2019 WIMBLEDON: Men's Quarterfinals Preview (and Predictions)

Here are my predictions for the men's quarterfinals at the 2019 Wimbledon Championships.  I have also predicted the men's quarterfinals. Last year I predicted 2 of 4 men's quarterfinals correctly and 4 of 4 women's quarterfinals correctly. I also correctly predicted 3 of 4  women's quarterfinals this year.

Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1] vs David Goffin (BEL) [21].  Djokovic has yet to lose a set at this year's tournament and is currently on 31 of 32 Grand Slam winning streak. His only loss since winning Wimbledon 2018, US Open 2019 and Australian Open 2019 is a semifinal loss to Dominic Thiem on clay at last month's Roland Garros. He holds a 5-1 head-to-head lead over David Goffin but the two have never played on grass. People are saying the grass courts this year are playing like clay courts, which is Goffin's best surface. The big 3 have been putting on a clinic on how to dismantle opponents; Djokovic only gave up 8 games in his previous round. I don't think the score will be that lopsided in the quarterfinal but the result will be the same. Mad Professah's pick: Djokovic.

Guido Pella (ARG) vs Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) [23]. Before the tournament started the draw (and who should be seeded #2, Federer or Nadal) was a large point of contention. Djokovic was the winner in both respects because both of his fellow members of the trivalry are in the other half this year, and his top half of the draw has collapsed. To reach the final, the world #1 will face opponents who he has a 13-4 advantage against. Guido Pella did amazingly well to outlast 2016 finalist Milos Raonic. Amazingly, Pella has defeated 3 former Wimbledon finalists in the last 2 years (2017 Finalist Marin Cilic last year and  2018 finalists Kevin Anderson in the 3rd round this year). Bautista Agut is having a great year and he has already beaten Djokovic twice this year already. Mad Professah's pick: Bautista Agut.

Rafael Nadal (ESP) [3] vs Sam Querrey (USA). Sam Querrey and Rafael Nadal have not played for more than 2 years, but the American's last meeting was a victorious one on the hard courts of Acapulco. Querrey is putting on a serving clinic in this tournament and has only had  his serve broken once! He knows that he can beat the very best at Wimbledon, having done so in 2016 when he defeated Djokovic, who had just achieved the historic Nole Slam. That defeat lead to a 2-year spiral for Djokovic which he only pulled out of at last year's Wimbledon. The problem for Querrey is that the courts are resembling a clay court and that is a bad sign for anyone not named Nadal. Mad Professah's pick: Nadal.

Roger Federer (SUI) [2] vs Kei Nishikori  (JPN) [8]. Kei Nishikori has a respectable head-to-head of 3-7 against the Greatest of all Time, and even won their last meeting in straight sets at the 2018 Year-End Championships in London. Federer won their only grass meeting in Halle. Nishikori has done something unusual for him at this year's Wimbledon: he lost only 1 set and won 12 to reach the qurterfinals. Typically the Japanese #1 gets caught up in long 5-set matches in early rounds of majors and thus doesn't get very far in the second week. Will it matter the way Federer is playing at the moment as evinced by his demolition  of young excellent grass-court player in Matteo Berettini? Probably not.  Mad Professah's pick: Federer.

2019 WIMBLEDON: R16 Matches Set For Manic Monday

The best day in tennis is tomorrow; the round of 16 at Wimbledon, where every player in both the men's and women's singles draw takes to the court! Here are the matches on offer:

Men's Draw

• [1] Djokovic v. Humbert
• [21] Goffin v. Verdasco
• [26] Pella v. [15] Raonic
• [23] Bautista Agut v. [28] Paire
• Querrey v. Sandgren
• Sousa v. [3] Nadal
• [8] Nishikori v. Kukushkin
• [19] Berrettini v. [2] Federer

Women's Draw

• [1] Barty vs. Riske
• [11] Serena v. [30] Suarez Navarro
• [21] Mertens v. Strycova vs.
• [6] Kvitova v. [19] Konta
• [8] Svitolina v. [24] Martic
• [3] Pliskova v. Muchova
• [7] Halep v. Gauff
• Zhang Shuai v. Yastremska

The matches to watch are Kvitova-Konta, Halep-Gauff, Barty-Riske, Berrettini-Federer and Goffin-Verdasco. In those 5 I pick: Kvitova, Halep, Barty, Federer and Verdasco.

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.

TENNIS TUESDAY: Federer Returns To #1; Venus Turns 38, Murray Is Back; Bartoli Retires (Again)

FEDERER RETURNS TO #1 WHILE WINNING 98TH CAREER TITLE
Roger Federer won his 98th career ATP tour title in Stuttgart by defeating Milos Raonic in straight sets. Federer is now the oldest player in the Top 100 on the ATP tour, and he is at #1! However, he has to win Halley for a record 10th time (defending his 2017 title win here) in order to remain #1 although one would think that Federer with his 8 titles will be seeded #1 at Wimbledon over Nadal with his 2 titles despite whatever the ranking order is at the time.

MURRAY RETURNS TO ATP TOUR IN QUEEN CLUB TO FACE KYRGIOS ROUND ONE
Former World #1 Andy Murray makes his return to the ATP tour after a 342-day absence in which he had hip surgery and approximately 6 months of rehab. His last match was a quarterfinal loss at Wimbledon to Sam Querrey; his first match back will also be on grass. It is at Queen's Club where he is a 5-time champion. UPDATE: Murray lost to Nick Kyrgios in a tough 3-set match 2-6 7-6(4) 7-5 and to my eyes looked like he was limping for part of the match.

VENUS TURNED 38 ON JUNE  17
7-time major champion Venus Williams turned 38 on Sunday. The current World #9 has not indicated that she intends to leave the WTA tour any time soon even though she has been playing tennis professionally since age 14(!)

BARTOLI GIVES UP ON RETURN TO WTA TOUR
The 2013 Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli has retired from the WTA Tour for the second time. After returning a few weeks after winning her first and only major title in 2013, Bartoli attempted a comeback to the tour last year, but struggled with injuries almost immediately and did not make into the main draw of any of the major tournaments.

TENNIS TUESDAY: Sock Wins Paris Masters, ATP YEC Field Set, Nadal Clinches 2017 #1

SOCK ENDS YEAR WITH AMAZING RUN TO WIN PARIS MASTERS, REACH TOP 10 & QUALIFY FOR YEAR-END CHAMPIONSHIP
The player of the week was 25-year-old American Jack Sock who ended his 2017 with an amazing run that resulted in him winning the 2017 Paris Masters. That win was incredibly significant, because it qualified him into the ATP Year-End Championship and vaulted him into the ATP Top 10 for the first time. It also means that he is now the highest ranked American player on the ATP Tour, ahead of John Isner (who could have qualified himself if he had won the title instead of losing to qualifier Filip Krajinovic in the semifinals) and 2017 Wimbledon semifinalist Sam Querrey. Sock defeated Krajinovic 5-7 6-4 6-1 in the biggest match of both youngsters' careers.

THE ATP WORLD TOUR YEAR-END CHAMPIONSHIP FIELD SET
The elite eight players who have qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals year-end championship in London are (in order) #1 Rafael Nadal, #2 Roger Federer #3 Alexander Zverev #4 Dominic Thiem #5 Marin Cilic #6 Grigor Dimitrov #8 David Goffin #9 Jack Sock. Stan Wawrinka is #7 but he has ended his season with early. Both Andy Murray (#16) and Novak Djokovic (#12) have also ended their seasons early and will end the year out of the Top 10 for the first time in a long long time.

NADAL CLINCHES 2017 WORLD #1 THN WITHDRAWS FROM PARIS MASTERS
After winning Basel, Federer decided not to play the Paris Masters which meant that Nadal only needed to win one match to clinch the 2017 Year-end #1 ranking. The Spaniard did that, and then promptly withdrew from the tournament. Should Federer have played Paris? In retrospect, probably, because it looks Nadal will perhaps not be playing in London either, where he has never done particularly well, having lost in the final a few times. However, all that is past and Nadal is now the ATP's oldest ever World #1 at age 31.

GOERGES WINS ELITE WTA ZHUHAI TROPHY OVER VANDEWEGHE
The WTA basically ended its season last week when Wozniacki beat Venus to win the WTA Tour Year-End Championships in Singapore. This week the year-end championships for the Top 20 players happened in Zhuhai and Julia Goerges of Germany won the biggest title of her career by defeating Coco Vandeweghe in the final.

2017 YEAR-END WTA TOP 10 HAS INTRIGUING NEWCOMERS: COCO AND CARO.
The WTA Tour year-end Top 10 has Caroline Garcia at #8 and Coco Vandeweghe at #10. Simona Halep ended the year at #1 with Garbine Muguruza at #2, Wozniacki at #3, Karolina Pliskova at #4 and Venus at #5. Just outside the top 10 are #11 Kiki Mladenovic, #12 Sveta Kuznetsova, #13 Sloane Stephens and Goerges at #14.

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

Here are my predictions for the men's final at the Wimbledon Championships for 2017. Last year I correctly predicted Andy Murray would defeat Milos Raonic in the men's final.  This year I correctly predicted 2 of 2 men's semifinals, 2 of 2 women's semifinals, 4 of 4 this year's women's quarterfinals and 2 of 4 men's quarterfinals. I also incorrectly predicted that Venus Williams would beat Garbine Muguruza in the women's final this year.

MEN'S SEMIFINALS REVIEW

Marin Cilic (CRO) [7] d. Sam Querrey (USA) [24] 6-7(8) 6-4 7-6(3) 7-5. Sam Querrey was playing in his very first major semifinal after defeating the World #1 and defending champion Andy Murray in the round before. Unfortunately, in this important match he had to face someone in Marin Cilic whom he had never beaten before (in four meetings). Although Cilic ended up losing that first set tiebreaker because his backhand started to going off, he was able to get an early service break in the second set. The third set was key and when Cilic was able to win it fairly easy in a tiebreak you thought that might signal quick end to the match. However, Querrey broke early in the 4th set and a fifth set seemed imminent until out of nowhere Cilic broke back to level the set at 4-all and eventually broke Querrey to reach his first Wimbledon final.

Roger Federer (SUI) [3] d. Tomas Berdych (CZE) [11] 7-6(4) 7-6(4) 6-4. This scores does not quite reflect how ultimately competitive this match was. Federer was up a break in the first set and was expected to maintain the lead and run away with the first when Berdych surprisingly broke back and it was only through very good luck and opportunistic aggression that Federer won the first set tiebreak. In the second set, Berdych was actually the better player but again somehow Federer was able to sneak out the second set in a tiebreaker. Then with a 2-0 set lead Federer was able to up his aggression and earn a break which he could use to ensure success in the 3rd and final set.

MEN'S FINAL PREVIEW

I have no doubt that Marin Cilic will indeed win Wimbledon someday. The question is, will that day be Sunday July 16 2017? It is very possible. He has impeccable grass bonafides. Cilic had 4th set match points against Federer last year in the quarterfinals but lost that set and then the match in the fifth set. He is playing excellent grass court tennis and has reached the quarterfinals or better for four years in a row here at Wimbledon and had very deep runs in both grass court warm-up tournaments he played in. However, Federer is clearly the most accomplished grass court player of all time. he has the most grasscourt victories of any active player and he has planned his entire year (by missing the entire clay court season) to maximize his chances at winning Wimbledon. He has reached the final by not dropping a set, although he has played 5 tiebreaks and won all of them. I suspect there will be at least one tiebreak against Cilic and hopefully Federer's luck will hold or else things could get complicated. However, I do think that if it does get deep into a 5th set Federer will prevail (even though overall Federer does not have a great 5-set record, primarily because he  usually wins his grand slam matches easily enough so that he doesn't have a lot of experience playing them). But Federer's 2009 win over Andy Roddick and his 2017 win over Rafael Nadal are evidence that Federer can do well in tight situations. I didn't like how irritated Federer got when he got so much resistance and excellent play from Berdych. I suspect he will be mentally and physically prepared for Cilic to do well and does not expect this match to be easy. If you had told Federer that he would be able to reach the Wimbledon final without having to face any of the other members of the Big Four he would take that bet in a second. Although lots of people expect Federer to win this match to win his 8th Wimbledon title and 19th major, it must be noted that he has lost the last two Wimbledon finals he played, in 2015 and 2014 (both to Novak Djokovic). However, there's a reason why Federer has a 6-1 head-to-head lead over Cilic, but it must be noted that they have only played once since Cilic won his major title at the 2014 US Open which included a blistering straight sets win over Federer in the semifinals. That being said, I believe Federer will find a way to prevail.  PREDICTION: Federer.

2017 WIMBLEDON: Men's Semifinals Preview

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

Andy Murray (GBR) [1] Sam Querrey (USA) [24] vs Marin Cilic (CRO) [7].  For the second year in a row, American Sam Querrey pulled off the biggest upset of his career on tennis' grandest stage, by defeating the current World #1 and defending Wimbledon champion. Last year it was Novak Djokovic and this year it was Andy Murray.  He became the first America male player to reach a major semifinal since Andy Roddick did it here in 2009 when he lost an epic final to Federer. Querrey can now make a claim to being the most successful American male player of his generation. He will face Marin Cilic, who took 5 sets to eliminate Gilles Muller, the lefty serve-and-volleyer who had cracked open the draw with a 15-13 5th set win over Rafael Nadal on Monday.Cilic is a dangerous grass court player and although he owns an undefeated 4-0 head-to-head lead over Querrey, the two played the second longest men's match in Wimbledon history 5 years ago when Cilic prevailed 17-15 in the fifth. Despite never having beaten Cilic, Querrey has a reasonable chance to cause the upset. No one expects him to win, so he really should be able to play the tension-free tennis which saw him beat two World #1's at Wimbledon in two years (altough to be fairthere is no question that Murray was literally hobbled by a hip injury which reduced his mobility and service power). Querrey's matches with Cilic have actually been rather closely fought affairs, and although Cilic has been playing well, so has Sam, and he's got the firepower to defeat the Croat, who realizes this is an amazing opportunity for him to reach a second major final and perhaps "pull a Stan Wawrinka" and sneak another major title. PREDICTION: Cilic.

Roger Federer (SUI) [3] vs. Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1]Tomas Berdych (CZE) [11]. This is quite an unlikely match-up since basically everyone had pencilled in a Djokovic-Federer clash in this semifinal when the draw came out, an expected reprise of the 2014 and 2015 Wimbledon finals. But after going down a set and a break, Djokovic retired with an arm injury, giving Berdych his 3rd win in 28 matched played against the Serb. Berdych also has a pretty horrible head-to-head record with Federer too (6W-18L) but he does have a win over Federer at Wimbledon (in 2010) and has beaten Federer in majors at important moments. But Federer beat Berdych in Australia (in the 3rd round) and the ease with which he did that was the signal to his myriad fans that  he was not going to take long to resume his place at the top of men's tennis after his 6-month sabbatical. I would be shocked if this semifinal is the more interesting of the two. Federer has yet to drop a set in this year's tournament, but that is primarily because he has had a lot of extraordinarily god luck in tiebreakers. Almost certainly Federer will be making records again, reaching his 11th final at Wimbledon (7-3) and 29th overall (18-10) record. He is playing in his 42nd major semifinal (and has a 28-13 record).  PREDICTION: Federer.

2017 WIMBLEDON: Men's Quarterfinals Preview

Here are my predictions for the men's quarterfinals at the Wimbledon Championships for 2017. Last year I correctly predicted 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals and correctly predicted 3 of 4 women's quarterfinals. I also predicted 4 of 4 this year's women's quarterfinals.

Andy Murray (GBR) [2] vs. Sam Querrey (USA) [24].  The defending champion has looked stronger every round (except for when he faced an on fire Fabio Fognini in the 3rd round and nearly dropped two sets). His draw is actually not too bad, since he plays Sam Querrey, a person he has not lost to in nearly 7 years, instead of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga[12] or Stan Wawrinka[6]. And with Nadal's absence from the draw he will not have to face another member of the Big 4 until the final, which is something no one would expected at the beginning of the tournament. Somehow Murray is finding a way to get to the business ends of these slams even though he is not playing anywhere near his best tennis. Hopefully, he can summon his best when he needs it.  PREDICTION: Murray.

Marin Cilic (CRO) [7] vs.  Rafael Nadal (ESP) [4] Gilles Muller (LUX) [16].The veteran from Luxembourg just had the biggest win of his career, beating the 15-time major champion in a 28-game deciding fifth set where he outhit, outplayed and outlasted Rafael Nadal! There's no doubt he will have a letdwn, the only question is will it matter. Cilic is playing some of his best tennis, reminiscent of the form he displayed in 2014 on his way to claiming his first major in New York City. There's no question that he is good on grass (he has not dropped a set so far) and he is in his 3rd consecutive quarterfinal at the all-England Club. Muller has not beaten Cilic in two meetings, and even lost to him just a few weeks on grass in the semifinals of Queens. I expect a similar result  on Wednesday. PREDICTION: Cilic.

Roger Federer (SUI) [3] vs. Milos Raonic (CAN) [6]. This is a reprise of last year's blockbuster Wimbledon semifinal, which despite Federer's distinct head-to-head advantage (which is now 9-3 but last year was 9-1). This year Federer is in a very different position than he was last year. He has only lost two matches all year (and had a match point in every match he played). Last year, he had barely recovered from a freak knee injury which  is very different from where he is this year. And Raonic is also in a different position. He has not had a very good 2017, and he has a huge number of points to defend since he reached the final here last year. He has been playing as if he has a lot to lose, not like he has a lot to gain. Federer has still not dropped a set in the tournament, and with Nadal out of the tournament I believe he will feel less pressure to succeed.  PREDICTION: Federer.

Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1] vs. Tomas Berdych (CZE) [11]. The head-to-head is overwhelmingly in Novak's favor, an astonishing 25-2 (which includes)12 in a row spanning back to 2013. It's amazing these two have met so often on the tour and pretty surprising that Novak has such a decisive edge. One thing which could raise some doubts is that Berdych has beaten him at Wimbledon before, in 2010 but at this point the match-up is mental and that's unlikely to change in a hurry. PREDICTION: Djokovic.

2017 AUS OPEN: 6-time Champ Djokovic Loses To Istomin (#117) In Shocking Upset

Wow! I'm still on vacation in Hawaii but I feel compelled to blog about one of the biggest upsets in recent history that happened last night. I caught about an hour of the 2nd round match of the Australian Open match between Dennis Istomin (ranked #117in the world) and the current World #2 Novak Djokovic. Amazingly, the 6-time Aussie Open champion lost to the hard-hitting guy from Uzbekistan in a high-quality 5-set match that was well over 4 1/2 hours long. The score was 7-6(8), 5-7, 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-4. Djokovic was so dominant in Australia that he had rarely lost a set in the first week of the tournament, let alone three, especially to someone outside of the Top100.

Istomin's defeat of Djokovic in Melbourne ranks up there with recent shocking upsets such as Djokovic's loss to Sam Querrey in the 3rd round of Wimbledon in 2016 and Rafael Nadal's loss to Lukas Rosol in the 2nd round of Wimbledon in 2012.

2016 WIMBLEDON: Men's Semifinals Preview

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

Roger Federer (SUI) [3] vs. Milos Raonic (CAN) [6]. The 17-time major champion is very lucky to be still in the hunt for his record 8th Wimbledon title. He went down by 2 sets to none against 2014 U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic. After falling into a perilous situation (2-3, 0-40) in the third set, Federer was able to miraculously hold serve and was finally able to break Cilic's serve and run away with the third set. However, in the fourth set things were extremely tense with respective service holds until the tiebreak. In the tiebreak, Cilic had two match points and Federer had multiple set points and eventually won the fourth set tiebreak 11-9. Raonic had a much easier time in his quarterfinal, dispatching the giantkiller Sam Querrey in four sets. The Canadian has made his intentions of trying to win Wimbledon crystal clear with his hiring of John McEnroe for the grass court season. Interestingly, this semifinal is a repeat of the 2014 Wimbledon semifinal, which was won (relatively) easily by Federer in three tight sets (6-4 6-4 6-4). Overall, Federer has a 9-2 career head-to-head over his opponent, but Raonic won their last meeting, in the Bribane final earlier this year. I still think Federer has not shown his best tennis at Wimbledon this year yet, but I believe he will rise to the occasion, and will need to do so, in order to reach his record 11th Wimbledon final on Sunday.  PREDICTION: Federer.

Andy Murray (GBR) [2] vs. Tomas Berdych (CZE) [10] Jiri Vesely (CZE). For the first time, Andy Murray is the favorite at a major tournament, as the highest remaining seed. This is a very different situation, since this is occurring at Wimbledon, a tournament he has won before, and which is his home slam. Murray had a tougher than expected tussle with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in their quarterfinal, after winning the first two sets, the Frenchman came back and won the next two sets and raised the possibility of upsetting Murray. However, Murray dug deep and won the fifth and final set very easily, 6-1. In the semifinal, he will face Tomas Berdych who has excellent grass court bona fides (as a 2010 Wimbledon finalist). However, despite having a relatively close overall head to head of 8-6 between the two players in the favor of Murray, no one expects him to have much difficulty winning this match. In their recent meetings, Murray has won  pretty easily and even though the two have never met on grass, there is every expectation that the Briton will reach his 2nd Wimbledon final, and 11th career major final. PREDICTION: Murray.

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.