2018 WIMBLEDON: Djokovic Wins 13th Major and 4th Wimbledon Over Anderson

As expected, Novak Djokovic of Serbia defeated Kevin Anderson of South Africa in the 2018 Wimbledon final 6-2 6-2 7-6(3) to win his 4th Wimbledon title and 13th career major title.  This year the semifinals outshone the finals on the men's side where all 4 competitors were over 30 years old. 31-year-old Djokovic outlasted and outplayed 32-year old Rafael Nadal to win 10-8 in the fifth set. Kevin Anderson survived an extended 6 1/2 hours on court with John Isner to win 26-24 in the fifth. That might have explained the South African's slow start in the final although he made the 3rd set competitive and had 7(!) opportunities to break serve in that set, all of which were saved by his opponent, including 5 of these which were also set points.

Djokovic's win means that he is now 4th on the all-time major men's singles list, behind Roger Federer (20), Rafael Nadal (17) and  Pete Sampras (14). This is his 4th Wimbledon out of 5 finals: 2016 (l. Murray), 2015 (d. Federer), 2014 (d. Federer) and 2011 (d. Nadal). In fact, for the last 16 years all Wimbledon Men's singles titles have been won by one of the big 4: Federer (8), Djokovic (4), Murray (2) and Nadal (2). He will return to the Top 10 on the men's tour and since he has zero points to defend for the rest of the year he has a very good chance to end the year at #1.

2015 FRENCH OPEN: Stan Wawrinka Wins 2nd Major, Denies Djokovic Career Slam

Defying expectations, Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland outplayed World #1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia in the finals of the French Open on Sunday, winning 4-6 6-4 6-3 6-4. Wawrinka, 30, becomes the first former Boys Champion of Roland Garros to win the title. Wawrinka upended a 3-17 deficit in meetings with Djokovic to win this most important match and is now 2-0 in major finals while Djokovic falls to 8-8 and his long wait to complete the career grand slam continues.

Amazingly, for the second time in seven years, the person who beat the King of Clay Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros did not win the tournament. Robin Soderling beat Nadal in 2009 but Roger Federer won the title and this year Djokovic beat Nadal in the quarterfinals relatively easily but ended up losing to Wawrinka!

2014 CINCINNATI: Ivanovic Defeats Sharapova In 3-Set Drama; Faces Serena In Final

Ana Ivanovic dominated Maria Sharapova for the first 12 games of their semifinal match at the Western & Southern Financial Open, racing out to a 6-2 4-0 lead when a controversial call came at 30-all which robbed the Serb of a point. Sharapova was able to grab the momentum by breaking and holding serve and eventually stole the second set despite being down 2-5 by winning 5 consecutive games while Ivanovic got more tentative as the Russian hit with more authority. After a quick break early in the 3rd set almost everyone was expecting Sharapova's 8-3 head-to-head record to be decisive. Especially after Ivanovic stopped play soon afterwards in the 3rd set to have her blood pressure checked after she complained of intense nausea and pain.  Ivanovic was able to break back to even the match at 2-all but Sharapova went up a break again to lead 4-2 and 5-4. However, amazingly Ivanovic was able to save two match points on Sharapova's serve at down 4-5 and eventually the Russian double-faulted to even the third set at 5-all. Sharapova was not happy by this turn of events and mouthed clearly "Check her blood pressure!"

However, Ivanovic showed why she leads the WTA tour with the most wins on tour this year by holding serve and hanging touch in Sharapova's service game to go up 4-12 for double match point. Ivanovic squandered the first when she challenged a line skipper that was clearly in but on her second she hit a powerful crosscourt backhand that Sharapova could not handle to end the year's most dramatic contest 6-2 5-7 7-5.

Ivanovic will face Serena Williams in the final. Serena came back to beat her good friend Caroline Wozniacki  in 3-sets for the second consecutive week. This time it was 2-6 6-2 6-4.

Serena leads Ivanovic 6-1 in their career head to head but the sole loss came earlier this year at the Australian Open and the two have played 3 times so far in 2014, with all three meetings going to three sets. The two are playing in their 5th tour final of the year on Sunday, with Serena sporting a 4-0 record and Ana a 3-1 record. If Ana plays on Sunday the way she started the match with Sharapova it will be  a rough match at the office for the World #1. However, I doubt that she ca come back from such an emotional win and put up a similar level of play two days running.

MadProfessah's pick: Serena!

2014 FRENCH OPEN: Men's Final Preview

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

The 2014 French Open men's final will be between Rafael Nadal of Spain and Novak Djokovic of Serbia. Last year I correctly predicted Nadal would beat David Ferrer in the final. This year I correctly predicted Maria Sharapova would beat Simona Halep in the women's final. I also correctly predicted 2 of 2 women's semifinals, 2 of 2 men's semifinals, 2 of 4women's quarterfinals and 2 of 4 men's quarterfinals. After a review of the men's semifinals, here are my predictions for the men's singles championship match at Roland Garros this year.

How Did They Get Here? Men's Semifinals Review
The men's semifinals for the 2014 French Open are set. This year I correctly predicted 2 of 4 women's quarterfinals and correctly predicted 2 of 4 men's quarterfinals. I also have already made predictions for the women's semifinals. Below are my predictions for this year's men's semifinals.

Rafael Nadal (ESP) [1]  d. Andy Murray (GBR) [7] 6-3 6-2 6-1. No one expected Murray to win this match, but I did expect that the Scot would at least be able to make it competitive in moments. However, Nadal started perfectly, breaking early and holding to take a 3-0 lead and basically never looked back from there. He was perfect on breakpoints, winning 6 or 6 and did not face any breakpoints himself. Murray clearly didn't play his best tennis, but Nadal was playing at a level that it probably would not have mattered.

Novak Djokovic (SRB) [2]  d. Ernests Gulbis (LAT) [18] 6-3 6-3 3-6 6-3.  This could have been a dangerous match-up because Gulbis is most definitely a dangerous player so Djokovic did well to escape with just the loss of one set, squeezing out a break in the 8th game of the fourth set to serve out the match and reach his 2nd major final in Paris.

Who Will Win? Men's Final Preview

This final is the 42nd meeting between Nadal and Djokovic (Djokovic-Nadal XLII), a record for the most times any competitors on the ATP tour have ever faced each other in the Open era. Nadal currently leads 22-19 but Djokovic has won their last four meetings, including the very last one which was on clay in the Rome Masters final just a few weeks ago. Djokovic leads Nadal 12-9 in tour finals but Nadal leads 8-3 in grand slam matches. However, Djokovic leads 3-2 in major finals but Nadal won the last final they played, in New York. Since that loss, Djokovic has only lost 3 times, and played 60 matches.

Besides the 2014 French Open championship, which would finish the career slam for Djokovic and bring Nadal his 14th major and record 9th title in Paris, the two are competing for the World #1 ranking. Whoever wins this match will be World #1 on Monday.

Although it is incredibly hard to bet against someone who is 65-1 lifetime at the French Open I just feel that it is time for Djokovic to win and that he knows that he can beat Nadal on clay and that this is the year it will happen. I do believe that Nadal will almost certainly win a 9th (and probably a 10th) title at Roland Garros, but not this year. From looking at the statistics, Djokovic is simply playing better tennis than Nadal this year. Nadal has had more double faults (5) than aces (4) while Djokovic had many more aces (30) than double faults (10) over the first 6 rounds. Additionally, Nadal is at +24 (133 winners to 109 unforced errors) while Djokovic is at +41 (189 winners to 148 unforced errors). It's true that Nadal has only played 19 sets to Djokovic's 20 but I think that is still a measurable edge to Djokovic.

In the end it comes down to who is playing better on the day itself, and last September it was Nadal. However, you never know what can happen. In this year's Australian Open final, Nadal injured himself in the warm-up and ended up losing a major final everyone (including me) thought he would win to Stan Wawrinka. This final, most people expect Nadal to win but there are a significant contingent who are also in Djokovic's camp. Withough doubt, we do expect to see a truly great match, possibly twice as long as today's epic women's match and hopefully up to the quality of last year's semifinal match which most people are calling the best clay court match of all time. Will tomorrow's clash exceed that one? Only time will tell!

Mad Professah's pick: Djokovic in 4 sets.

Federer-Djokovic XXXII: Federer Wins in 3; Faces Berdych in Dubai Final

Roger Federer won his first clash with Novak Djokovic in over 18 months, by coming back from a set down to prevail 3-6 6-3 6-2 and claim his 3rd Top 10 win of 2014 (having beaten Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Andy Murray in Australia), one less than he had for all of last year. And the first to months of the year are not done yet! Djokovic is 0-2 against Top 10 players, both from Switerland (having lost to 2014 Austrailan Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka in the quarterfinals).

Federer improved to a 17-15 head-to-head versus Djokovic and  13-12 in hard court matches. The 4-time Dubai champion from serbia has yet to win a title in 2014 and Indian Wells starts next week. That's the first time that has happened since 2006. Either Federer or Djokovic has won 9 of the last 11 Dubai tournaments. Last year Berdych beat Federer in the semifinals and then lost to Djokovic in the final. Federer has a lifetime 11-6 record against Berdych but has lost their last two meetings.

2014 AUS OPEN: Serena Wins Brisbane; Ana Beats Venus in Auckland; Li Wins Shenzhen

Serena Williams won her first championship of 2014 by defending her 2013 Brisbane International title with a 6-4 7-5 win over World #2 Victoria Azarenka. Serena now has 58 career WTA titles, #7 on the all-time list, with Billie Jean King (67) and Evonne Goolagang Cawley (68) in her sights.

In Auckland, former World #1 Ana Ivanovic won her first title in over two years by outlasting 7-time major champion Venus Williams 6-2 6-7 6-4. This result was something of a surprise since Venus held a lifetime 8-1 advantage over Ana. It is the Serbian's 11th career WTA title.

In China, Li Na defended her title at the Shenzhen Open over Peng Shuai 6-4 7-5.

The 2014 Australian Open begins Monday January 13, with the Sydney International beginning on January 5th. Last year, Li faced Vika in the final of the Australian Open. Both players have made the final twice, with Li losing twice and Vika winning twice. Serena has won the tournament 5-times and never lost an Australian Open final.

TENNIS TUESDAY: Czech Republic Wins Davis Cup For 2nd Year in a Row

For the second year in a row, the Czech Republic won the annual Davis Cup competition, with Radek Stepanek claiming a win in the live 5th rubber. Last year, the Czech team beat the Spanish team when Stepanek defeated Nicolas Almagro. This year the Czech team beat the Serbian team when Stepanek defeated World #117 Dusan Lajovic. Novak Djokovic won both his singles matches, extending his current winning streak to 24 consecutive matches, but playing without Janko Tipsarevic or Victor Troicki those were the only ties the Serbian team was able to win, possibly because Djokovic did not play in the doubles rubber, where Tomas Berdych and Stepanek were able to beat the team consisting of doubles specialist Nenad Zimonjic and Ilija Bozolac. Even Zimonjic is questioning that decision, although press reports claim it was a team-based decision.

CELEBRITY FRIDAY: Novak Djokovic Engaged To Jelena Ristic

Current World #1 Novak Djokovic, 26, who this week became the 9th player in history to reach 100 weeks at the top of the ATP tour, announced his engagement to longtime girlfriend, Jelena Ristic, via twitter earlier this week.

Ristic, 27, now runs Djokovic's charitable foundation and is often seen in his player's box, cheering on her man to victory. With Djokovic's announcement and Murray's multiple public appearances with model gielfriend Kim Sears, will Rafael Nadal's girlfriend (Francisca "Xisca" Perelllo) get a higher profile?

Roger Federer, 32, is roughly five years older than his higher ranked rivals and has been married to Mirka Vavrinek for over 4 years and is now the father of three-year old twin girls Charlene and Myla.

U.S. vs. Serbia: Serena-Jankovic and Nole-Querrey

The 24th meeting between Venus Williams and Serena Williams was their most lopsided, with Serena winning easily 6-1 6-2 in the semifinals of the 2013 Family Circle Cup in Charleston. More than 9,000 fans attended the match, a record figure for the venerable WTA tournament that has been around since the 1970s. It was the first time the sisters had played each other on tour since the Year-End Championships in late 2009, so interest was high. Serena's 5th consecutive win in the all-Williams series improved her career head-to-head against her sister to 14-10. The score reflected the lowest number of games won (3) by the loser of the match in 24 meetings.

Serena is the #1 player in the world and is on a winning streak, having just picked up the Sony Open Tennis title in Miami last week. On the other hand, Venus is ranked #24 in the world (a huge improvement from one year ago when she was barely in the top 100) and is still learning how to remain competitive on the WTA tour while managing an auto-immune disorder (Sjogren's syndrome) which leads to fatigue, joint pain and lack of stamina. The fact that both sisters had to play 3 matches in under 24 hours must have been much more difficult on Venus than Serena.

Jelena Jankovic will be in the final, attempting to stop Serena from winning her 3rd consecutive title here. Jankovic is a former #1 player herself and has a surprisingly close 4-5 head-to-head career record against the current #1, including an important 4-6 6-3 7-6(5) semifinal win on clay in Rome (where she also beat Venus the round before in the quarters and then lost the final to the much lower ranked Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez). Jankovic is having a resurgence of her own and has already won a clay court title (her 13th career title overall) this year (in Bogota).

Serena's goal for the year is to improve her results at Roland Garros from last year (where she suffered her first round loss in a major) and on clay generally. She won both Charleston (w. Lucie Safarova) and Madrid (w. Victoria Azarenka) in 2012 (I was able to Serena in Rome during my vacation). Defending her Charleston title is a very likely occurrence, although it should be a fun to watch, and reasonably close match. The women's final will air on ESPN2 at 1pm EDT.

This is an interesting weekend for the Serbia-America rivalry in tennis. Serena is facing Jankovic in Charleston, while more than halfway across the country in Boise, Idaho the United States is facing Serbia in a Davis Cup quarterfinal. World #1 Novak Djokovic is trying to carry his team past a U.S. team that includes World #24 John Isner, World #20 Sam Querrey and the Bryan Twins. Amazingly, Serbia is one match win away from eliminating the United States if either Djokovic defeat Querrey or Victor Troicki defeats John Isner. The Querrey-Djokovic match will be played first. Djokovic has recently lost two matches in as many weeks (in Indian Wells to Juan Martin del Potro and in Miami to Tommy Haas) to end his red-hot start to 2013 and Querrey had been the last player to beat the World #1, on an indoor hard court in Paris last October. However, Djokovic has a 5-1 career head-to-head edge over Querrey, and dismissed the top American relatively easily 3 weeks ago and should be able to repeat that success in a best-of-five match.

The Tennis Channel will continue its live coverage of the Serbia-United States Davis Cup quarterfinal most of the day.

MadProfessah's prediction: Serena in 3 sets, Serbia d. United States in Davis Cup.

2012 US OPEN: Men's Final Preview

Andy Murray GBR (3) vs  Novak Djokovic SRB (2)

Andy Murray of Great Britain will be playing in his 5th major final, having lost the first  four against Roger Federer (2007 US Open, 2010 Australian Open and 2012 Wimbledon) and one against Novak Djokovic (2011 Australian Open). Djokovic already has 5 majors and has won the last three hard courts majors played.

The two played what would have been the best match of the year in the 2012 Australian Open semifinal if it were not eclipsed by the insane 6-hour final played between Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. Since then Murray has won the Gold Medal at the 2012 Olympics and I think that he really feels that he can win this match. He is playing someone he has known since he was 11 years old. The two are 1 week apart in age and are god friends off the court (who used to practice together, until Murray's coach Ivan Lendl prohibited such fraternization).

Murray has had an extra day to rest, which should serve him well. To me, the match will not be decided by tactics and strategy but by the mental toughness of the person who wants it the most. Head-to-head Djokovic has a slight 8-6 edge, but this Murray is a different player now.

MadProfessah's pick: Murray.

Celebrity Friday: Novak and Marko Djokovic Half-Naked Together

The #1 tennis player in the world Novak Djokovic, 24, and his younger brother Marko, 20, show off their, umm, toes, in the sand of Abu Dhabi with a "Santa camel" in this picture. The younger Djokovic is also a tennis player (ranked in the Top 1000) but has generally been receiving attention for being "that cute guy in Djokovic's spectator box" while he won 10 titles in 2011.

Hat/tip to TowleRoad

Djokovic's Body Fails Him

In last week's Davis Cup matches, World #1 Novak Djokovic was unable to carry his team to victory, unlike last year. Djokovic retired from Serbia's semi-final tie with Argentina, allowing the South American country to reach another Davis Cup final. It should be interesting to see if the difference in results will have an impact on Djokovic's 2012 (or perhaps even the rest of 2011).

Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro was his country's Davis Cup hero, and they will face the indomitable Spain in the final tie in December which will of course be on red dirt in Spain, presumably Madrid. World #2 Rafael Nadal, who Djokovic has beaten in 6 very important finals this year so far, was devastatingly effective against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Richard Gasquet, serving up a bagel set in each of his straight set thrashings of the French players.

World #3 Roger Federer boarded a plane to Australia a mere hours after his heart-wrenching loss to Djokovic in the U.S. Open semifinals (up two match points for the second consecutive year) and to try and get Switzerland back into the Davis Cup World Group (and confirm his eligibility for next year's London Olympics. Switzerland was able to win their tie 3-2 with Federer contributing wins over Bernard Tomic and Lleyton Hewit and then teaming up with Stanislas Wawrinka to lose a tight doubles match against Hewitt and Chris Guccione. Wawrinka became the star for the Swiss team when he won a 5-set match against Hewitt 6-3 (after the match was suspended for darkness at 5-3!) to clinch the win for the Swiss and eliminate the Australians.

It will be interesting to see what impact, if any, these Davis Cup results have on the 2012 Grand Slam results (and the 2012 London Olympics).

WIMBLEDON 2011: Djokovic Becomes World #1; Reaches Final

As I predicted, Novak Djokovic defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6(4) 6-2 6-7(9) 6-3 in the 2011 Wimbledon semifinals to win his astonishing 47th match of the year (out of 48 played) and claim the World #1 ranking for the first time.

The only person to beat Djokovic all year is Roger Federer and Tsonga beat him on Wednesday. I really don't see either player (Rafael Nadal or Andy Murray) from the other semifinal stopping the 24-year-old Nole from winning his first Wimbledon title (and 8th title of the year) on Sunday.

Congrats to the new #1 from Serbia!

Djokovic Reaches 5 Consecutive Final; 26-0 For 2011

How long can he keep it up? World #2 Novak Djokovic reached the final of his home town tournament in Serbia with a walk over Janko Tipsarevic on Saturday. Djokovic has now reached 5 consecutive finals (winning 4) and has not lost on tour since the ATP World Tour finals in December 2010. HIs 26-0 start to 2011 is the best beginning of a season since Ivan Lendl's 25-0 in the 1980s.