2019 US OPEN: Thiem, Tsitsipas, Khachanov, RBA, Stephens, Kerber Lose 1R

The first round of the U.S. Open is complete and there have been numerous shock exits on the men's side of the draw. 4 Top 10 seeds have lost: Dominic Thiem(4), Stefanos Tsitsipas(8), Karen Khachanov(9) and Roberto Bautista Agut(10) which is a lot! On the women's side of the draw the biggest names to go out are 2017 US Open champ Sloane Stephens, 2004 US Open champ Svetlana Kuznetsova and 2006 US Open champion Maria Sharapova and 2016 US Open champion Angelique Kerber. Additionally, 2-time major champ Garbine Muguruza(24) lost as well.

Of the first rounds to watch I mentioned in my 2019 US Open preview post, this is what happened:

• S. Williams (8) defeated M. Sharapova 6-1 6-1
• A. Sabalenka (9) defeated V. Azarenka
• S. Kenin (20) defeated C. Vandeweghe 
• D. Shapovalov defeated F. Auger-Aliassime (18)
• R. Opelka defeated F. Fognini (11)
• S. Tsitsipas (8) lost to A. Rublev
• N. Kyrgios (28) defeated S. Johnson

I'll be at the US Open all day this Sunday so I hope I see some good matches!

TENNIS TUESDAY: Muguruza, Keys Keep WTA Streak Alive; Osaka Joins Nike; Federer Leads Race To London

KEYS DEFEATS WOZNIACKI IN CHARLESTON
Madison Keys won her first grass court title (and completed the WTA "Career Green court sweep" by winning the Volvo Open in Charleston this week over Caroline Woziacki

OSAKA $IGN$ ON WITH NIKE
World #1 Naomi Osaka has signed with Nike and earned a rare dispensation from the Sports giant to wear other logos on her apparel while sporting the swoosh.

MUGURUZA DEFEATS AZARENKA IN MEXICO
Two former World #1's battled it out in the finals of Monterrey after Victoria Azarenka was able to get past Angie Kerber in 3 sets in the semifinals and then was forced to retire in the final against Garbine Muguruza, who was able to defend her title (and ranking points) and will remain in the Top 20.

ROGER FEDERER IS #1 IN RACE TO LONDON (AGAIN) BUT #4 IN RANKINGS
For the 3rd year in a row Roger Federer leads the race to London at the end of the American spring hard-court swing after winning Miami and reaching the final in Indian Wells (l. Dominc Thiem). Maybe the third time is the charm because the two previous years he led at this point did not result with him ending the year at World #1.

2019 INDIAN WELLS: Serena Withdraws After Losing 7 Consecutive Games Against Muguruza

Bad news from Indian Wells! After playing brilliantly to win in straight sets against Victoria Azarenka on Friday night, Serena Wiliams had her 3rd round match against Garbine Muguruza on Sunday and while she started off well, winning the first 3 games (1 break). she ended up retiring. Something went horribly wrong around the 5th game and she started having difficulty keeping a ball in the court and was side-arming her serve into the court. She ended up losing 7 consecutive games and abandoned the match and the court down 3-6 0-1 when it became clear it was unlikely she was going to win another game.

This is sad because I will be spending all day Wednesday at the tournament and had hoped to see her in action. Oh well, it is still a great tournament, and I look forward to visiting again.

2019 INDIAN WELLS: Venus Upsets Kvitova, Serena Beats Vika, FAA Stuns Tsitsipas

Venus Williams surprised very many naysayers by completing one of the biggest upsets in the early rounds of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells today by coming back from a 6-4, 3-0 (double break) deficit against World #3 Petra Kvitova to win 4-6, 7-5, 6-4. Venus and Kvitova have played 7 times and all of their matches have gone to three sets, with the American now having a 4-3 edge.

Serena Williams played her first competitive match since she departed the Australian Open five weeks ago. This match  was against Victoria Azarenka and it was a reprise of the 2016 BNP Paribas Open final with a different result this time. Serena won in 2 very tight, high-quality sets 6-4 6-3.

Felix Auger-Aliassime pulled off his very first Top 10 win by defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas  6-4 6-2 in the youngster's first appearance in the main draw of the BNP Paribas Open. FAA saved all 7 of the breakpoints he faced while converting all 3 that he had, and that was basically the match.

2018 US OPEN: Women's Final (and Semifinals Review)

Serena Williams (USA) [17] vs. Naomi Osaka (JPN) [20]

This is my prediction post for the 2018 US Open women's final. Last year I incorrectly predicted that Madison Keys would beat Sloane Stephens in the 2017 US Open final.  This year I have correctly predicted 3 of 4 women's quarterfinals, 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals, 1 of 2 men's semifinals and 1 of 2 women's semifinals. I will also predict the winner of the 2018 US Open men's final between Juan Martin del Potro and Novak Djokovic.

WOMEN'S SEMIFINALS REVIEW

Serena Williams (USA) [17] d. Anastasja Sevastova (LAT) [19] 6-3 6-0. I thought that this match would be a bit tougher than it turned out to be, thanks to the willingness of Serena to go to the net to finish points quickly.  Sevastova has aspects of her game similar to Roberta Vinci who provided Serena one of  her most devastating losses here in New York in 2015 when she was attempting the calendar Grand Slam. Because Serena's game is so powerful, people often have difficulty coming up with an effective game plan against her, but moving the ball around and mixing up pace is usually a better idea than trying to outhit her. She can get frustrated and impatient if she makes too many errors and then starts to press and make more errors. Sevastova attempted this strategy, but Serena remained calm and cool as she overwhelmed the Latvian with powerful strokes hit deep into the corners of the court.

Naomi Osaka (JPN) [20] d. Madison Keys (USA) [15] 6-2 6-4. This was a very impressive performance by the 20-year-old Japanese player. Keys is one of the most powerful players (on both tours). I was also impressed with the gains she has made in her movement and defensive abilities. But she still goes for broke way too often, leading to errors at inopportune times. However, it's not clear that Keys could have done much to avoid this result due to the level of play of her opponent. Osaka faced 13 breakpoints and saved all 13, oftentimes with aces (even on the second serve!) or unreturnable serves.  Meanwhile, she earned 4 breakpoints on Keys' serve and converted 75% of them. Both players served well, but, surprisingly, it was the younger player who played the bigger points better. She totally deserved to win this semifinal and reach her first major final, where she will play her idol.

WOMEN'S FINALS PREVIEW

Serena is appearing in her 31st major final (23-7) while Naomi is in her very first. In fact, Serena appeared in  (and won) her very first major final in 1999 in New York, exactly 19 years ago, when her opponent was not yet 2 years old. As I have mentioned very many times before, very few players win their very first major final (especially if they are playing against someone who has already played in one previously). As usual, both players have huge achievements at stake on the result of this match. If Serena wins she will finally match Margaret Court's grand slam total of 24 major titles (amazingly, exactly 45 years to the day Court won her last major) and will become just the 4th woman to win a major title after becoming a mother (Court, Evonne Goolagong and Kim Clijsters). If Osaka wins she will become the first Japanese player to win a major title (she's already the first Japanese woman to reach a major final) just four years after Kei Nishikori reached the US Open final. Their games are very similar, because Osaka has modeled hers after her idol and she has the physical gifts to do so. The problem is that Serena is the original, and even though she is almost 18 years older, she basically does everything better than Naomi. The only advantage Naomi has is her age, but that is a double-edged sword that can count for and against her. MadProfessah's pick: Serena.

2018 WIMBLEDON: Upsets Galore! Muguruza,Cilic,Wozniacki, Sharapova,Azarenka All Lose!

Whoa! Through the first two rounds of play the women's draw has been decimated by an exodus of seeds.

• #2 Wozniacki - OUT 2R 
• #3 Muguruza - OUT 2R 
• #4 Stephens - OUT 1R 
• #5 Svitolina - OUT 1R 
• #6 Garcia - OUT 1R 
• #8 Kvitova - OUT 1R

The loss of the defending champion Garbine Muguruza before the weekend is pretty shocking, but the real surprise was Kvitova's departure because she has been the most successful player on the WTA tour all year and grass is where she usually plays her best tennis. (She was the odds favorite and my choice to make the final.)  Others have noted that since her 2014 win, the 2-time Wimbledon champ's results have become rather pedestrian at the All-England Lawn and Tennis Club. But it is quite unusual to lose so many major champions in the first round. 5-time major champ Maria Sharapova lost in the first round despite having match points while up a set and a break, eventually succumbing to Russian Vitalia Diatchenko. 2-time major champion Victoria Azarenka did not come close to upsetting Karolina Pliskova, the #7 seed, and lost in straight sets.

The carnage among the has not been limited to the women's draw, with the shocking departure of last year's Wimbledon finalist and the Queen's Club champion Marin Cilic. Many people expected that Cilic would make the final again, and possibly upset 8-time Wimbledon champ Roger Federer in the semifinals.

2018 INDIAN WELLS: Venus-Serena XXIX, Azarenka Loses To Sloane; Nole, Sascha, Grigor, Petra, Garbi All Out Early!

The 2018 Indian Wells, the first ATP Masters series event of the year, is underway. I will be attending  the tournament all day (and night) on Wednesday. Sadly, it is not clear who I will see because there have been a number of upsets early on. World #2 Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from the Sunshine double and will not return t the tour until the clay begins.

World #3 Grigor Dimitrov lost to a resurgent Fernando Verdasco, World #4 Sascha Zverev lost to Joao Sousa (losing 5 games in a row from up 4-1 in the 3rd!) and Novak Djokovic lost #109 Taro Daniel.  There have also been upsets on the women's side with Petra Kvitova's win streak ended at 14 with a loss to teenager Amanda Anisimova and World #3 Garbine Muguruza lost to American Sachia Vickery. 2-time Indian Wells champion Victoria Azarenka lost to Sloane Stephens in her first comeback match in nearly a year.

However, the marquee comeback was that by Serena Williams of course. With her ranking currently in the 400s having not played a serious match since winning the 2017 Australian Open, giving birth and getting married, Serena managed to win her first two matches at Indian Wells. Her reward is that she will play her sister Venus. This will be the 29th meeting  and Serena leads 17-11. It will be around 7pm tonight. I'll be watching!

2017 WIMBLEDON: Men's and Women's Draw Analysis

The draw for the 2017 Wimbledon championships is out, and the tournament starts tomorrow and is scheduled to end on Sunday July 16th. Last year's champions were Serena Williams and Andy Murray, respectively.

On the men's draw, the projected quarterfinals are:

• Andy Murray (1) versus Stan Wawrinka (5) 
• Rafael Nadal (4) versus  Marin Cilic (7)
• Roger Federer (3) versus Milos Raonic (6)
• Novak Djokovic  (2) versus Dominic Thiem (8)

On the women's side the projected quarterfinals are:

• Angelique Kerber (1) vs. Svetlana Kuznetsova (7)
• Karolina Pliskova (3) vs. Caroline Wozniacki (5)
• Elina Svitolina (4) vs. Dominika Cibulkova (8)
• Simona Halep (2) vs. Johanna Konta (6)

On both sides of the draw the world #1 ranking is up for grabs depending on the result of the third major of the year. On the women's side Halep, Pliskova, Kerber and Svitolina all have a chance to reach #1 on the WTA tour for the first time. On the men's side, Wawrinka, Nadal, Djokovic can all replace Murray at the top of the ATP Tour rankings.

There are some exciting first round matches to watch:

• Sabine Lisicki versus Ana Konjuh (27)
• Johanna Konta (6) versus Su-Wei Hsieh (reprise of 2017 Roland Garros match won by Hsieh)
• Victoria Azarenka versus CiCi Bellis
• Aggie Radwanska versus Jelena Jankovic
• Alison Riske versus Sloane Stephens
• Nick Kyrgios (20) versus Pierre-Hughes Herbert
• Fernando Verdasco (31) versus Kevin Anderson
• Philip Kohlschreiber versus Marin Cilic (7)
• Taylor Fritz versus John Isner (23)
• Borna Coric versus Ryan Harrison

CELEBRITY FRIDAY: Serena Anounces She's 20 Weeks Pregnant, Will Not Play Again In 2017

Serena Williams stunned the tennis and sporting worlds by revealing on Instagram a few days ago (on Maria Sharapova's 30th birthday, no less)  that she is 20 weeks pregnant. The implications of this announcement are huge.

First, it means that when Serena won her 23rd major title at the 2017 Australian Open approximately 12 weeks ago, she was two months pregnant at the time!! (I wonder if Venus knew? I doubt it! I wonder is Serena knew? Probably!) This should put to rest any doubts as to whether Serena is the greatest female tennis player of all time.

Secondly, Serena's spokesperson also made it very clear that Serena will not be competing at any other tournaments in 2017, which clears the field for other players to win some trophies, namely, Victoria Azarenka, who just gave birth in December, and Sharapova, who is returning to competitive tennis next week after a 2-year gap due to a drug violation ban.

Thirdly, it means that Serena is revealing that she has been having unprotected sex (and is presumably not using birth control) with her fiance Alexis Ohanian. Will she have the child and be an unwed mother or will they push forward the date of the wedding? (No date had previously been announced.) If Serena is 20 weeks pregnant now, she should give birth before the end of the summer. Maybe a June wedding? She'll be pretty huge, by then!

Beynce and Serena pregnant at the same time is too much motherhood to take! #mindblown

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.

TENNIS TUESDAY: Vika Pregnant, Davis Cup Semis Set, Rio Withdrawals, Sharapova Appeal Postponed

DAVIS CUP SEMIFINALS SET: CROATIA V FRANCE, GREAT BRITAIN V ARGENTINA
The United States started their quarterfinal David Cup tie with a surprising comeback win by Jack Sock over 2014 U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic and led 2-0 after the first day after John Isner bludgeoned Borna Coric with his big serve. Unfortunately, it was all down hill from there. The Bryan Brothers were unable to beat the doubles team of Cilic and Ivan Dodig, so then on the final day either Isner had to beat Cilic, or Sock had to beat Coric, and neither happened. France defeated Davis Cup stalwarts Czech Republic 3-1 when Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeated young gun Jiri Vesely. Defending Davis Cup champions Great Britain defeated Serbia without either Andy Murray or Novak Djokovic playing for their respective countries. Argentina outlasted Italy as the South American country made it to the semifinals for the 11th time but still has never won the Cup. The semifinals will be played the week after the US Open.

AZARENKA ANNOUNCES PREGNANCY, EXTENDED ABSENCE FROM WTA TOUR
2-time major champion (and current World #6) Victoria Azarenka announced via Twitter last Friday that she found out after Roland Garros that she is pregnant and that she intends to have the baby and then resume her tennis career afterwards. Interestingly, Kim Clijsters returned to tennis after having a kid and came back a much more mature player, and ended up winning three major titles as a parent (and had only 1 major win before getting pregnant).

ZIKA EMPTIES THE FIELD IN RIO: RAONIC, HALEP, BERDYCH ARE OUT
2016 Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic joins the long list of highly ranked tennis players who will skip the 2016 Olympics in Rio due to fears of the Zika virus. In addition to Raonic,  fellow elite players Tomas Berdych and Simona Halep have also announced that they will not be making the trip down to Brazil for the prestigious sporting event. Previously, Nick Kyrgios, Bernard Tomic and John Isner have also said they are skipping the Olympics.

SHARAPOVA APPEAL OF TWO-YEAR DOPING BAN POSTPONED TO SEPTEMBER
The decision on Maria Sharapova's appeal of her two-year ban for her use of the banned substance of meldonium has been postponed to September 19th, which means the 5-time major champion will miss two huge events: the 2016 Rio Olympics and the 2016 U.S. Open.

2016 MIAMI: Djokovic and Azarenka Complete Rare Indian Wells-Miami Sweeps

Djokovic	Azarenka

At the 2016 Miami Open Novak Djokovic and Victoria Azarenka won titles this weekend by defeating their respective opponents, Kei Nishikori and Svetlana Kuznetsova in straight sets. What's surprising here is that both Djokovic and Azarenka also won at Indian Wells two weeks ago, completing what is known as the Indian Wells-Miami double. Azarenka is the third woman to achieve this (after Steffi Graf in 1994 and 1996 and Kim Clijsters in 2005). Of course the primary reason 8-time Miami champion Serena Williams has not completed this task is because she boycotted Indian Wells for over a decade. That being said, Serena did play both tournament this year, and lost to Vika in the Indian Wells final and lost to Sveta in the Round of 16. Azarenka is now 21-1 for 2016 while Serena is 14-3!

The rise of Azarenka back to the top 5 of women's tennis is impressive but what Novak Djokovic is doing is extraordinary. He won his 28th ATP Masters Shield title, which is one more than Rafael Nadal's haul of 27. In fact, Djokovic has reached 11 consecutive Masters Series finals in a row, and compiled a record of 56-2 in that time period. In Miami, Djokovic won his third title in a row and 6th overall (now tied with Andre Agassi), having won in 2007, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2016. He has completed the Indian Wells-Miami double four times!

2016 INDIAN WELLS: Vika Shocks Serena In Straight Sets, Nole Humiliates Injured Milos

Vika Azarenka stunned World #1 Serena Williams 6-4 6-4 in the finals of the BNP Paribas Open. It was Azarenka's first title since 2014 and means that  it has been more than 6 months since Serena won her last title (2015 Cincy). This means that Azarenka becomes the first player to beat Serena in four finals, and improves her record to 4-17. She claimed her 2nd career title in Indian Wells and denied Serena the chance to win a record third title here and her first since 2001. She will return to the Top 10 when the ranking come out, landing at #8.

On the men's side Novak Djokovic was merciless against a clearly injured Milos Raonic, winning  6-2 6-0. Djokovic won his 5th title in Indian Wells and his twenty-seventh ATP Masters Series 1000 title, tying Rafael Nadal.

Serena-Azarenka XXI: 2016 Indian Wells Final

Serena Williams is in her first final at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells since 2002, primarily since she refused to attend the tournament for the years 2003-2014, famously coming back in 2015 (and retired before her semifinal match). Serena beat the new #2 player in the world, Aga Radwanska in an entertaining match on Friday night, 6-4 7-6(1) an earlier in the tournament dominated the former World #2 Simona Halep in the quarters. She will face what most people think is her primary rival, Vika Azarenka, in today's final (despite Serena's 17-3 overall head-to-head lead). Serena and Azarenka played some of the best women's tennis matches in 2015 (3 times) but Serena prevailed all three times they played last year. In fact, Vika hasn't beaten Serena since she won a 3rd set tiebreak in the 2013 Cincy Open final.

Vika has gotten her ranking up to #15 and will soon be back in the Top 10 where she definitely belongs. Serena is looking to reinforce her dominance after her surprising loss to Angie Kerber in the 2016 Aussie Open final and make new records, which she would do by becoming the first female player to win this tournament 3 times.

MadProfessah's pick: Serena.

2016 AUS OPEN: Women's Semifinals Preview

The women's semifinals are now set at the 2016 Australian Open. Last year, I correctly predicted 2 of 2 men's semifinals, 2 of 2 women's semifinals, 2 of 4 women's quarterfinals and 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals. This year, I predicted 2 of 4 women's quarterfinals and 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals correctly. I have also written a preview of the 2016 Australian Open Men's semifinals.

Serena Williams (USA) [1]  vs Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) [4]. As expected, Serena continued her dominance over Maria Sharapova, despite a poor beginning which saw her down 0-2 but she quickly recovered for a routine 6-4 6-1 win, her 18th consecutive victory over her putative rival. Radwanska was similarly efficient against Carla Suarez Navarro in the other quarterfinal played two days ago, also winning in straight sets. Serena has never lost to the Polish player in 8 meetings and there's no reason why that should change now. But after Serena's heartbreaking (and puzzling) loss to Roberta Vinci we now know anything is possible, and Radwanska can replicate those low-bouncing slice backhands that gave Serena so much trouble in New York. However, now that there are no other major champions in the tournament, Williams can surely see her history-making 22nd major in her future, as well as her chance to possibly replicate Steffi Graf's Golden Slam of 1988 twenty-eight years later. Serena will take Radwanska seriously (Radwanska has won the most matches on tour in the last major tournament but Serena was M.I.A for that period) but her record speaks for itself. This is her 30th major semifinal (25-4) and she has never lost an Australian Open semifinal (or final). Mad Professah's Pick: Williams in 2 sets.

 Angelique Kerber (GER) [7] vs Johanna Konta (GBR) Venus Williams (USA) [8]. This was the match-up I did not expect to see, since I picked both of their opponents to win. I was convinced that Azarenka would continue her dominance of Kerber, but the German dug deep and came back from a double-break deficit in the second set to win the last five games of that set and the match. It was a streaky match at time from both players (Kerber had raced out to a 4-0 lead in the first set before Azarenka settled down and made the first set close). I'm happy for her and believe that she deserve to be a major finalist and a Top 5 stalwart. I guess there's magic in that #BackTheBrits hashtag after all. They have three British players in the 2016 Australian Open semifinals (Men's singles, Men's Doubles and Women's singles). I thought the qualifier from China would prevail since she was more mach tough and had played higher ranked opponents but Konta is fearless. Imagine is Venus Williams had not lost their first round encounter. Would the American be competing for a second all-Williams Australian Open final? Konta has a chance but I think the player with more experience will come through in the end. Mad Professah's pick: Kerber in 3 sets.

2016 AUS OPEN: Women's Quarterfinals Preview

The women's quarterfinals are now set at the 2016 Australian Open. Last year, I predicted 2 of 4 women's quarterfinals correctly and 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals correctly. I have also written a preview the 2016 Australian Open Men's quarterfinals.

Serena Williams (USA) [1]  vs Maria Sharapova (RUS) [5]. I'm convinced that someday Serena's win streak against Sharapova is going to end while the two are actively on the tour. It is currently at 17 matches in a row over 11 years. However, I think it is exceedingly unlikely that the streak will end at a major tournament. Serena is just too emotionally invested in maintaining her dominance over the highest paid female athlete in the world and cementing her historical legacy to allow anything untoward happen at a major tournament. So far in this year's Australian Open, Sharapova has been serving really well, while Serena has not been doing so. In fact, Sharapova has twice as many aces (52) than Serena (25) over the first four rounds, even if the Russian has a lower overall first-serve percentage (57% to 61%). While I am firmly convinced that Serena's win streak is going to end sometime, but I do not think that it will be today. Mad Professah's Pick: Williams in 2 sets.

Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) [4] vs Carla Suárez Navarro (ESP) [10]. The Polish ninja is slicing through the draw in her typical noiseless but deadly fashion. Despite being the #4 seed and her surprising victory at the WTA Year End Championships in Singapore no on seems to be thinking about the #4 seed as a potential winner of this tournament. Of course, this is probably because whoever wins this quarterfinal will be facing a multiple-time major champion in the semifinals and will be a prohibitive underdog. Radwanska almost got taken out of the tournament in the round before when she was down 5-2 in the third set against Anna-Lena Friedsam but was able to take advantage when the younger player started cramping and put up increasingly less resistance as Friedlam lost the last five games of the match. Her opponent got bageled in her previous round against the local favorite Daria Gavrilova but managed to come back and win the last two sets relatively easily as the young Aussie crumbled emotionally under the hopes of the host nation. This match should be emotionally resonant match as both players would love to reach their very first Australian Open semifinal. Radwanska has a slight 2-1 head-to-head lead over CSN but the Spaniard beat Radwanska on her way to the final of the Miami tournament last year (where she lost to Serena). However, this Radwanska is much better than the impostor who was haunting the tour last Spring. This Radwnska is on a double-digit winning streak, which I expect to continue. Mad Professah's pick: Radwanska in 3 sets.

 Angelique Kerber (GER) [7] vs Victoria Azarenka (BLR) [14]. Kerber was down match point in her very first match of the tournament and managed to come through that test with more resolve that has brought her to her first ever quarterfinal at the Australian Open. Unfortunately for Angie, she will be facing a resurgent Vika Azarenka who is a 2-time Australian Open champion (2012 and 2013) who sports a 6-0 head-to-head undefeated record against her, including a win in the Brisbane final just two weeks ago. Whoever does win this match is almost guaranteed a ticket to the 2016 Australian Open women's final since they will be facing an unseeded(!) player. I would really like to see Kerber reach her first major final, but I suspect Azarenka will announce her return to the upper echelon of women's tennis by reaching the final. Mad Professah's pick: Azarenka in 3 sets.

Simona Halep (ROU) [2] Johanna Konta (GBR) vs Venus Williams (USA) [8] Shuai Zhang (CHN).  This is the battle of the upset queens. One of these unseeded players will reach their first major semifinal, earning more money in one tournament than they have in their entire career to date. Interestingly, both Konta and Zhang have followed up on stunning upsets in the first round, taking out #2 seed Simona Halep and #8 seed Venus Williams to win three more matches over other opponents who they were not expected to beat. Zhang took out 2015 Australian Open semifinalist Madison Keys after the American's mobility was hampered with an upper thigh injury occurred in the second set, while Konta took out Ekaterina Makarova who often plays her best tennis in Melbourne.  Konta has become the first British woman to reach a major quarterfinal since 1984. Zhang is a qualifier but I think because she has had to get through a tougher draw I will give her the edge to continue her dreamlike run Down Under. Mad Professah's pick: Zhang in 3 sets.

2016 AUS OPEN: Nadal Loses 1R To Verdasco; Venus(8),Halep(2),Wozniacki(16) All Upset

Verdasco Stuns Nadal With Incredible Display

The first two days of the Australian Open are complete with Day 3 action set to begin soon. (Australia is 19 hours ahead of Pacific Standard Time.) So far the biggest upset of the tournament has been the shocking departure of 14-time major champion Rafael Nadal at the hands of Fernando Verdasco, another Spanish left-hander. Nadal and Verdasco played one of the best matches at the Australian Open in the 2009 semifinals (It lasted well over 5 hours and was won by Nadal in the fifth set on a double fault by Verdasco).

This time the met in the first round (which I noted earlier was an intriguing first-round match up). After losing to Nadal over a dozen times in a row in his career, Verdasco turned things around last year and beat his countryman twice in 2015. In their 2016 1st round meeting Verdasco came back from 0-2, 30-40 in the 5th set to reel off 6 consecutive games and hand Nadal only his second ever first round loss in a major tournament (the other was in 2013 at Wimbledon to Steve Darcis). Verdasco hit an astonishing 90 winners over 5 sets (to Nadal's 37) and in the fifth set he hit 21 winners to 12 unforced errors. The 32-year-old Spaniard was repeatedly able to hit forehand winners clocked at well over 100 miles per hour.

Multiple Major Upsets In Women's Draw
Simona Halep, the #2 seed (who I picked to get to the final!), lost in the very first round to unheralded Zhang Shuai (ranked #133). Also losing in the first round were #8 seed Venus Williams
(who lost to Sydney-born British player Johanna Konta) and #16 Caroline Wozniacki (who has been doing progressively worse at the Australian Open as her career progresses) lost a tough 3-set marathon to Yulia Putintseva.

Other milder upsets were the early exits of 10 of the 16 seeds from #17 to #32, including well-known names like Sara Errani, Andrea Petkovic, Samantha Stosur,  Sloane Stephens and Caroline Garcia.

2015 US OPEN: Women's Semifinals Preview

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

Serena Williams (USA) [1] vs Roberta Vinci (ITA) [16]. As I said before when I was predicting the women's quarterfinals, this semifinal was going to be irrelevant. The more interesting topic to discuss is the fact that for the second time in this tournament, Serena lost a set. The fact that it was against her sister Venus is not surprising, and to be sure, it never really looked like the defending champion was in danger of losing this match. Vinci did well to win a match I did not expect her to win by gutting out a 3-set win over Kiki Mladenovic. However, as an Italian journalist admitted in a press conference today, "Even in Italy we think [Vinci] has no chance." Despite the fact that she has never lost a set in 4 meetings to Vinci, Serena refuses to take anything for granted and said "She's in the semifinals for a reason." Amazingly, Vinci is one of three different Italian women to be in the semifinals of the U.S. Open in the last four years (Sara Errani in 2012, Pennetta in 2013, Vinci and Pennetta in 2015). Things did not work out too well for the Italians before and I doubt it will this year. PREDICTION: Williams.

Petra Kvitova (CZE) [5] Flavia Pennetta (ITA) [26] vs. Simona Halep (ROU) [2].  Pennetta surprised many people by taking out the 2-time Wimbledon champion in three tough sets. She was down a set and a break when P3tra started losing the range on her shots and allowed the Italian to escape with a 4-6 7-5 6-4 win. Halep's win was even more dramatic. She was playing another 2-time major champion in Victoria Azarenka, someone whom she had never beaten before. Things started off well for Halep, who won the first set by earning an early break and holding to take it 6-3, but then it was mostly one-way traffic in Vika's favor until the clouds grew grey and stormy. Just before play was suspended in the third set, Halep was able to get the break back despite being down 0-2 and ended up winning the final set 6-4. Major semifinals are incredibly important matches, as the winner gets to make history by apperaning in a major final. Halep is 1-1 in major semifinals to date while Pennetta is 0-1. Pennetta may actually think that she has more pressure on her because she has a 3-1 head-to-head advantage over Halep. However, that one win came earlier this year in Miami on hard courts while the losses occurred before Halep became the player she is today. PREDICTION: Halep. 

2015 US OPEN: Women's Quarterfinals Preview

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

Serena Williams (USA) [1] vs Venus Williams (USA) [23]. The most incredible story in tennis, and possibly in the entirety of women's sports, enters its fifteenth year as these two African-American siblings continue to battle near the pinnacle of the game that they have devoted their professional sports lives to. This meeting will be their 27th (Serena leads their overall head-to-head 15-11) and it is on the 14th anniversary of the first time the two played in grand slam final (when Venus won the 2001 U.S. Open). This is the second consecutive major tournament where they have  had to face each other. Serena won their 4th round meeting at Wimbledon this year relatively easily in two decisive sets, but lost their previous meeting in the semifinals of the Canadian tournament last year. (Serena leads 8-5 in major tournament play.) Although Venus has been playing extremely well (especially considering her 23 seeding, it would be a surprise if she could make this match even competitive. There's no question that she is the person on earth who knows Serena's game the most but will that experience actually improve her chances of dashing her sister's hopes for tennis immortality? This will probably be Serena's most emotionally tough match of the fortnight, but she should be a lock to reach her 5 consecutive major final and actually play for the possibility of the calendar grand slam, something Martina Navratilova did as well (she lost that match to Hana Mandlikova in 1985). PREDICTION: Serena.

Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) [13] vs Roberta Vinci (ITA) [16]. This is the accidental quarterfinal. Kiki did well to upset the solid #13 seed Makarova in the previous round and Vinci is here (again!) because Eugenie Bouchard got a concussion after her Friday match and had to default her fourth round match against the Italian. I'll put my money on the Frenchwoman to get through but noone from this quarter is going to be playing in the final on Saturday night. PREDICTION: Mladenovic.

Petra Kvitova (CZE) [5] vs Samantha Stosur (AUS) [22] Flavia Pennetta (ITA) [26].  For some reason the Italian plays her best tennis in New York; she's reached five of her six major quarterfinals at the U.S. open, leading to her 2013 semifinal appearance. Kvitova has never played her best tennis in New York, but she has won the New Haven tournament  (played the week before the last major of the year) for three consecutive years. This is her first major quarterfinal in New York, completing her career set. With her power it is hard to see why she has not had more success on the hard courts in North America but perhaps all that changes this year. Kvitova should be the overwhelming favorite but Pennetta is feisty and fearless and she should find a way to pose the Czech lefty some serious questions. PREDICTION: Kvitova. 

Victoria Azarenka (BLR) [20] vs. Simona Halep (ROU) [2]. The top half of the draw is dominated by the Williams sisters, with an almost certainty being that one of them will be in the final on Saturday. In the bottom half of the draw any one of the four remaining players is a legitimate major finalist and two of them are multiple slam winners (Azarenka and Kvitova). Azarenka plays her best tennis on hard courts while Halep is clearly excellent on all surfaces--there's a reason she is clearly the #2 player in the world behind Serena. However, the player who people feel is Serena's most serious challenger (the one who has the most belief, and who held a match point against her earlier this year in Spain) is the former World #1 Belarussian. This match should actually be the most high quality match of the four and is the most difficult to predict. Azarenka is 2-0 against Halep but hasn't played her since 2012, when Halep simply was not the player she is today (and Azarenka was a better player than she is today). I think Halep will show how much she has improved, and demonstrate how much more Azarenka has to do to get back to the top of the women's game, but it won't be easy. PREDICTION: Halep. 

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

Serena Williams (USA) [1] vs Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP) [20]

This is my preview post for the women's final at the Wimbledon Championships for 2015. Last year I correctly predicted that Petra Kvitova would defeat Eugenie Bouchard. This year I correctly predicted correctly 2 of 4 women's quarterfinals, 2 of 2 women's semifinals, 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals and 2 of 2 men's semifinals.

Below is my review of women's semifinals and a preview and prediction of the women's final at this year's Wimbledon Championships.

Women's Semifinals: Reviews

Serena Williams (USA) [1] d. Maria Sharapova (RUS) [4] 6-2 6-4. For the seventeenth        time after losing two consecutive matches in 2004 to her, Serena  beat "rival" Maria Sharapova. This time it was in the semifinals of Wimbledon, but most of their matches in the last ten years have been important occasions, since both players have been at the top of women's tennis for this period. However, when their trajectories intersect at the business end of a tournament, Serena has basically always come out on top. This is primarily because she has the most dangerous weapon in women's tennis: her serve. Especially considering that ever since Sharapova's shoulder surgery in 2009 she has had been plagued with issues with her toss, leading to double faults at inopportune moments. This was clear in the very first game of this match where she double-faulted 3 times (25% first serves in) and went down a break despite Serena gifting three unforced errors in that very first game. A few minutes later Serena held serve with little difficulty and all the scoreboard pressure was on Sharapova from the very beginning and it basically never went away. The second set was closer but again Serena was able to get a break and whenever Sharapova even sniffed an opportunity Serena was able to serve away the potential danger. The final game also was a microcosm of the match by demonstrating the result was on Serena's racquet not Sharapova's. Although Serena began with a double fault, she basically hit unreturned and unreturnable serves four times in a row to close out the match and reach her 8th Wimbledon final (5-2 so far).

Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP) [20] d. Agnieska Radwanska (POL) [13] 6-2 3-6 6-3. As I suspected beforehand, this was by far the more suspenseful semifinal this year. Some people thought that Muguruza's win here was an upset but as the 21-year-old Spaniard demonstrated for the first set and a half when she raced to a 6-2 3-1 lead, she has a powerful game well-suited to grass-court tennis. However once she could see the finish line she got nervous and Radwanska was able to use her brilliant court sense and tennis wiles to make things even more difficult for the youngster. This led to a string of seven games in a row for the Polish tennis shotmaker. However, despite being up an early break in the third set I never felt like Radwanska was in control of the match. This was borne out immediately because Muguruza resumed cracking the ball and broke her opponents serve twice by winning 50% of return points and approaching the net to put away floaters. This aggressive play was what allowed her to overwhelm her opponent in the deciding set in order to reach her first Wimbledon final.

Women's Final: A Preview and Prediction
Serena Williams (USA) [1] vs Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP) [20]. This is a huge match for both players, of course, it's a Wimbledon final for goodness sake! For Serena Williams this is her 25th major final (an incredible 20-4 record) and if she wins she will be three fourths of the way to the calendar Grand Slam, and will have won 28 Grand Slam matches in a row, her second "Serena slam."
For Garbiñe Muguruza this is her very first major final. In fact, for the last six years there has been a first-time finalist in the Wimbledon final with only Petra Kvitova coming through that experience with a win in 2011. Muguruza is good, but is she Kvitova-on-grass good? The way Kvitova played both her 2011 and 2014 finals she probably would have beaten any opponent (even one named Williams!) As Luci Safarova showed just a month ago in Paris, if you can keep the score close, Serena may get nervous and let you into the match. However, after dispatching 7-time major champion Venus Williams, 2-time major champion Victoria Azarenka and 5-time major champion Maria Sharapova I find it hard to believe that Serena will allow a newcomer to surprise her, especially one who has previously shocked her in a Grand Slam match. Serena will be wary, ready and deadly. MadProfessah's pick: Serena