SHOCK! Federer Loses Grass Comeback Match To Haas; Now 19-2 IN 2017

Roger Federer played his first match since winning the Miami Open in early April on grass in Stuttgart against his good friend, 39-year-old Tommy Haas. Since, Federer is 35, this was the oldest combined ages of two players on the WTA tour since 1982. For the second time this year, Federer had a match point but ended up losing to Haas 2-6, 7-6(8), 6-4.

After skipping the entire clay court season and seeing Rafael Nadal dominate it and win his 10th French Open, this could not have been the way that Federer hoped to begin the blink-and-you'll-miss-it grass court season this summer.

TENNIS TUESDAY: Muguruza Soars To WTA #2, Thiem Hits ATP #7, Grass Season Begins

WTA Rankings: Muguruza #2 (And Closing On Serena), Venus Back In Top 10, Kiki Goes +68
This week's WTA rankings are out and, as expected, 2016 French Open champion Garbine Muguruza is at World #2. She is close enough behind Serena that it is possible (but unlikely) that if the Spaniard were to defend all her 1365 Wimbledon finalist points and Serena Williams not defend her Wimbledon champion points, the 22-year-old could claim the #1 spot for the first time. Venus Williams has returned to the WTA top 10, landing at #9 and will most likely be seeded #8 at Wimbledon because #8 Belinda Bencic is injured. After her Roland Garros triumphs, Kiki Bertens jumps 68 places from #96 to #27. She will almost certainly be seeded at Wimbledon, and play for a medal in Rio.

ATP Rankings: Thiem Enters Top 10, Goffin Knocking At #11, Djokovic Nearly Double #2
After battling each other for a major semifinal spot, Dominic Thiem and David Goffin have career high rankings, landing at #7 and #11, respectively. By dint of his holding all four major titles simultaneously, Djokovic has a record number of ATP ranking points (16,950) which is almost double the total of World #2 Andy Murray. Despite leaving his favorite tournament early due to a serious wrist injury, Rafael Nadal moved up to #4 in the rankings which should prevent him from a quarterfinal meeting with anyone else in the Top 4 at Wimbledon.

Djokovic Blows Past $100 Million Career Prize Money:  $101,917,404
With his win on Sunday, Novak Djokovic is slowly making his case to be considered the greatest of all time. By holding all four major titles simultaneously he has accomplished something neither of his contemporaries (Federer and Nadal) have done, and thanks to the monotonic increase in prize money with time, Djokovic is almost certain to end with more prize money than either of them either. Due to his unprecedented success in the ATP Masters Series event, he has earned more than $101 million in his time on tour, and he is not yet 30.

The Grass Season Begins And Federer Returns In Stuttgart, Brown Wins in Manchester
This year Federer is playing not one but two Wimbledon warm-up tournaments, in Stuttgart and Halle. He has reached the Wimbledon final the last two years, losing both times to Novak. Dustin Brown won a grass court challenger tournament in Manchester over the weekend and is now back into the Top 100.

Tommy Haas Hasn't Retired (Yet) But Has Been Announced As Indian Wells Tournament Director
After the collapse of support for Raymond Moore as longtime director of the ATP masters tournament in Indian Wells due to his rampant misogyny and sexism, a search was conducted for a new TD. The announcement was made last week that Tommy Haas (who is still an active member of the ATP Tour, and very popular among the players) has been named as the new Indian Wells tournament director, subject to the approval of the boards of the WTA and ATP.

2014 HALLE: Federer in 9th Halle Final, Will Meet Falla

Roger Federer is playing in his record 9th final in Halle, Germany on Sunday, where he will face Colmbian Alejandro Falla. Federer has won this grass court title 6 times before (2003-2006, 2008, 2013), including last year when he defeated Mikhail Youzhny. He has lost finals to Lleyton Hewitt (2010) and Tommy Haas (2012).

Federer beat Kei Nishikori in the semifinals this year 6-3 7-6(4). Falla is pretty good on grass, since in 2010 he gave the then 6-time Wimbledon champion a scare by winning the first two sets of their first round match but then lost in 5 sets. Hopefully Federer will take this match very seriously and tomorrow will bring Roger his 79th ATP title in Halle!

2014 AUS OPEN Day 1: Kvitova[6],Errani[7], Haas[12], Venus Upset

Day 1 of the 2014 Australian Open is complete and already some significant upsets have occurred. The most significant to me (personally) is technically not an upset since the higher ranked player won. 7-time major champion Venus Williams lost to Ekaterina Makarova[23] 2-6 6-4 6-4 in the 1st round.

Other notable first round losses were Petra Kvitova[6], Sara Errani[7] and Tommy Haas[12].

However, Serena Williams[1], Victoria Azarenka[2], Li Na[4] all won. Other notable wins on the women's side of the draw were by Samantha Stosur[17], Ana Ivanovic[14], Simona Halep[11], Caroline Wozniacki[10], Angelique Kerber[9] and Jelena Jankovic[8].

Novak Djokovic[2], David Ferrer[3], Roger Federer[6],Tomas Berdych[7],Richard Gasquet[8], Stanislas Wawrinka[9], Jo-Wilfried Tsonga[10] and Milos Raonic[11] all won. John Isner[12] retired after losing the first two sets with a bad ankle against lefty Martin Klizan.

Best Men's Tennis Matches of 2013

1. R. Nadal ESP d. N. Djokovic SRB, 6-4 3-6 6-1 6-7(4) 9-7, French Open semifinal, Paris. 
I believe this was the most significant match of the year because if the result had been different I am very sure that Djokovic would have completed his career slam, and of course, Nadal has only ever lost one match at Roland Garros so losing this match would have been a historic event by definition. Many observers claim that this clash is not only the best match of the year but also the best clay court match of all time, and I agree with both assessments. The shots the two were hitting were incredible, with both players exhibiting their strengths (amazing defense to offense transition from Nadal, and unbelievably flexible shotmaking from Djokovic). They did so for almost the entire 4-hours and 37 minute duration of the match. Nadal was two points away from winning at 6-5, 30-15 in the fourth set but somehow Djokovic was able to win that game and hung tough in the tiebreaker to force a fifth set. (This is only the second time Nadal has ever played a fifth set in Paris, after a 1st round 5-set meeting with John Isner in 2011.) Djokovic broke first in the final set and even led 4-2. The most pivotal point of the match was at 4-3, deuce with Djokovic serving when he had an easy put away overhead but after hitting the ball he touched the net and since the ball had not bounced twice he lost the point. Djokovic saved that breakpoint but two points later he was broken and never led again. Even though Djokovic ultimately lost this match, it is becoming clearer that he has the ability to beat Nadal on clay, and perhaps even at Roland Garros. In 2012, the Serbian lost the final against the King of Clay in four sets, in 2013 he lost this semifinal in five sets, so in 2014 I firmly believe Nole will get it done. And I think Rafa knows it too.

2. N. Djokovic SRB d. J-M. Del Potro ARG, 7-5 4-6 7-6(2) 6-7(6) 6-3, Wimbledon semifinal, London. 
Surprisingly, the second best match of the year is another semifinal. The second most compelling rivalry in tennis in 2013 was the one between Djokovic and Juan Martin del Potro. (Of course the six meetings between Nole and Rafa was the top rivalry of the year.) del Potro's main claim to fame is the fact that he is the only player not named Federer, Nadal, Murray or Djokovic to have won a major title (the 2009 US Open) since the 2005 Australian Open! Most tennis enthusiasts believe that del Potro has the ability to win another major, and the 6'6" Argentinian is the only player to record wins against each member of the top 4 in 2013. However even though del Potro and Djokovic played each other five times in 2013, Djokovic won four of those meetings and now leads their head-to-head overall 11-3. However, their semifinal clash at Wimbledon was the longest Wimbledon semifinal of all time and incredibly dramatic from the first point to the last.  It is at least in the conversation of the best grass-court match of all time with the 2008 and 2009 men's finals. The result was most definitely in doubt for most of the match and I do believe that having to be out on court for nearly five hours was a contributing factor in Djokovic's historic loss to Andy Murray two days later in the final. The key point in the match was in the 4th set tiebreaker where Djokovic held two consecutive match points at 6-4 when del Potro won 4 consecutive points with powerful groundstrokes and thundering serves to even the match at 2-sets all. Amazingly, Djokovic was able to regroup and break del Potro's serve in the deciding set and by hitting big serves at crucial moments (22 aces!), reach his 2nd Wimbledon final after playing in his 4th consecutive Wimbledon semifinal.

3. R. Nadal ESP d. N. Djokovic SRB, 6-2 3-6 6-4 6-1, US Open final, New York City.
Typically these end of year lists are dominated by the finals of the major tournaments, since by 
definition major finals are the most historically significant matches of the year. However, they are not always the most exciting or compelling matches of the year. Of the four major finals this year, the US Open final between Djokovic and Nadal was the most interesting and significant to me. It was the match that determined whether Nadal or Djokovic would have the better year, since whomever won would have 2 major titles for 2013. Although Nadal was able to win it in four sets, Djokovic was able to use this result to motivate him to produce stellar tennis for the rest of the year, going on a 22-match winnings streak which resulted in four titles (Beijing, Shanghai Masters, Paris Masters and the ATP World Tour Finals), beating Nadal twice in straight sets during that period. When I re-watched the final in preparation for this end-of-year summary it became clear that the match was a lot closer than I remembered and that really Djokovic should have won that 3rd set. For a good 60-80 minutes Djokovic was the better player on the court, and it was during that period he won this amazing 54-stroke rally for which this match will be immortalized. The Serbian is now a 6-time major champion, which is impressive, but he has also lost an equal amount of major finals, which is not something someone who aspires to the pantheon of tennis greats should be happy with. (Federer is 17-7 in finals and Nadal is 13-5. Murray is 2-4.) So, even though they each won half of the matches they played this year, Nadal won both of their meetings in the majors, and that iswhat will be remembered. This may be why Djokovic stunned the tennis world by announcing he has hired 6-time major champion Boris Becker to join his coaching team. It should be interesting to see what, if any, impact Becker has on Djokovic's ability to come through these big 5-set matches with his main rivals.

4. N. Djokovic SRB d. S. Wawrinka SUI, 1-6 7-5 6-4 6-7(5) 12-10, Australian Open 4th Round, Melbourne. 
Some observers believe this match was the best match of the year and while I would agree that it does probably have the best match point of the year, I just find it hard to believe a 4th round match can be considered the best match of the year because the stakes of the match are not high enough to merit this honor. Does anyone think that if Wawrinka had won the match that he would have won the tournament? It is true that if Wawrinka had won, Djokovic would definitely not have won the tournament but the Serbian showed why he is now a 3-time Australian Open champion by refusing to go away even when facing an opponent playing at the top of his game while not being able to muster his best. Frankly, the first two sets were not great tennis but the fourth and especially the fifth sets were absolute barn burners. Wawrinka played fearless tennis throughout, putting on a clinic for how the one-handed backhand can be relevant in the men's game. It was clear that the Second Swiss had made a breakthrough in his game at last, and 2013 ended up being his best year ever, finishing in the Top 10, reaching the World Tour Finals and a major semifinal for the first time. In the end, though, Djokovic came out on top, as he has in 13 of their 15 meetings, despite taking over 5 hours to do so. 

5. A. Murray GBR d. N. Djokovic SRB, 6-4 7-5 6-4, Wimbledon final, London.
Of course for any British citizen this match was by far the best match of the year, hands down. I think everyone watching the match, and the nerve-wracking final game (4 deuces, 3 consecutive championship points and 2 breakpoints), was crying with and for Murray as he achieved his life's dream and fulfilled the wishes of a country as he became the first homegrown son to win the most prestigious title in tennis in more than 77 years. By winning, Murray shrugged off the naysayers who claimed he would be a one-hit (or no-hit) wonder and that he would never win Wimbledon, despite having reached the final last year and won a Gold Medal at Centre Court as well. He basically had to face down the most pressure put on an athlete (not just a tennis player) and perform at his best. Happily, he was assisted by an inspired Juan Martin del Potro who tired out his opponent in the other semifinal as well as the most upset-filled early rounds in recent history when 2-time champion Nadal and 7-time champion Federer were eliminated from Wimbledon by its 3rd day. Regardless, he is (and will always be) a British Wimbledon champion and that alone makes this a significant match. The tennis, on the other hand, really was not of a very high quality, although the match itself was very dramatic, especially its conclusion.

6. T. Haas GER d. J. Isner USA, 7-5 7-6(4) 4-6 6-7(10) 10-8, French Open 3rd Round, Paris. 
John Isner somehow manages to get himself into these marathon matches. This one was a 4 hour-37-minute match against the excessively talented Tommy Haas. One day after successfully coming back from 2-sets to none down against fellow American Ryan Harrison for the first time in his career, Isner found himself in the identical situation against the 35-year-old German veteran. Haas blew an even dozen match points in the fourth set (nine in the 12th game and then another three in the tie-breaker) and then promptly fell behind 1-4 in the final set. But the script contained even more twists! Amazingly, the American starting to cramp at this point, so the German battled back to even the set score at 4-all, and even saved a match point on his own serve in the 10th game of the match. Haas finally broke Isner in the 17th game and needed only one more match point (his 13th) to end the contest. It wasn't the best tennis of the year, but the last 20 minutes of the 4th set were some of the most thrilling tennis all year.

7. R. Gasquet FRA d. M. Raonic CAN, 6-7(4) 7-6(4) 2-6 7-6(9) 7-5, US Open 4th Round, New York.
Speaking of thrillers, nothing says thriller like a night time match at the US Open, especially one that starts during the day and keeps on going and going until it becomes a raucous affair in front of a slightly tipsy New York crowd on Court 17. That was the situation Richard Gasquet and Milos Raonic found themselves in during their 4th round match, each trying desperately to reach their first US Open quarterfinal. Gasquet has had a reputation of displaying a what some have called a Gallic lack of effort when the going gets tough but for the last year there has been a measurable increase in Gasquet's effort level, with concomitant results. The two repeatedly exchanged service breaks and the huge serving Canadian hit a stunning 39 aces (3rd most ever for a US Open match), contributing to a gaudy total of 102 winners (compared to 80 errors) in the 4-hour-40-minute match. The Frenchman's statistics were more modest, with 45 winners and 36 errors but he saved a match point during the fourth set tiebreak. The two continued trading breaks in the final set but the final break happened in the 11th game and then Gasquet was able to serve out the match surprisingly easily.

8. N. Djokovic SRB d. J.-M. Del Potro ARG, 6-1 3-6 7-6(3), ATP Masters Shanghai final, Shanghai.

This was the best men's match of the year not played in a major tournament. There's something about their playing styles (which are pretty similar) that brings out the best in each other. del Potro relies on his large serve and moves well for such a big guy while Djokovic relies on his movement and flexibility to blunt del Potro's power and has one of the best service returners on the ATP tour. This was del Potro's second ATP Masters Shield final of the year, another indicator that the Argentinian is creeping closer to the Elite Four at the top of the game. The most exciting way for a regular tour match to end is with a final set tiebreak and this was one of the rare finals this year in which this happened after two sets of high quality tennis.

9. S. Wawrinka SUI d. R. Gasquet, 6-7(5) 4-6 6-4 7-5 8-6, French Open 4th Round, Paris.
Wawrinka demonstrated that his stunning match against Djokovic in the Australian Open earlier in the year was no fluke by coming back from 2-sets-to-none down against a Top 10 French player at Roland Garros no less. Wawrinka is a very strong clay court player, as evinced by his appearance in the Mutua Madrid final where he lost to Rafael Nadal. However, he demonstrated a level of intransigence no one knew he possessed by simply refusing to lose this match. Happily, it was a high quality affair, with brilliant one-handed backhand winners flowing on both ends of the court. Unhappily for Gasquet, he was unable to join his countryman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in reaching the latter stages of his home country slam. 

10. S. Stakhovsky UKR d. R. Federer SUI, 6-7(5) 7-6(5) 7-5 7-6(5), Wimbledon 2nd Round, London and S. Darcis BEL d. R. Nadal ESP, 7-6(4) 7-6(8) 6-4, Wimbledon 1st Round, London.
It's hard to decide which of these two shocking results is more significant. Both of these results appeared to come out of nowhere. Nadal had one of his best years on tour at the majors despite missing the Australian Open. Federer is a 7-time Wimbledon champion and had just won his only tournament of the year on grass at Halle. Nadal had lost early at Wimbledon the year before and had not been able to play a professional tennis for 8 months after his stunning 5-set 2nd round loss to Lukas Rosol. So it was very surprising that Nadal lost this match and then went on to dominate the summer hard court season and win the 2013 US Open. For Federer, this was a very tough loss. He was one of 7 former #1 players who lost on the very same day. Amazingly, Sergiy Stakhovsky used the strategy of repeatedly serving and volleying to reduce Federer's playing options to devastating effect. This took impressive mental fortitude and execution which the unheralded player was able to display in order to complete one of the biggest upsets of the decade. 

Honorable Mentions for Best Men's Matches of the Year 2013
G. Monfils FRA d. T. Berdych CZE, 7-6(8) 6-4 6-7(3) 6-7(4) 7-5, French Open 1st Round, Paris.
J.-W. Tsonga FRA d. R. Federer SUI, 7-5 6-3 6-3, French Open quarterfinal, Paris.
J.-M. Del Potro ARG d. R. Federer, 7-6(3) 2-6 6-4, Swiss Indoors Open final, Basel.
R. Federer SUI d. J.-M. Del Potro ARG, 4-6 7-6(2) 7-5, ATP World Tour finals Round Robin, London.
R. Nadal ESP d. N. Djokovic SRB, 6-4 3-6 7-6(2), ATP Rogers Cup semifinal, Montreal.
G. Dimitrov BUL d. N. Djokovic SRB, 7-6(6) 6-7(8) 6-3, Mutua Madrid Open 2nd Round, Madrid.
N. Djokovic SRB d. S. Wawrinka SUI, 2-6 7-6(4) 3-6 6-3 6-4, U.S. Open semifinal, New York City.
T. Robredo ESP d. R. Federer SUI, 7-6(3) 6-3 6-4, 4th Round U.S. Open, New York City.
S. Wawrinka SUI d. A Murray GBR, 6-4 6-3 6-2, U.S. Open quarterfinal, New York City.
T. Haas GER d. N. Djokovic SRB, 6-2 6-4, Sony Open 4th Round, Miami.
A. Murray GBR d. D. Ferrer ESP, 2-6 6-4 7-6(1), Sony Open final, Miami.
A. Murray GBR d. R. Federer SUI, 6-4 6-7(5) 6-3 6-7(2) 6-2, Australian Open semifinal, Melbourne.
N. Djokovic SRB d. A. Murray GBR, 6–7(2), 7–6(3), 6–3, 6–2, Australian Open final, Melbourne.
R. Nadal ESP d. R. Federer SUI, 5-7 6-4 6-3, Western & Southern Open quarterfinal, Cincinnati.
R. Federer SUI d. J.-W. Tsonga FRA, 7-6(4) 4-6 7-6(4) 3-6 6-3, Australian Open quarterfinal, Melbourne.
D. Ferrer ESP d. N. Almagro, 4-6 4-6 7-5 7-6(4) 6-2, Australian Open 4th Round, Melbourne.
M. Youzhny RUS d. L. Hewitt AUS, 6-3, 3-6, 6-7,6-4, 7-5, 4th Round US Open, New York City.

2013 US OPEN Day 7: Serena, Li, Nole, Andy Win; Aggie and Angie Upset

The match of the day on Day 7 of the 2013 US Open was the fourth round showdown between the top two American players, World #1 Serena Williams and World #15 Sloane Stephens. It was clear that the defending champion took this match very seriously, and this resulted in an emphatic 6-4 6-1 victory over 20-year-old rival. Even though her serve was not working very well (6 aces and 4 double faults) she still hit one at 125 mph. The key to the match was Serena hitting 22 winners and only 13 unforced errors (compared to Stephens' 15 winners and 29 errors).

I was on grounds of the Billie Jean King United States Tennis Association National Tennis Center, but did not see the Williams-Stephens match because it was in Arthur Ashe Stadium where one basically has to have more money than sense to have good seats.

Instead, I spent most of my time in Louis Armstrong Stadium where I saw a great match between World #8 Angelique Kerber of Germany and Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain. Suarez Navarro won 4-6 6-3 7-6(3). In nearly 3 hours, the two played some incredible rallies (the average rally length was 6 shots and more than three-quarters of rallies were over 4 shots). The longest was 33 shots which was won by Kerber, whose defensive skills are impressive. However, it was the Spaniard who clearly was the aggressor for most of the match (she has a beautiful one-handed backhand that matched up well with Kerber's left-handed forehand) and the two exchanged breaks of serve in the third set multiple times. Suarez Navarro served for the match at 5-4 but then got broken at love and had to hold serve to stay alive at 5-6 and came with two points of losing at 30-all in that game. However, that was as close as Kerber came to winning (despite the score in the second set it really was not close at all--Kerber was down 0-5 at one point). In the tiebreak, Suarez Navarro went up 5-1 and then eventually won the match as a Kerber forehand sailed long at 6-3.

I also saw the end of the Tomas Berdych's straight sets win over Julien Benneteau and also the first set of Mikhail Youzhny's eventual 6-3 6-2 2-6 6-3 win over Tommy Haas. Too bad I didn't remain in my seat because I would have been able to witness World #4 Aggie Radwanska's dismissal by Ekaterina Makarova in straight sets 6-4 6-4.

Today I am going to the tournament again, and will according to the schedule I will probably see the Williams sisters doubles match against Lucie Safarova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, followed by Milos Raonic-Richard Gasquet fighting for a quarterfinal berth. Roger Federer will be playing Tommy Robredo whom he has a 10-0 record against in order to potentially meet Rafael Nadal in their very first meeting at the US Open in a blockbuster quarterfinal.

Federer Beats Youzhny for 6th HalleTitle

Roger Federer won his 6th title in Halle, Germany by defeating Mikhail Youzhny for the 15th time 6-7(5) 6-3 6-4. It was Federer's first title of 2013, his first since winning the 2012 Cincinnati Masters over Novak Djokovic last August. It was the Swiss great's 77th ATP tour title and 904th career win. He lost his only other 2013 final appearance at the Rome Masters to Rafael Nadal in May. His career finals record is now 77-35.

It was Federer's first win in Halle since 2008, having lost in the final last year to Tommy Haas (who he beat this year in the semifinals) and to Lleyton Hewitt in 2010. He did not play in 2009 and 2011, despite having a lifetime contract to appear at the "German Wimbledon."

Federer is aiming for his 8th Wimbledon title (and is the 2012 defending champion), just one month after Nadal won his record 8th Roland Garros title.

2013 HALLE: Federer Into SF 6-0 6-0, 902nd ATP Tour Win

Roger Federer recorded only the 2nd double bagel win of his career, his 902nd ATP Tour win, over Mischa Zverev, in 39 minutes and 29 seconds to reach the semifinals of the Gerry Wever Open in Halle, Germany. He will face Tommy Haas, who beat the 5-time champion here last year in the final. Haas dropped the first set to Gael Monfils in a tiebreak but then came back to win the quatrerfinal 6-7(4) 6-3 6-3. On the other side of the draw #2 seed Richard Gasquet will face the winner of Mikhail Youzhny and Phillip Kohlschreiber.

Federer has lost barely more than a handful of times on grass in his career, and is the defending champion at Wimbledon. however, he is looking for his first title of 2013.

2013 FRENCH OPEN: Men's Quarterfinals Preview

The men's quarterfinals are now set at the 2013 French Open. Last year, I predicted 2 of 4 women's quarterfinals correctly and 4 of 4 men's quarterfinals correctly. I have also previewed the 2013 French Open women's quarterfinals.

Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1] vs Tommy Haas (GER) [12].  The last time these two met the German played one of the best matches of his career to demolish the World #1 in straight sets, winning twice as many games as he lost, in a virtuoso performance that stunned Djokovic and the tennis world. The two have only played seven times, with the higher ranked player having won 4 of those meetings, including their sole encounter on clay (here at Roland Garros 7 years ago). Haas has had the more exciting run of the two here this year, having outlasted John Isner despite blowing 12 match points. However, in their previous round Djokovic had to come back from dropping his first set of the tournament against Phillip Kohlschreiber, a good clay court player who had beaten the Serb here at Roland Garros before. Haas on the other hand, had a dream 4th round match, dispatching Mikhail Youzhny in under 90 minutes, barely losing 5 games in the process. Haas should be confident, since he knows that he can beat Nole--he has done it this year, and he has done it in a 5-set match. However, will he beat Nole? Almost definitely not. Mad Professah's Pick: Djokovic in 4 sets.

 Rafael Nadal (ESP) [3] vs Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) [9]. This should be the least interesting quarterfinal of the four. Wawrinka did well to come back from 2 sets down against Frenchman Richard Gasquet to reach his first career quarterfinal at Roland Garros. However, Wawrinka has never even won a set from Nadal, despite losing the nine matches the two have played. In fact, Wawrinka lost to Nadal in the final of the Madrid Masters just a few weeks ago. Wawrinka winning a set would be considered an upset at this point, setting up the long-awaited mouth-watering semifinal between Nadal and Djokovic on Friday. Mad Professah's pick: Nadal in 3 sets.

David Ferrer (ESP) [4] vs Nicolas Almagro (ESP) [11] Tommy Robredo (ESP) [32]. This all Spanish-quarterfinal ensures that there will be at least one Spaniard in the semifinal, and most people expect 7-time defending champion Rafael Nadal to reach the semifinal on the other side of the draw, so that means an all-Spanish final is still possible. Robredo used to be the best looking man in tennis (a title he has since ceded to fellow compatriot Feliciano Lopez) but the now 35-year old is making history at this year's Roland Garros by becoming the first man in nearly 80 years to come back from 2-0 sets down in not one, not two, but three consecutive matches. Robredo outlasted Igor Sijsling 6-7(4) 4-6 6-3 6-1 6-1, Gael Monfils 2-6 6-7(5) 6-2 7-6(3) 6-2 and then Nicolas Almagro 6-7(5) 3-6 6-4 6-4 6-4. Can he really outlast the most fit man in tennis, David Ferrer whom he has 2-6 record against? Doubtful, but he had a 0-5 record against Almago and somehow he won that match. Ferrer has a great draw to get to this first final, and I believe he will (at least) repeat his semifinal run here from last year. Mad Professah's pick: Ferrer in 3 sets.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) [6] vs Roger Federer (SUI) [2]. For the second consecutive major these two are meeting in the same round, with Federer prevailing in their tough 5-set enccounter in Melbourne this past January. The Greatest of all Time has a convincing 9-3 head-to-head against the popular Frenchman but has lost to him after holding large leads, most notably the 2011 Wimbledon quarterfinals despite leading 2 sets to none and the 2009 Montreal Masters quarterfinal despite having a 5-1 lead in the final set! Tsonga is a big match player and if the Parisian crowd gets behind him, look out Federer fans! On paper, Federer should win this match, but the two have only met once on clay with the Swiss player winning. Federer has been the second best player on clay for the last 10 years, and that pedigree should get him through this match, but he played some of his worst tennis against another Frenchman Gilles Simon in the round before, needing the full 5-sets to extend his jaw-dropping streak of 36 consecutive quarterfinal appearances in majors. That was also Federer's 900th career tour win, putting him at #4 on the all-time list. Tsonga on the other hand has looked razor-sharp all tournament long and has yet to have a dip in play or lose a set. I suspect this will be a titanic struggle, won be Federer. However, if the Simon match is an indicator Federer's form is going off, Tsonga could make quick work of him to reach his first semifinal (and potentially his first final) at his home Slam. Apart from Gael Monfils reaching the semifinals in 2008, no French man has been a serious contender to win the Roland Garros title in Paris since Yannick Noah did it  exactly 30 years ago. Mad Professah's pick: Federer in 4 or 5 sets (or Tsonga in 3).

2013 FRENCH OPEN: Isner Saves 12MP in 5-set loss to Haas

John Isner smiles after he saves his 12th match point against Haas

American Jamie Hampton upset 2011 Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova

Jelena Jankovic upset 2011 US Open Champion Sam Stosur

John Isner wrote his name in the tennis history books again, this time for another display of mental fortitude: saving a record dozen match points against Tommy Haas, even though he eventually lost 7-5, 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-7(10), 10-8. Isner was attempting to make it two matches in a row where he was coming back from 2-sets down to win, having done so against fellow American Ryan Harrison 8-6 in the 5th. Isner was able to even the match and although he was unable to win it, he again demonstrated his incredible mental strength and desire not to lose.

There were multiple other upsets on the day that I was travelling from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. 2011 Wimbledon Champion and #7 seed Petra Kvitova was taken out 6-1 7-6(7) by American youngster Jamie Hampton and 2011 US Open champion and #9 seed Samantha Stosur lost to veteran Jelena Jankovic 3-6 6-3 6-4. Bethanie Mattek-Sands followedup her astonishing upset of 2011 French Open champion Li Na and #6 seed by reaching the 4th round.

MADRID 2013: Dimitrov Stuns Djokovic in 3-set Upset!

Grigor Dimitrov, one of only a handful of players to win a set from Rafael Nadal on clay in Monte Carlo in the last decade, and possibly more well-known for his good looks and rumored to be dating Maria Sharapova, actualized his on-court talent with a stunning 7-6(6) 6-7(8) 6-3 win over world #1 Noval Djokovic in the 2nd round of the ATP Madrid Masters. The win was the biggest of the 21-year-old's career and was the longest 3-set match of the year n the ATP tour. It was especially impressive considering that Dimitrov started cramping in the 2nd(!) set but still managed to get an early break in the 3rd set and was able to nurse that 2-0 lead to gut out the win against the best player in the world.

Most observers said that Djokovic was not at his best, but it was still an important psychological win for the World #28, widely expected to become one of the best players in the next generation of players currently under-22 that includes Milos Raonic, Bernard Tomic and Jerzy Jankowicz. Dimitrov has yet to win an ATP Tour title, something Tomic and Raonic have done. Despite winning Monte Carlo over Nadal a few weeks ago, Djokovic has suffered some shock defeats this year, such as against Juan Martin del Potro in Indian Wells and Tommy Haas in Miami.

In other happenings in Madrid, 2012 defending champion Roger Federer won his first match in over 8 weeks when he defeated Radek Stepanek 6-3 6-3. Andy Murray won his 400th career ATP Tour match with a gripping 7-6(11) 7-6(3) win over Florian Mayer.

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.

MIAMI 2013: Haas Hands Djokovic Shock Defeat

Tommy Haas played one of the best matches of his life by defeating Novak Djokovic 6-2 6-4 in the 4th round of the Sony Open in Miami. It was the World #1's second defeat in as many tournaments, having lost to Juan Martin del Potro in the BNP Paribas Open semifinals at Indian Wells.

Haas served impeccably and was out-hitting Djokovic from the back of the court, on both wings. The 34-year-old German has one of the nicest one-handed backhands in the game and he was hitting it beautifully and powerfully tonight. The first set was over in a flash, and Haas jumped out to a quick lead in the second of 3-1 when the Serb started to come back and evened the set at 3-all and 4-all. Then Haas was able to breakthrough again and efficiently served out the match game to claim his first scalp of a World #1 player in fourteen years.

SHOCKER! Haas Stuns Federer in Halle Final

Getty

In one of the most improbable results of the year, Tommy Haas of Germany, beat World #3 Roger Federer in the final of the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, 7-6(5) 6-4. Haas, 34, had lost nine consecutive matches to Federer and the 16-time major champion also had a 49-match winning streak against players from Germany. Federer was going for his 75th ATP tour title and record 6th title in Halle, while Haas was going for his second in Halle (and 13th overall), having won the title before in 2009. Federer was playing in his 7th final in Halle, having previously lost to Lleyton Hewitt in the 2010 final and  had won the tournament in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006,

Federer has only lost on grass a handful of times in the last 9 years (2011 Wimbledon quarterfinal to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 2010 Wimbledon quarterfinal to Tomas Berdych, 2010 Halle final to Hewitt, 2008 Wimbledon final to Rafael Nadal and now this 2012 final loss to Haas). Federer won Wimbledon in  2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2008.

This year's Wimbledon starts on Monday June 25th and the London Olympics will also be played on grass in late July at the All-England Lawn Tennis Club. Hopefully, this loss does not bode badly for Roger's chances in both tournaments. The last time Haas won Halle (in 2009), he reached the semifinals of Wimbledon, where he lost to (you guessed it!) Roger Federer.

Nadal Beat By Kohlschreiber; Federer Survives Raonic

AFP PHOTO / CARMEN JASPERSEN

AFP PHOTO / CARMEN JASPERSEN

Just days after winning his record 7th French Open title, World #2 Rafael Nadal was upset in the quarterfinals of the Gerry Weber Open grasscourt tournament in Halle, Germany by defending champion (and native son) Philip Kohlschreiber 6-3 6-4.

In another quarterfinal, Roger Federer keps his hopes of a 6th title in Halle alive by surviving a 3rd set tiebreak against big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic 6-7(4) 6-4 7-6(3). Federer will face Mikhail Youzhny in one semifinal while Kohlschreiber faces the winner of the showdown between Tomas Berdych and Tommy Haas.

I smell a Federer-Berdych final on Sunday...

US OPEN 2011: DAY 6 Recap (What I Saw)

Italian tennis player Fabio Fognini, practicing shirtless on
the outer courts (photo credit: Ron Buckmire)

So, yes I was at the US Open yesterday. I had a grounds pass, so I was just walking around when I saw this incredibly hot guy, hitting balls, shirtless. Who did it turn out to be? None other than Italian stallion Fabio Fognini, who we last saw withdrawing from a quarterfinal match with Novak Djokovic at this year's french Open (and some say giving the Serbian 5 days off so that he then lost his first match of the year to Roger Federer).

Anyway, it was way out on Court 10 with some unknown female junior practicing with her coach on Court 9 next door. Fabio was hitting balls with his coach and playing some points with his doubles partner, Simone Bolelli (who is also gorgeous, but sadly was not shirtless). I was literally less than 10 feet from the players. The above picture was taken seconds before Fognini threw his racket into his bag and complained to his coach about his playing. There was quite a crowd around but almost nobody knew who the players were, except that they were speaking Italian. I recognized Fognini immediately and later figured out it was Bolelli he was hitting with. Leaving the court dazed, I literally walked into 80-year-old(?) Nick Bolleteri (watch where ya going, kid!) as he dashed off to another press interview I guess.

Oh, yeah what about the tennis?

I don't have more money than sense, so I didn't see the Serena Williams - Victoria Azarenka match in Ashe stadium, but you could literally hear it all over the grounds. Ashe is so big so that unless you are willing to spend 3 figures, you are better off watching the match on television. Bizarrely, the big screens around the grounds were mostly showing Mardy Fish's blase' dismissal of South African beanstalk Kevin Anderson in 3 sets. There was a huge line to get into Grand Stand to see the 3rd round match between Juan Monaco and Tommy Haas. Why, you ask? Because next on that court was Fernando Verdasco playing Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and there are no assigned seats. First come, first served! About 5 thousand people sat patiently through Haas hitting some 71 unforced errors to lose to Roger Federer's next victim in order to experience the magic of Tsonga-Verdasco. Sadly, we didn't get to witness repeat magic of last year's incredible Verdasco-Ferrer match (with one of the greatest match points of all time). This time, Tsonga was just too good for 'Nando on the day. The Frenchman was routinely hitting serves into the 130s at will and showing incredible defensive skills. Still even with a scoreline of 6-3 7-5 6-4 it was two hours that were well worth the price of admission. I was in the 2nd courtside row, close enough to Tsonga I could see what color underwear he was wearing (brightly colored boxers). It was quite a treat to see two once and future Top 10 player in such a small stadium. I know there's a lot of hype about Mardy, but I suspect there's going to be another Federer-Tsonga grand slam quarterfinal. Surely he can't beat the Swiss great three times in a row?

WIMBLEDON 2009: Men's Semifinals

The Wimbledon Men's semifinals are set:

Andy Roddick USA (6) versus Andy Murray GBR (3)
Tommy Haas GER (24) versus Roger Federer SUI (2)

Federer should win in 3 sets. Andy Murray will have a much harder time but he will come through in either 4 or 5 sets.

WIMBLEDON 2009: Men's Quarterfinals

6'10" Ivo Karlovic of Croatia

After going four out of four with my predictions for the Wimbledon women's quarterfinals, I will try my hand at predicting Wednesday's Men's Quarterfinals

Lleyton Hewitt AUS v Andy Roddick USA (6)

Andy Murray GBR (3) v Juan Carlos Ferrero ESP

Tommy Haas GER (24) v Novak Djokovic SRB (4)

Ivo Karlovic CRO (22) v Roger Federer SUI (2)

I believe the winners will be Roddick (in 4 sets), Murray (in 3 sets), Djokovic (in 5 sets) and Federer (in 4 sets).

FRENCH OPEN 2009: Men's Final Preview

Robin Soderling SWE (23) vs. Roger Federer SUI (2). For the fourth year in a row, Roger Federer is in the Roland Garros final, his 19th career final, matching Ivan Lendl's career record. However, for the first time, Federer will not have his arch-nemesis standing in the way of a major title in Paris. The new opponent is Robin Soderling, who executed one of the great tennis upsets of all time last Sunday when he dismissed World #1 Rafael Nadal (who had never lost a match at the French Open!) in four sets 6-2 6-7(2) 6-4 7-6(2).

When 4-time defending champion Nadal lost in the fourth round, most people thought that Federer became the prohibitive favorite to win the 2009 Roland Garros title. However, since then Federer needed 5 sets to get past a spirited challenge from Tommy Haas in the fourth round and another 5 sets to get past Juan Martin del Potro in the semifinals. Federer was 5-0 and had never lost a set to the Argentine kid but the del Potro who competed on Friday easily won the first set and put up stiff resistance for nearly 3 and a half hours, finally succumbing 3-6 7-6(2) 2-6 6-1 6-4. And this wasn't even the best match of the day, that honor was bestowed upon the barnburner Fernando Gonzalez and Soderling threw down.

Soderling started off very well, winning the first two sets by blasting winners and serving big and got himself to within 6 points of winning during the 3rd set. Then Gonzalez managed to hold, break and hold and suddenly Soderling went through a bad patch and found himself down 0--3 and 1-4 in the fifth and final set. Amazingly, Soderling was able to win 5 consecutive games to clinch his first ever Grand Slam final. He and Gonzo combined for a mind-boggling total of 143 winners, 75 by the eventual winner of the match.

Sunday's final will be huge for both players, but there's no question more of the pressure is on Federer. Everyone expects him to win, since he is no longer facing nadal. If Federer does win, he can silence (most of) the naysayers who would deny him title of the Greatest Of All Time by winning his 14th major title and completing his career Grand Slam. If Soderling wins, he will ensure his name will be enshrined in the history books, as one of the other men who denied (or delayed?) Federer achieving from achieving this status and who beat and replaced Nadal as the King of Clay.

Head-to-head Federer has played Soderling nine times on multiple surfaces and only ever lost one tiebreak set to him but very many of the sets have been close, showing that even before his Paris breakthrough the Swede was a dangerous opponent. The new Soderling is even more lethal, because he surely believes he is on a Mission with Destiny and he now also possesses a powerful, fit body to complement his powerful groundstrokes and nervy serving (120-plus mph second serves).

However, Federer is the most talented player of his generation and at the end of the day he should be able to use his versatility and variety to come up with a solution to win the match. It is also likely that since Soderling is playing in his first Grand Slam final, mentally he will be satisfied with the Finalist label, while Federer will settle for nothing less than his hands on the trophy at the end of the day, for the fourteenth time in a major.

Mad Professah's pick: Federer in 4 sets.

Eye Candy: Shirtless Pictures of ATP Tennis Stars

Fernando Verdasco

Dmitry Tursunov

Paradorn Srichapan

Tommy Haas

The guys at Queerty found out about a 2009 calendar of shirtless photos of male professional tennis players being promoted by the ATP.