TENNIS TUESDAY: Murray Wins 1st Title With Metal Hip; WTA Elite 8 Set; Shapo Wins First Title

ANDY MURRAY DEFEATS STAN WAWRINKA IN BATTLE OF COMEBACK KIDS
Former World #1 and 3-time major champion Andy Murray defeated 3-time major champion Stan Wawrinka 3-6 6-4 6-4 to win his first title since March of 2017. The tournament win is notable because both Murray and Wawrinka had extended departures from the tour due to injury, with Murray having a "hip resurfacing surgery" in January of this year which most people expected to completely end his competitive tennis career.

BENCIC GRABS LAST SLOT IN WTA TOUR FINAL BY WINNING KREMLIN CUP
Belinda Bencic continued her excellent 2019 season by grabbing the final slot in the Elite 8 season-ending WTA Tour Finals by winning the Kremlin Cup title over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Bencic only needed to reach the final to claim the berth but came back from a set to win her 4th career title.

SHAPOVALOV REACHES FIRST ATP TOUR FINAL IN 8 TRIES AND  WINS IT!
Denis Shapovalov of Canada had lost his first 7 ATP tour semifinals but at the Stockholm Open he reached the final and surprisingly won it with a 6-4 6-4 victory over Yuichi Sugita. The 20-year-old Canadian rejoins the Top 30 and gets bragging rights over his 19-year-old countryman Felix Auger-Aliassime who is higher ranked on the tour but has yet to win an ATP tour title despite reaching 2 finals this year.

ELITE EIGHT OF WTA TOUR FINAL SET (SERENA DOESN'T QUALIFY)

The competitors in the WTA Tour Finals (now called the Shiseido WTA Finals Shenzen) are set: Ash Barty, Karolina Pliskova, Naomi Osaka, Simona Halep, Bianca Andreescu, Petra Kvitova Belinda Bencic and Elina Svitolina.

2019 US OPEN: Dimitrov Earns First Win Over (Injured) Federer

Wow! Yesterday was a rough day for my predictions of the men's draw at the 2019 US Open. Grigor Dimitrov (currently ranked #78 in the world) defeated Roger Federer for the first time in 8 meetings. Prior to yesterday Federer had won 17 of the 18 sets they played. Dimitrov was able to win 3, after Federer went up 2 sets to 1 he got broken early in the 4th and when he broke back late in the 4th he was unable to capitalize on numerous break chances in the fourth set. Federer's back appears to be hurting him and he went down 4-0 in the 5th set very quickly and ultimately lost the decider 6-2.

2019 US OPEN: Men's Quarterfinals Preview

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

Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1] Stan Wawrinka (SUI) [23] vs Daniil Medvedev (RUS) [5].  The World #1 and defending champion had made his way through the draw rather uneventfully until he ran into a diesel truck named Stan. The 3-time champion who is on his way back up the charts after  very serious knee surgeries basically bullied Djokovic around the court for two and a half sets until the 16-time major champion retired from the match, citing a shoulder injury. Medvedev is the latest of the #NextGen players to break through, having won his first Masters series shield in Montreal during his red-hot summer.  The two have only played only once before, in 2017 on grass (Wawrinka's worst surface), with Medevedev winning. The Russian has been making it through matches by will (fueled by the vocal opposition of the New York City crowds). This scenario should repeat itself again, but this time he'll be facing someone who can take advantage of it. Mad Professah's pick: Wawrinka.

Roger Federer (SUI) [3] vs Grigor Dimitrov (BLR). Formerly known as "Baby Fed," Dimitrov has had a horrendous year and a half since he reached his career-high ranking of World #3 after winning the ATP's Year-End Championships (over Davis Goffin). His ranking had fallen out of the Top 50 before this tournament, so it is miraculous that he was able to reach his first quarterfinal in New York this year. Hopefully this will turn his season around because he is too talented to not be "in the mix" on tour although at 28 he is part of the Lost Generation that the Big 4 denied tennis' biggest prizes. Unfortunately for Grigor he faces Federer, whom he has played 7 times and only won 1 set in the 18 the two have played. Hopefully he will do better than Goffin did in Federer's previous round, who only managed to win 4 games in a best-of-five match. Mad Professah's pick: Federer.

Matteo Berretini (ITA) [24] vs Gael Monfils (FRA) [13]. This is a first-time meeting between these players. Berretini is one of the breakout players of 2019, having already won two tour titles this year. The 23-year-old is listed at 6-foot-5 and 198 pounds while 32-year-old Monfils is "only" 6-foot-4 and 187 pounds. This is an incredibly important match for both players, as every major quarterfinal is. It's Berretini's first but Monfils' 9th. Oftentimes, the older player suffers in this situation with the knowledge of how rare these opportunities are but it can also happen that the younger player is overwhelmed by the occasion. This is basically a "call-em" match and that situation I go with the better athlete. Mad Professah's pick: Monfils.

Rafael Nadal (ESP) [2] vs Diego Schwartzman (ARG) [20] Alexander Zverev (GER) [6]. Diminutive Diego took out Sascha Zverev in four sets the round before, despite playing on the German's best surface and his worst. He has reached 2 other quarterfinals before, but it probably won't matter. He faces Nadal, whom he has played 7 times and only won 2 sets (not in the same match), losing every time. Nadal is playing in devastating form and unless an injury shows up, should make it to another US Open final. Will Federer be waiting for him there?  Mad Professah's pick: Nadal.

2019 FRENCH OPEN: Men's Quarterfinals Preview (and Predictions)

Here are my predictions for the men's quarterfinals at the 2019 French Open.  I will also predict the women's quarterfinals. Last year I predicted 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals correctly and 4 of 4 women's quarterfinals correctly.

Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1] vs Alexander Zverev (GER) [5].  Djokovic has yet to lose a set  at this year's tournament and now has an amazing 25 match winning streak at Grand Slams as he goes for his second career "Nole Slam." He is going for his thirty-fifth major semifinal, while his opponent is going for his first. Interestingly, Zverev has an even head-to-head from the four matches the two have played, which is notable because while there are only 80 players who have played at least 4 matches with Djokovic only one person has a winning record (Andy Roddick!) If Zverev does win the match tomorrow, he would be in rarefied company. But  I don't think that's going to happen. Mad Professah's pick: Djokovic.

Dominic Thiem (AUT) [4] vs Juan Martin del Potro (ARG) [8] Karen Khachanov (RUS) [10].  Last year's finalist Dominic Thiem has been surprisingly vulnerable at this year's tournament, losing a set in every match he played except the latest one, which was a mind-numbingly routine win over an in-form Gael Monfils who had not lost a set getting to the fourth round and then could not win a single one against Thiem. In fact, Monfils has never won a set against Thiem and has given him a walkover win twice in the 8 matches they have been scheduled to play. Khachanov is a NextGen player who reached his first major quarterfinal by outlasting a mildly injured Juan Martin del Potro. Interestingly, Khachanov and Thiem have only played once before and the younger player has the win, and it occurred in Paris last year, while Khachanov was winning the Paris Masters title in the Fall. In fact, Khachanov is on a 10-match winning streak in Paris, so that should give him some confidence, but I don't think it will prevent Thiem getting to the Roland Garros semifinals for  the fourth consecutive year. Mad Professah's pick: Thiem.

Roger Federer (SUI) [3] vs Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) [6] Stan Wawrinka (SUI) [23]. Wawrinka played the best match of the tournament, and probably the year with Stefanos Tsitsipas, a 5-hour-9-minute, 5-set match in the round of 16. Wawrinka is a 3-time major champion, including winning the 2015 French Open which is where he took out Roger Federer in the quarterfinal on his way to winning the title that year after Djokovic eliminated the King of Clay in the quarterfinals. These two Swiss players have met 25 times on the tour and Federer has an imposing 22-3 lead. However all 3 win by Wawrinka have occurred on clay, but Federer still has an overall 4-3 lead on the surface and 6-1 in majors (although only one of  their matches has gone to 5 sets, which was one by Federer on his way to winning the 2017 Australian Open). Is that a presage of the result in this match? Mad Professah's pick: Federer.

Rafael Nadal (ESP) [2] vs Kei Nishikori (JPN) [7]. Two of Nishikori's four matches here have been 5 sets while Nadal has only dropped a single set in 4 matches, with numerous breadsticks and bagels handed out. Nishikori has 2 wins (compared to 10 losses) against Nadal, but neither of the wins have been on clay or in 5 sets. Nadal's record at Roland Garros is 90-2. It doesn't seem likely that one of these very historic results will happen against Nishikori. Mad Professah's pick: Nadal.

TENNIS TUESDAY: #RF100; Osaka Picks New Coach; Kyrgios Bulldozes Acapulco

FEDERER WINS 100TH TITLE IN DUBAI OVER TSITSIPAS
Roger Federer got revenge against Stefanos Tsitsipas in t.he finals of the Dubai Duty Free Open by winning 6-4 6-4. By doing so, he was able to win the 100th title of his career, becoming the second man in history to reach this milestone. The 21-year-old Tsitsipas made history to become the first player from his country (Greece) to be ranked in the Top 10. He will almost certainly continue to make history, as many observers expect to him reach the Top 5 and potentially win a major title.

OSAKA PICKS JERMAINE JENKINS AS NEW COACH
World #1 Naomi Osaka has followed up her dismissal of  Sascha Baijin as her coach by replacing him with Jermaine Jenkins, another person who knows the game of her idol, Serena Williams, very well. Baijin was Serena's hitting partner for years, and Jenkins had been part of Venus Williams camp for years, including serving as hitting partner. His twin brother served as Serena's hitting partner at the 2018 French Open, and has recently been named Director of Women's Tennis for the United States Tennis Association.

KYRGIOS BEATS NADAL, WAWRINKA, ISNER AND ZVEREV TO WIN ACAPULCO
Two weeks after Belinda Bencic had an amazing week to win her first title in memorable fashion, Nick Kyrgios did the same thing by beating Rafael Nadal, Stan Wawrinka, John Isner and Sascha Zverev to win the title in Acapulco. The mercurial Australian Player demonstrated  that when he focuses on his game, he can basically beat anyone.

TENNIS TUESDAY: Bencic, Tstisipas Win Titles; Federer Seeks #100; FAA Reaches 1st ATP 500 Final; Monfils Beats Stan To Win Title

FELIX AUGER-ALIASSIME REACHES FIRST ATP 500 FINAL IN RIO
18-year-old Canadian phenom Felix Auger-Aliassime (or FAA) became the youngest player to ever reach an ATP 500 final by playing in the Rio Open final against Laslo Djere. 23-year-old Djere won 6-3 7-5, but both players are now at career highs: FAA is at #60 and Djere shot up 53(!) slots to #37.

BELINDA BENCIC DESTROYS FIELD EN ROUTE TO WINNING IN DUBAI
Reminiscent of her historic 2015 breakout win in Montreal, Belinda Bencic, now 21, won the title in Dubai by defeating four Top 10 players along the way: Aryna Sabalenka, (defending champion) Elina Svitolina, World #2 Simona Halep and World #3 Petra Kvitova. Bencic beat 2019 Australian Open finalist Kvitova in the final, 6-3 1-6 6-2.

ROGER FEDERER IS CHASING ATP CAREER TITLE #100 THIS WEEK IN DUBAI
The men's tournament in Dubai starts this week and Roger Federer will be seeking his 100th career title in a field with Marin Cilic (who lost to Gael Monfils), kei Nishikori and Karen Khachanov (who also lost). Federer bear Phillipp Kohlschreiber and will face Fernando Verdasco for a quarterfinal slot.

STEFANO TSISTIPAS AND GAEL MONFILS WIN TITLES
NextGen phenom (and 2019 Australian Open semifinalist) Stefanos Tsiptsipas won his second career title this week by defeating Mikhail Kukushkin in Merseilles in straight sets. Gael Monfils won his 8th career title last week by outlasting Stan Wawrinka in Rotterdam 6-3 1-6 6-2. La Monf has an atrocious record in finals (8W-21L) so this was a good result for the 32-year-old Frenchman.

2018 US OPEN: Halep(1), Muguruza(12), Kasatkina(11), Dimitrov(8), Murray All Lose early; Serena-Venus XXX Looms

Oh my! The first three days of the 2018 US Open have concluded and with it, most of the first two rounds of play. The tournament started with a bang with World #1 and #1 seed Simona Halep becoming the first top seed to lose first round in the 50 years of the US Open. Halep was my pick to win the whole thing this year, but hard-hitting Estonian Kaia Kanepi knocked her out in straight sets! Other seeded upsets in the early rounds were 2-time major champion Garbine Muguruza, the wily Daria Kasatkina, #9 seed Julia Georges and CoCo Vandeweghe.

On the men's side the wailing was a little quieter with only Top 10 seed to go out was #8 Grigor Dimitrov, who unsurprisingly lost to Stan Wawrinka for the second consecutive first round in a slam. Other male players who lost early are Stefanos Tsitsipas, Kyle Edmund, Jack Sock and Roberto Bautista Agut.

In the first rounds to watch, Caroline Wozniacki got past 2011 champion Sam Stosur and amaria Sharapova ended Patty Schnyder's dream run to a main slam draw at nearly 40 years old. On the men's side the young Canadian Clash between Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger-Aliassime took on a scary turn when 18-year-old Felix was forced to retire due to a racing heartbeat despite splitting the first two sets and competing well in the 3rd.

The marquee event is now going to be the thirtieth matchup between Venus and Serena Williams. I didn't expect this matchup to happen in this tournament and I doubt anyone expected that the two sisters would play 30 matches against each other when they both became professionals well over 20 years ago. Serena leads the head to head 17-12 overall and 9-5 in grand slams. They have only met this early in a major tournament once before, in their first meeting in Australia in 1998. It should be a good match, but I'll pick Serena to get through, even though Venus won their last meeting in Indian Wells earlier this year. They are both playing better than I expected. I didn't really think Venus would get through her first round match with Sveta Kuznetsova or her 2nd round match with Camila Giorgi. as for Serena, after reaching the Wimbledon final her summer hard court prep has been horrific.

Sadly, I don't arrive in New York until tomorrow, so I will only be able to see one of them play on Sunday.

2018 US OPEN: Draw Preview and Tournament Predictions

The 2018 US Open, the last major of the year, starts tomorrow on Monday August 27. I will be attending the tournament, as I often do, in the middle weekend this Saturday to Monday. I'm looking forward to seeing the new Louis Armstrong stadium. Hopefully neither roof will be necessary while I'm in New York.

The defending champions are Rafael Nadal and Sloane Stephens. Interestingly, both reached the final of the French Open this year, with Nadal winning his 11th title in Paris and Stephens losing her first ever tour final against Simona Halep. Halep is the #1 player in the world and the #1 seed, as is Nadal.

Women's Draw (Preview and Predictions)
Serena Williams was seeded #17 and is in the same quarter as her sister Venus, which could lead to a 3rd round match-up. I doubt that will happen though, because Venus, who reached the semifinal last year before losing to the eventual champion, will face an in-form Svetlana Kuznetsova in the first round. Other first-round matches to watch are Garbine Muguruza versus Zhang Shuai (who upset Venus in the French Open first round this year), Johanna Konta versus Carolina Garcia, Maria Sharapova versus Patty Schnyder (blast from the past!) and Andrea Petkovic versus Jelena Ostapenko. The expected  women's quarterfinals (if seedings hold) are:

• Simona Halep ROU [1] versus Karolina Pliskova CZE [8]
• Sloane Stephens USA [3] versus Elina Svitolina UKR [7]
• Angelique Kerber GER [4] versus  Caroline Garcia [6] 
• Carolina Wozniacki DEN [2] versus Petra Kvitova [5]

However, I am picking my semifinalists to be Halep versus Stevens, and Ostapenko versus Kiki Bertens, with a Halep-Ostapenko final and a Halep win.

Men's Draw (Preview and Predictions)

The men's side should be exciting with all of the Big 4 (or 5) competing in the same tournament for the first time in nearly two years. Andy Murray will be playing his first grand slam match since Wimbledon 2017 against Jamie Duckworth of Australia. Amazingly, for the second major in a row, Stan Wawrinka will meet Grigor Dimitrov [8] in the first round. This time when the Swiss wins it will not be considered an upset, because his level of play has risen since Wimbledon while Dimitrov's has fallen. Other mouthwatering first-round matchups include: Frances Tiafoe against Adrian Mannarino, Felix Auger-Aliassime versus Denis Shapovalov, and two all-Spanish matchups: Nadal versus David Ferrer and Feliciano Lopez versus Fernando Verdasco.

The expected men's quarterfinals (if seedings hold) are:

• Rafael Nadal ESP [1] versus Kevin Anderson RSA[5]
• Juan Martin del Potro ARG [3] versus Grigor Dimitrov BUL [8]
• Sascha Zverev GER [4] versus  Marin Cilic[7] 
• Roger Federer SUI [2] versus Novak Djokovic [6]

My predictions are for the semifinals to be Nadal versus Del Potro (like last year!) and Cilic versus Djokovic, with a Nadal-Djokovic final and a Djokovic victory.

MadProfessah championship predictions: Novak Djokovic and Simona Halep.

2018 Wimbledon: Venus, Serena, Roger Win; Sloane (4), Svitolina (5), Dimitrov (6) Upset in 1R

The first day of Wimbledon brought few surprises. Defending champion Roger Federer won his match easily. He did manage to create headlines, mainly by his attire. He walked on court wearing an outfit by UNIQLO, not Nike, for the first time in well over 15 years. He still has Nike shoes. Apparently, Federer has agreed to a deal which pays him $30 million every year for the next 10 years (regardless of whether he plays tennis or not!) to serve as their "worldwide brand ambassador."

There were some upsets on the court: Donna Vekic beat 2018 French Open finalist and #4 seed Sloane Stephens in straight sets, and then her boyfriend, Stan Wawrinka beat #6 seed Grigor Dimitrov in four sets. Also, 2018 Halle champion Borna Coric lost a first-round tussle with fellow NextGen star Daniil Medvedev, opening up Federer's draw.

Both Venus and Serena won their first round matches. Venus lost the first set in a tiebreak but then won the last two sets easily. Serena struggled against a good grasscourt player Arantxa Rus but managed to win two tight sets. However she got some good news when the #25 ranked player had the Top 8 seed in her quarter (#5 seed Elina Svitolina) of the draw removed in 3-sets by Tatjana Maria.

Some of the interesting first round matches I mentioned in my 2018 Wimbledon Draw analysis post occurred.

INTERESTING FIRST ROUND MATCHES TO WATCH OUT FOR

• Dimitrov versus Wawrinka (Dimitrov lost in 4 sets)
• Andy Murray versus Benoit Paire (Murray withdrew the day before the tournament started)
• Gael Monfils versus Richard Gasquet (Monfils won relatively easily in straight sets)
• Dominic Thiem versus Marcos Baghdatis
• Jeremy Chardy versus Denis Shapovalov
• Fernando Verdasco versus Frances Tiafoe
• Angie Kerber versus Vera Zvonareva (Kerber won in two tight sets on Day 2)
• Alize Cornet versus Dominika Cibulkova
• Shuai Peng versus Samantha Stosur
• Belina Bencic versus Caroline Garcia
• Svetlana Kuznetsova versus Barbora Strycova (Strycova won in 2 tight sets)

2018 WIMBLEDON: Men's and Women's Draw Analyzed

"It's the most wonderful time of the year" (for Roger Federer fans like myself!) That's right, Wimbledon is right around the corner, starting on Monday. The seeds and draws have been released, so this is my annual post analyzing and attempting to make predictions about this year's Wimbledon Championships. Last year's champions were Federer (winning his 8th Wimbledon title and 19th major defeating Marin Cilic) and Garbine Muguruza (winning her 2nd major and 1st Wimbledon title defeating Venus Williams).

Men's Draw 

Projected Quarterfinals

• Roger Federer [1] vs. Kevin Anderson [8]
• Marin Cilic [3] vs. Grigor Dimitrov [6]
• Dominc Thiem [7] vs. Alexander Zverev [4]
• Juan Martin Del Potro [5] vs Rafael Nadal [2]

Potential Matchups To Look Out For

FIRST ROUND
Dimitrov versus Stan Wawrinka
Andy Murray versus Benoit Paire
Gael Monfils versus Richard Gasquet
Dominc Thiem versus Marcos Baghdatis
Jeremy Chardy versus Denis Shapovalov
Fernando Verdasco versus Frances Tiafoe

LATER
R16 Federer versus Borna Coric
R3 Nick Kyrgios versus Kei Nishikori

Women's Draw 

Projected Quarterfinals

• Simona Halep [1] vs. Petra Kvitova [8]
• Garbine Muguruza [3] vs. Caroline Garcia [6]
• Karolina Pliskova [7] vs. Sloane Stephens [4]
• Elina Svitolina [5] vs Caroline Wozniacki[2]

Potential Matchups To Look Out For

FIRST ROUND
Angie Kerber versus Vera Zvonareva
Alize Cornet versus Dominika Cibulkova
Shuai Peng versus Samantha Stosur
Belina Bencic versus Caroline Garcia
Svetlana Kuznetsova versu Barbora Strycova

LATER
R3 Maria Sharapova versus Jelena Ostapenko
R4 Serena Williams versus Madison Keys

2017 US OPEN: Nadal Wins 16th Major

As I expected, Rafael Nadal defeated Kevin Anderson 6-3 6-4 6-4 to win the 2017 U.S. Open, claiming his 16th major title and 3rd in New York. He improved to 16-7 in major finals and reached the finals of 3 of the four majors in 2017, thus cementing his hold on the World #1 ranking for the year. Only Gilles Muller was able to beat him before the final round of a major this year, and that took an extraordinary 28-game final set. Roger Federer  and Nadal split the majors this year, with Federer winning the Australia Open (d. Nadal) and Wimbledon (d. Marin Cilic), and Nadal winning the French (d. Stan Wawrinka) and the U.S. Open. The other members of the big four, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray failed to reach a major final in 2017 and have basically ceded the rest of the season to their older rivals.

Nadal's win means that just like this point last year, Nadal, 31, and Federer, 36, are again 3 major titles apart, but instead of being at 17 and 14 they have both separated themselves from the previous greats of the sport (Pete Sampras at 14) and now they are at 19 and 16 with the very real possibility they will both reach the once-inconceivable number of 20 singles slams each. Who will be the G.OA.T.?

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 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 FRENCH OPEN: Nadal Wins 15th Major, La Decima at Roland Garros

As expected, Rafael Nadal won his 15th major and 10th French Open title at Roland Garros today by defeating 2015 French Open champion Stan Wawrinka by the lopsided score of 6-2 6-3 6-1. Nadal's "La decima" is a historic sports achievement because no other player in the Open era had  ever won one of the major tennis tournaments ten times before. (Martina Navratilova won Wimbledon 9 times and Margaret Court won the Australian 11 times but *seven* of those wins were before the Open era began in 1968.)

For the third time in his career (2008 and 2010) Nadal won the French Open without dropping a set, in fact no one even won more than 4 games in any of the 27 sets he played this year, and he only gave up a grand total of 35 games, his stingiest performance yet.

The win means that Nadal is now by himself in second position on the all-time grad slam singles list, at 15, a mere 3 major titles behind Roger Federer who is five years older. There is a real question as to how many more French Opens Nadal can win, because no one expects him to stop competing at the tournament where he now sports a 85-2 record. If he ties Federer's record of 18, will Nadal be considered the G.O.A.T? In my opinion, he would have to surpass Federer's tally to convincingly win that argument, and Is still think that is unlikely to happen, but only time will tell!

2017 FRENCH OPEN: Men's Final Preview (and Semifinals Review)

Rafael Nadal (ESP) [4] vs. Stan Wawrinka (SUI) [3].

Here are my predictions for the men's final at Roland Garros. Last year I correctly predicted Novak Djokovic would beat Andy Murray in the men's final and incorrectly predicted Serena Williams would beat Garbine Muguruza in the women's final. This year I did not predict that Jelena Ostapenko would beat Simona Halep in the final, but I did correctly predict 1 of 2 women's semifinals, 2 of 2 men's semifinals, 3 of 4 women's quarterfinals and 4 of 4 men's quarterfinals. 

Below is my review of the men's semifinals and my preview of the men's final at the 2017 French Open.

MEN'S SEMIFINALS REVIEW

Stan Wawrinka (SUI) [3] d. Andy Murray (GBR) 6-7(6) 6-3 5-7 7-6(3) 6-1. Although the final result was not that surprising (to me) the overall quality of the match was (to almost everyone). The World #1 and 2016 Roland Garros finalist had not been playing his best tennis in 2017 while the 2015 Roland Garros champion had not dropped a set in the first five rounds of play this year. However, somehow Murray was able to finally play some of his best tennis since he won this match-up last year, and Wawrinka (again) rose to the occasion, blasting an amazing 87 winners past Murray on clay!) The match was actually in Murray's control after the 3rd set but for unknown reasons he played an awful 4th set tiebreak and was quickly down 5-0 before putting up some more spirited resistance to dodge the final bagel set humiliation.

Rafael Nadal (ESP) [4] d. Dominic Thiem (AUT) [6] 6-3 6-4 6-0. As the 9-time French Open champion demolishes the field on to his seemingly inevitable 10th title (called La Decima by the press) he is constantly setting new records.  By only losing 7 games in this semifinal (against someone who had beaten him on clay in the last month and who dismissed the defending champion in straight sets the round before!) Nadal reached the final here only dropping a total of 29 games, just two more than the all-time record set by Bjorn Borg. Although some people had given Thiem a chance of pulling the upset here it seemed like a near impossibility to me. Even when Thiem opened the match with a break of serve, he was still down 4-1 fifteen minutes later, and in the end only the first two sets were even "competitive" and that is stretching the meaning of the word. TheAustrian youngster, who almost certainly will win a French Open title at some point, was unable to avoid the humiliation of a final set decimation, which I am pretty sure was intentional on Nadal's part.

MEN'S FINAL PREVIEW

Wawrinka has been in 3 major finals and sports a perfect 3-0 record. Nadal has been in 21 finals and has an impressive 14-7 record. It's pretty amazing that after losing a major final in Melbourne to his arch-nemesis, Nadal has another opportunity to re-insert himself into the G.O.A.T. discussion by becoming only the second player in history to win 15 majors and to again bring himself within striking distance of Federer's total of 18. The discussion about the greatest clay court player of all time is over: Nadal is the winner by acclamation.

It is true that Wawrinka is incredibly mentally tough and credits this aspect of the game with allowing him to have his incredible breakthrough at the age age of 28. The problem is I think the final will come down to who is physically tough. The weather forecast indicates that it will be well over 90 degrees and Nadal is perfectly ready, willing and able to spend 5 to 6 hours on court to claim this 10th French Open title. I believe Wawrinka is willing to do the same, but is he able? He just spent well over 4 hours winning his 5-set match over Murray and he has spent almost 5 hours more on court than Nadal has in the last two weeks. I believe that will be the edge and that Nadal will again be biting the French Open trophy after the last point is played.

MadProfessah's pick: Nadal.

2017 FRENCH OPEN: Men's Semifinals Preview

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

Andy Murray (GBR) [1] vs. Stan Wawrinka (SUI) [3]. These two over-30 players have played seventeen times before, and the World #1 leads the Word #3 10-7. Interestingly this match is a rematch of last year's semifinal in which I correctly predicted Murray would prevail. However last year Murray was having much more success on the clay and other courts, having won the Rome title. This year, neither player has been playing that well but Wawrinka is yet to drop a set at Roland Garros while Murray has dropped 3 but never more than one in any match so he has not been in danger of losing. That being said, Wawrinka has already won this tournament (d. Djokovic in 2015 French Open) and leads 2-1 in their clay meetings while Murray leads 3-2 in 5-set matches. I would be shocked if this match does not go to 4 if not 5 sets, if it doesn't then almost certainly Wawrinka would have bashed Murray off the court. That is unlikely to happen, but I believe the end result will be the same, leading to Wawrinka's 4th major final. Mad Professah's pick: Wawrinka.

Rafael Nadal (ESP) [4] vs. Dominic Thiem (AUT) [6]. This is the popcorn match of the clay court season, the equivalent to the Simona Halep-Elina Svitolina quarterfinal on the women's side between the two players with the best clay court records this year. Thiem is in his second consecutive Roland Garros semifinal, after dispatching the defending French Open champion in surprisingly easy fashion without dropping a set against Novak Djokovic. There is no question Nadal is the best clay court player of all time, and now sports an unbelievable 77-2 record at the French Open. His two losses came in 2009 to Robin Soderling and 2015 to Novak Djokovic. In fact, Nadal losing on clay at any tournament is a rare event. Interestingly, though, Thiem has had 6 meetings with Nadal on the surface and won twice (making him one of the very few active players to have multiple wins over Nadal on clay), including just a few weeks ago in the Rome quarterfinal. It should be noted that beating Nadal in best-of-5 is something that Roger Federer has never done, for example. I doubt it is something that Dominic Thiem will do tomorrow (but it is something I believe he will do in the future). Mad Professah's pick: Nadal.

2017 FRENCH OPEN: Men's Quarterfinals Preview

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

Andy Murray (GBR) [1] vs Kei Nishikori (JPN) [8]. These two have played ten times on tour before, and the 3-time major champion leads their rivalry 8-2 however the last time they played was in the 2016 U.S. Open quarterfinals and Nishikori won a come-from-behind victory 7-5 in the fifth set. In 2017 both Murray and Nishikori have not been playing well, with the current World #1 amassing a 16-7 record (1 title, in Dubai) while Nishikori is 20-8 (no titles). Murray reached the final here last year and he has exceeded expectations to reach the quarterfinal but he actually has a pretty good chance to reach the final again this year. Mad Professah's pick: Murray.

Stan Wawrinka (SUI) [3] vs Marin Cilic (CRO) [7].  Both Cilic and Wawrinka have been blasting their way through the draw for four rounds without dropping a set, so clearly for at least one of them this streak is going to have to end. Surprisingly, these two have played 13 times and Wawrinka has won all but two of these matches. Clay is one of Wawrinka's stronger surfaces, and two years ago he won this title by shocking Djokovic in the final after the Serb easily defeated Nadal in the quarterfinal. He's looking in a similar form and will almost certainly be looking forward to a rematch of last year's semifinal he lost to Murray last year to see if he can flip the script. Mad Professah's pick: Wawrinka.

Rafael Nadal (ESP) [4] vs Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP) Milos Raonic (CAN) [5]. This is the only quarterfinal which is missing one of the Top 8 seeds, with the surprising Pablo Carreno Busta defeating the #5 seed Milos Raonic to grab his first major quarterfinal. Sadly, his reward is to play his countryman who clearly takes extra pleasure at dominating other Spaniards. Nadal has only lost once on clay and even though he has not won a major since 2014, he is the prohibitive favorite to win his tenth Roland Garros this year. Any other result would be the upset of the decade. Mad Professah's pick: Nadal.

Novak Djokovic (SRB) [2] vs Dominic Thiem (AUT) [6].  This match-up should be the most intriguing and exciting of the four quarterfinals. Thiem is the only player to have defeated Nadal on clay this year and last year had his breakthrough into his first major semifinal here at Roland Garros and is now firmly ensconced in the Top 10. It must be noted that Thiem is another one of the four quarterfinalists who has not dropped a set at this year's French Open but also note that last year he was completely outclassed by Djokovic in that major semifinal. However neither Thiem nor Djokovic are the same player they were last year, with Thiem is playing much better than last year while Djokovic is playing much worse. Although Thiem has won two consecutive sets in one match against Nadal, Djokovic has won three consecutive sets at Roland Garros, and he is the only active player on tour to do that. However, ever since winning the Nole Slam here last year Djokovic has not been the same player and it is not clear which player has the best chance at stopping Nadal from winning his 15th major. My guess is that it will be whomever wins this match. Mad Professah's pick: Thiem.

TENNIS TUESDAY: ATP Top 5 Is 30+; Zverev,Svitolina Win Rome; Nadal Clay Win Streak Over; Agassi Rumored To Be Next Supercoach

ROME TITLES WON BY UNDERDOGS: SVITOLINA BEATS HALEP, ZVEREV WINS DJOKOVIC
Sascha Zverev of Germany became the first player born in the 1990s to win a ATP Masters Series title by defeating Novak Djokovic in straight sets 6-4 6-3. On the women's side, Simona Halep lost a tough 3-set match to Elena Svitolina in the Rome final after rolling her ankle in the second set.

THE ENTIRE ATP TOP 5 IS NOW OVER 30: MURRAY, DJOKOVIC, WAWRINKA, NADAL and FEDERER.
The entire ATP Top 5 is now over 30 years old for the first time, with #2 Novak Djokovic turning 30 on May 22. World #1 Andy Murray turned 30 on May 15th, Stan Wawrinka is 32, Rafael Nadal will turn 31 on June 3 and Roger Federer is 35.

NADAL LOSES ON CLAY FOR FIRST TIME IN 2017 (TO DOMINC THIEM)
The third time was the charm! For the 3rd time in 2017, Dominc Thiem faced King of Clay Rafael Nadal on his best surface and this time he came out the winner, blasting winners from both wings and dismissing Nadal in straight sets, 6-4 6-3 in the quarterfinals of Rome. Ominously, Thiem followed up this career-best performance with a merciless drubbing 6-1 6-0 at the hands of Djokovic in the semifinals. Nadal's win streak on clay in 2017 was stopped at 17.

ANDRE AGASSI RUMORED TO BECOME DJOKOVIC'S NEW "SUPERCOACH"
The tennis world was stunned by Djokovic's decision to fire his entire coaching staff a few weeks ago. Now the current World #2 is close to announcing his new coach will be 8-time major champion Andre Agassi as his coach. Agassi will join Djokovic for the 21017 French Open at least and perhaps longer. Previously Djokovic was coached by another all-time great, in Boris Becker for over 2 years.

2017 MIAMI: Federer Wins #Fedal37; 3rd Miami Title; Starts Year 19-1

As I predicted (and joyously watched on live television) Roger Federer defeated Rafael Nadal 6-3 6-4 in the finals of the 2017 Miami Open, winning his 91st career match, 3rd Miami Open title and 3rd "Sunshine double" (2005, 2006 and 2017). Nadal is now 0-5 in Miami Open finals.

He improved his head-to-head record against Nadal to 14W-23L, and has won the last four consecutive matches (and 5 consecutive sets) he has played against Nadal, with most of these sets coming down to 1-break advantages, like the two in today's final.

This is a dream start to the season for Federer, who has only lost won match in a 3rd set tiebreak t(o Evgeny Donskoy!) despite playing four tournaments and 20 matches. However, he confirmed on court today that he will take more than a month off the tour, skipping the entire clay court season (except for Roland Garros). His 3 tournament wins this year have him currently rising to World #4 in the rankings and he is currently #1 in the Year-To-Date points race (World #2 Novak Djokovic is #22 and World #1 Andy Murray is #12).

Federer's absence from the tour will be good news for Nadal, who is also playing quite well in 2017, and just happens to have lost in 3 consecutive big tournament to his arch-nemesis. The big question is what impact the return of Djokovic and Murray have on the clay court season or will the 5th man in the Big Four, Stan Wawrinka sneak into the conversation?

TENNIS TUESDAY: Federer Wins Title #90; Vesnina Shocks; Kerber Regains #1; Miami Draw Decimated

INDIAN WELLS ENDS WITH A BANG AS VESNINA AND FEDERER WIN TITLES 
The first important (non-major) tournament of the year is the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. Last year Novak Djokovic and Vika Azarenka won the title. This year Roger Federer defeated Stan Wawrinka and Elena Vesnina outlasted Svetlana Kuznetsova (in just over 3 hours) to win the titles.

FEDERER'S 90TH TITLE FUELS HIS RISE TO WORLD #6
35-year-old Roger Federer has reached his pre-Wimbledon goal of reaching the Top 8 in the world 3 months early by reaching World #6 this week. After a 6-month absence from the tour to recuperate after knee surgery, Federer has won 13 of his first 14 matches played in 2017. His only loss this year came to Evgeny Donskoy in a 3rd set tiebreak in Dubai. By winning Indian Wells for the 5th time, Federer won his 90th ATP tour title and record 49th "big title" of his career (18 Grand slams, 6 ATP Tour finals and 25 Masters shields).

MIAMI OPEN LOSES MURRAY, DJOKOVIC, SERENA
The "Sunshine Double" is a rare feat in tennis that occurs when a player wins the Indian Wells tournament and then the Miami tournament which follows it; last year both Azarenka and Djokovic completed the sunshine double. The draw at this year's Miami Open will have reduced firepower because 8-time champion Serena Williams, 6-time champion Novak Djokovic and 2-time champion Andy Murray all have withdrawn from the tournament.

KERBER REGAINS WORLD #1 RANKING 
 As expected, the World #1 ranking on the women's side changed from Serena Williams to Angelique Kerber due to Serena Williams' withdrawal from the Indian Wells and Key Biscayne tournaments.