berdych. Surprisingly the Frenchman dominated and dispatched Berdych in three non-competitive sets in the fourth round. Simon early on had a good head-to-head record against Federer (winning the first two matches the two played) but since 2011 they have played five times and Federer has prevailed every time, but not usually very easily. In fact all of their grand slam matches have gone the distance. I suspect that will not be the case on Wednesday, but I would not be surprised if Federer loses a set, and almost certainly, his serve, but would be extremely shocked if he lost the match. PREDICTION: Federer.

2014 DAVIS CUP: Federer Clinches Final for Switzerland By Defeating Gasquet

World #2 Roger Federer was able to recover from his straights sets loss to Gael Monfils on Friday to partner with World #4 Stan Wawrinka on Saturday to win the all-important doubles match in straight sets over Richard Gasquet and Julien Benneteau. Then on Sunday, Federer clinched his country's first Davis Cup with a straight sets singles win over Gasquet, 6-4 6-2 6-2. Gasquet was substituted for Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who lost to Wawrinka in 4 sets on Friday.

Federer gave props to his countryman Wawrinka and the rest of the Swiss team:

"I'm happy I was able to stay calm and play a good match, and I'm really happy for the guys in the team, everybody worked incredibly hard to get me match ready," Federer said. "Stan has put in so much effort over the years and played an unbelievable weekend that gave me the opportunity today. I'm very much aware of that, this one is for the boys."

The 17-time major champion first competed in the Davis Cup in 1999 so it has taken 15 years to win this prestigious title for the player many people feel is the Greatest Of All Time.

2014 DAVIS CUP: Final Tied 1-1 Wawrinka d. Tsonga, Monfils d. Federer, Doubles Decision Looms

The final tie of the 2014 Davis Cup is even at 1-all after the first day since Gael Monfils dispatched Roger Federer in straight sets, 6-1 6-4 6-3, following Stan Wawrinka's 4-set win over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga earlier in the day. Monfils had previously lost to Federer 8 of their 10 meetings but he famously squandered two match points in their 2014 US Open quarterfinal after also dominating the Swiss great from the back of the court for more than two sets. If Monfils had won that match, is it possible he could have won the US Open instead of Marin Cilic?

Monfils' (somewhat)  surprising win does not bode well for Switzerland's chances of wining the Cup, because France is expected to have a decided advantage in the doubles tie ad then would only have to win one match on Sunday to deny Roger Federer his chance to complete his career-long goal of adding his name to the cup.

Unless perhaps Federer and Wawrinka team up to play doubles? Then only one of them would have to win on Sunday in order to claim the cup. Federer's play on Friday hopefully reflected only a lack of practice and not any more lingering effects of the back injury which caused him to withdraw from the final of the 21014 ATP World Tour Finals on Sunday. And asking the 33-year-old great to play three consecutive days (one singles, one doubles and then another singles match) may be a bit too much to ask. Then again this is Davis Cup and it is unlikely that Federer and Wawrinka will have as good a chance to bring historic tennis glory to their country by winning the Davis Cup.