2018 FRENCH OPEN: Simona Halep Wins 1st Major (Over Sloane Stephens)

As I predicted, World #1 Simona Halep of Romania won her first major title today, defeating American Sloane Stephens 3-6 6-4 6-1. This was a seesaw match that resembled last year's final with Jelena Ostaphenko but this time Halep was the one who came back from a set and break down to even the match and then ran away with the deciding set as Stephens seemed to tire and lose focus as she lost the first five games and then avoided the bagel by holding once but lost the match when Halep easily served it out to win the championship.

Halep joins great players like Chris Evert and Kim Clijsters who lost their first 3 major finals and then went on to win multiple majors. She strengthens her case as the best player in the world, having been ranked #1 for most of the last year and is now also a major champion.

HOW THE FINAL WAS WON
The match began with Halep looking extremely tight and making several unforced errors in the first game. One of Stephens' strengths is her metal equanimity and she calmly broke early and consolidated it to go up 3-1. Play stayed on serve with Sloane making very few errors and Halep pressing and overhitting; she lost the set 6-3. She then had the worst possible start to the second set by losing her serve and Sloane again consolidated and went up 2-0. Then, amazingly in the 4th game, serving 2-1 up, Sloane appeared to get nervous and and started making errors to lose the next three games and go down 2-4. However, the plot twists continued because now Halep was unable to maintain her lead and was broken while serving up 4-3 and the score was tied all up at 4-all. Halep then held her serve and in the 10th game earned a breakpoint which was a set point. She won the point and the match was dead even. Stephens definitely looked shaken and Hlep looked determined. She got behind in the first service game of the third set but was able to hold and after that really didn't look back, racing out to a 5-0 lead and eventually won the match 6-1 in the 3rd.

2017 US OPEN: Women's Final Preview (and Semifinals Review)

Madison Keys (USA) [15] vs. Sloane Stephens (USA)

Here are my predictions for the women's final at the US Open for 2017. Last year I correctly predicted Angelique Kerber would beat Karolina Pliskova. This year I also predicted 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. 

WOMEN'S SEMIFINALS REVIEW

Madison Keys (USA) [15] d. CoCo Vandeweghe (USA) [20] 6-1 6-2. As I expected, CoCo did not deal with the pressure of reaching a major semifinal very well, despite having her second such opportunity in 2017. However, she is yet to win a set in any of these matches.  Madison, on the other hand, responded well to the opportunity to reach a major final by serving extremely well, and backing it up with her powerful groundstrokes and limiting her errors (to just 9, compared to 23 winners). Madison never faced a breakpoint and won four of the seven that CoCo gave her. If she continues playing at that level, it's hard to see how she will be prevented from winning her first major title.

Sloane Stephens (USA) d. Venus Williams (USA) [9] 6-1 0-6 7-5. Surprisingly, this match turned out to be a highlight of the women's side of the draw. For the first two sets the players were out of sync, so that only one of them was playing well while the other was not. However in the final set both Venus and Sloane were able to play their best tennis at the same time, resulting in high quality strokes from both sides of the court. Sloane struck first blood first, taking a 2-0 lead but Venus was able to fight back to even the match at 2-all and they remained on serve until the 11th game when Venus went down to 0-40 and ended up being broken without winning a point on her serve. Sloane served out the match relatively efficiently and is now in her very first major final.

WOMEN'S FINALS PREVIEW

To say that this is an unlikely major final matchup is quite an understatement. Neither player appeared at the year's first major own in Australia because both players were recovering from surgery. Madison has had two wrist surgeries, and Sloane had a leg surgery which had her foot in a boot for most of the fall. Prior to the American hard court season this summer, both players had losing 2017 records (Sloane was 0-1 and Madison was 5-7). Sloane's ranking had fallen as far down as 945 but due to stellar play over the summer (reaching two semifinals) she was up to #83 going into the US Open. She is still the lowest ranked player ever to reach a major final (apart from Kim Clijsters who was completely unranked in 2009). Sloane is 4-0 in tour finals while Keys has a 3-3 record in finals but they have been at the higher Premiere level.  Additionally, Sloane has a 1-0 lead in their head-to-head from the one time these two friends have met on the tour (in Miami in 2015). So, on paper one should give the edge to Sloane because she has also made it through tougher competition to reach this spot. However, I think that Keys has the edge in her tools and mentality in this match up. For Sloane, I think she must have less confidence that she will have this opportunity again, while Madison should be pretty confident that she will have future opportunities to play for major titles. MadProfessah's pick: Keys.

2016 US OPEN: Women's Final Preview (and Semifinals Review)

Angelique Kerber (GER) [2] vs Karolina Pliskova (CZE) [10]

Here are my predictions for the women's final at the US Open for 2016. Last year I correctly predicted Flavia Pennetta would beat Roberta Vinci. So far this year, I have correctly predicted 1 of 2 men's semifinals, 1 of 2 women's semifinals, 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals and 4 of 4 women's quarterfinals.

Women's Semifinals Review

Karolina Pliskova (CZE) [10] d. Serena Williams (USA) [1] 6-2 7-6(5). For the second year in a row, Serena has had her hopes dashed in the US Open semifinal. However, this time, the result was less about her losing the match than her opponent winning it. Last year, Serena let the mental and emotional pressure of closing out the last two matches to achieve the calendar grand slam to affect her play so that she lost to a wily but feeble opponent. In this year's match Serena faced in Karolina Pliskova a 6-foot-1 powerhouse who out-aced and out-played Serena for significant stretches of the relatively short encounter. The first set was a blur, with Pliskova winning 86% of her first serve points and not facing a break point. Serena on the otherhand looked sluggish--slow to move to the ball and was broken twice despite the fact that Pliskova is not a great mover on the court. In the second set, Pliskova continued with her excellent play and was soon up a break again. However, Serena was able to break back (after earning her sole breakpoint of the match) and even nose ahead (on serve) to 4-3. But at this point it became very clear that Serena was injured, as she repeatedly was grabbing her leg and was making errors where she was off the mark by feet (not inches) or hitting balls into the bottom of the net (not the top of the tape). Although she did well to reach a tiebreak. I was fairly confident that even if she found a way to win the tiebreak, there is no way she would have won a third set. However, Serena obviated that concern by donating multiple points with unforced errors and double faults, including on match point (which she didn't even challenge). 

Angelique Kerber (GER) [2] d. Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) 6-4 6-3.  As I suspected, everything Wozniacki can do, Kerber can do better. The Dane is known for her amazing ability to retrieve balls from anywhere and to be a human backboard. But Kerber also has incredible movement, and what has fueled her ascent to the World #1 ranking is the German's addition of offense and attacking tennis to her game. It's a deadly combination when you possess the power to track down balls all day and can turn defense into offense with the flick of a wrist. This was almost certainly Wozniacki's best (and last?) chance to win her first major title but again she came up short, despite playing in the venue where she has previously had the most success. I do think that she is legitimately a top 10 contender, but that means there are a lot of things that have to go right in an improbable sequence for her to win a major. She should learn from Kerber's example and use her impressive timing to be more aggressive on court.

Women's Final Preview

The mental stakes for this match are very different for the two players. Pliskova is playing in her very first major final, while Kerber is playing in her third of the year (2016 Australian Open and 2016 Wimbledon). Having already achieved the World #1 ranking, for Kerber this title is basically icing on the cake, but she may have greater ambitions, like snagging the year-end #1 ranking. This is a possibility (if Serena sits out the rest of 2016, like she did last year) but not really under her control. By becoming the first woman to reach multiple majors in the same year (other than Serena) since Henin did it in 2008, Kerber would start writing her name in the record books. Pliskova already has her place in history assured as she becomes the first active player (4th all time) to beat both Venus and Serena) in a major tournament. Pliskova has been known as a dangerous player for years but she has never had any success at a major until the 2016 US Open. Mentally, she is very tough but she is not as athletically gifted as Kerber.

Head-to-head Kerber has a slight edge 4-3 and the two have played their last three meetings in finals, with Kerber coming out ahead 2-1. However, with the World #1 ranking on the line 3 weeks ago, Kerber blinked and Pliskova beat her relatively easily in the finals of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati 6-3 6-1. It is very unlikely that this match will not be that one sided. Pliskova is on an 11-match winning streak (she also beat Garbine Muguruza and Svetlana Kuznetsova in Cincy) and has admitted that beating Serena was even more important to her than reaching her first major final.

The key to the match will be if Pliskova can continue serving as effectively as she has been. Because Serena was physically impaired (and unfamiliar with Pliskova) she was very ineffective at returning the Czech player's serve, who can hit all four corners of the service box with the same toss. Kerber will almost certainly do a better job of dealing with Pliskova's biggest weapon than Serena did. Once the two start a rally, Kerber is a prohibitive favorite to win the point. Can Pliskova maintain her composure and continue to hit unreturnable serves after Kerber gets some lucky balls back into play? I think she can. I suspect this match will resemble a men's match (i.e. like an Isner-Nishikori), with few breaks of serve. If that happens, it will be a key advantage to Pliskova. If there are multiple exchanges of breaks that will mean that Kerber is being effective at returning serves into play and getting into Pliskova's head. It is rare that great serving outplays a great player (c.f. Roddick-Federer) and I don't think that will happen here.

MadProfessah's prediction: Kerber.

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!

2013 US OPEN: Women's Semifinals Preview

Here are my predictions for the women's semifinals at the 2013 US Open. This year I correctly predicted 4 of 4 women's quarterfinals and 2 of 4 men's quarterfinals. Last year I correctly predicted 3 of 4 women's quarterfinals and 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals.

Serena Williams (USA) [1] vs. Na Li (CHN) [5]. This should be the better of the two semifinal matches since the Chinese champion possesses enough power to not be blown off the court against the defending champion who has been doing exactly that through her first 5 rounds including a frankly embarrassing 6-0 6-0 win in the quarterfinals against Carla Suarez Navarro, who is a good player. Williams has dropped an astonishing 13 games over 5 rounds to reach this major semifinal and on only 3 occasions has she lost in this round, winning on 20 other occasions. Serena very rarely loses semifinals in majors. However, in 2009 she did lose in the U.S. Open semifinal to Kim Clijsters when she was defaulted in a bizarre incident sparked by a questionable (and unfortunately unappealable) foot fault call. The two have met 9 times before and Serena has only lost once, including two close straight sets wins this year on hard courts in Cincinnati and Miami. Li Na is currently being coached by Carlos Rodriguez, who was the longtime coach of Serena's nemesis Justine Henin. However, although has the physical prowess to do better than she has in the past, she has yet to demonstrate that she has the mental fortitude to do so. In fact, this match could either be  a blowout (by Serena) or a taut, see-saw affair. Regardless, I would be very surprised if Serena did not figure out a way to win this match. Mad Professah's Pick: Serena.

Flavia Pennetta (ITA)  vs. Victoria Azarenka (BLR) [2].  This is Pennetta's first major semifinal of her rather long career while Azarenka is playing in her seventh. Interestingly, the two have a very close 1-1 head-to-head record, with Pennetta having won their last meeting, which was on hard courts, in 2011. However, Azarenka after having won the last two Australian Open titles is not the same player that she was. She has not actually been playing her best tennis in New York, but has managed to not panic despite losing the first set against Alize Cornet and Ana Ivanovic, confident that her game is steady enough to pull out the win in the end. There is basically nothing that the Italian does on the court that is better than what the Belarussian does on the court. The result will be that we will get a blockbuster final on Sunday, a reprise of last year's match up between the Top 2 players in the world. Mad Professah's pick: Azarenka.

2013 WIMBLEDON: Women's Semifinals Preview

Here are my predictions for the women's quarterfinals at the Wimbledon Championships for 2013. Last year I correctly predicted 2 of 2 men's semifinals and correctly predicted 2 of 2 women's semifinals. This year I have correctly predicted 3 of 4 women's quarterfinals and 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals.

Sabine Lisicki (GER) [23] vs. Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) [4]. This is the third meeting between these two players, but the first time this year and their first ever meeting on grass. The two have split their previous matches and there's no clear favorite. Lisicki has already achieved the rare feat of defeating the World #1 and defending champion in Serena Williams. But even more impressive is that she followed up that momentous upset with another win to reach her 2nd Wimbledon semifinal in 3 years. The woman she is playing reached the final here last year and is the World #4 player. Radwanska is known as The Swiss Army Knife because of the variety of shots she is able to play. This was shown to great effect in her quarterfinal win over Li Na. Despite being overmatched by the powerful Chinese player, she used her superior defense to cause Li to lose the match (despite needing 8 match points to do so). Generally in a battle between power and control I usually take the side of power. Lisicki will be the player dictating play and the result of the match will be under her control. If she plays at the level she played in her two previous rounds then I expect her to win this match. PREDICTION: Lisicki.

Marion Bartoli (FRA) [15] v. Petra Kvitova (CZE) [8] Kirsten Flipkens (BEL) [20]. This is the first time these two have played on the WTA Tour. However, this result is most definitely not as hard to predict as the other semifinal. In fact, a friend of mine (and reader of this blog!) picked Bartoli to reach the semifinals (against Kvitova) from before the tournament started. I tend not to make predictions before the tournament begins, preferring to see how play is proceeding before prognosticating. The Belgian must be ecstatic just to be in her first career major semifinal, especially two days after defeating a former Wimbledon champion who happened to be struggling with some kind of virus. Flipkens just one year ago was ranked so low (#262) that she was low to even enter the Wimbledon qualifying tournament, and now she has a chance to make the final. True, it is not much of a chance, since she is playing a powerful, wily veteran. However, Flipkens was given almost no chance to win against the powerful Kvitova and managed to use her good hands and comfort on grass to  do so despite her short stature. It's possible some off -the-court assistance from her best friend Kim Clijsters may have been helpful producing this tournament's breakthrough result. On the other hand, Bartoli truly feels like she should be a Grand Slam champion already while Flipkens almost certainly feels like she is just lucky to be there. And, honestly, she is. PREDICTION: Bartoli. 

MIAMI 2013: Serena v. Sharapova in Final!

Getty/Clive Brunskill

World #2 Maria Sharapova has been in the final of the Miami tournament four times but never claimed the title, losing to Kim Clijsters (2005), Svetlana Kuznetsova (2006), Victoria Azarenka (2011) and Agnieska Radwanska (2012). This year she will face arguably her biggest test in the final, World #1 Serena Williams. Williams easily dispatched defending champion Radwanska, the World #4 player, 6-0 6-3 in a sparking display that included 40 winners and 21 errors in just 15 games played. Williams improved to 5-0 against the Polish Wimbledon finalist.

The Miami tournament, now called Sony Open Tennis, is considered by Serena to be her hometown tournament, since she owns a house with her sister Venus in nearby Palm Beach Gardens, although nowadays she spends more of her downtime in Paris. With her win yesterday Serena broke the record of Steffi Graf for the most wins ever at this tournament, and now sports a 60-7 record here.

Sharapova is also playing well, and she beat one of her least favorite people on the tour, Jelena Jankovic, 6-1 6-3, one day after outlasting pint-size dynamo Sara Errani 7-5 7-5 in a reprise of the 2012 French Open final.

However, Serena often seems to bring her best tennis to matches against Sharapova, whom she has a career head-to-head record of 9-2, with the two losses coming within 6 months of each other in 2004. She has not lost to the 4-time champion since. In fact, she has delivered memorable beat downs to Sharapova, like a 6-0 6-1 drubbing in the 2012 London Olympics gold medal match and a 6-1 6-2 win in the 2007 Australian Open final, the latter I think is the best Serena has ever played.

I seriously doubt she wil do so on Saturday.

MadProfessah's prediction: Serena (in straight sets).

WTA TOUR FINALS: Serena Wins 3rd YEC, 58-4 in 2012

As expected, Serena Williams continued her domination of the top of women's tennis by dismissing World #2 Maria Sharapova 6-4 6-3 to win her 3rd WTA Tour year-end championships. This was Serena's 7th title of 2012 and her 58th tour win for the year (balanced with an awe-inspiring low total of only 4 losses).

Serena again re-affirmed her domination of Sharapova, winning her 10th match in 12 meetings (the only losses to the Russian coming in two huge matches, the 2004 Wimbledon final and the 2004 WTA Tour year-end championship match, when Sharapova was a teenage phenom). You read that right, Serena has not lost to the 4-time major champion for 8 long years, and they both know it every time they step on to court together. Playing Sharapova concentrates Serena's mind so that her unforced errors drop precipitously while her deadly accuracy and power remain, a lethal combination which resulted in 40 winners (to a mere 14 errors) in the 89 minute championship match, while never even facing a break point.

But really 2012 was the year the now-31 year old Serena played an entire tour season completely healthy and committed to the game in a long time and the results are clear and convincing. Serena ended up winning 47 of her last 49 matches in 2012 and went on an 11-0 run against the Top 2 players in the world. During that time she won 2 majors and 2 Olympic gold medals.

However, by winning the year-end championships for the 3rd time at age 31, Serena became the oldest player to ever win the tournament and joined Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, Monica Seles, Kim Clijsters and Chris Evert as 3-time winners. She joined Victoria Azarenka as the only other player to win $7 million in a season.

As long as she remains healthy there is no reason to think that Serena will not continue her domination of women's tennis for at least the next year or two, which should allow her to reach (and possibly even surpass) the 18 majors that Evert and Navratilova share. Graf's total of 22 should be safe. Probably.

2012 US OPEN: Women's Final Preview

Victoria Azarenka BLR (1) vs.  Serena Williams USA (4)

Here are my predictions for the women's final of the 2012 US Open. This year I have correctly predicted 3 of 4 women's quarterfinals, 3 of 4 of the men's quarterfinals, 2 of 2 women's semifinals and 2 of 2 men's semifinals.

How They Got Here: Women's Semifinals Review
Serena Williams USA (4) d. Sara Errani ITA (10) 6-1 6-2. 
Serena was never threatened by the diminutive Italian who has become her country's best player by dint of having one of the best seasons of any player this year. Errani has won all 6 of her WTA career singles titles this year, and reached the quarterfinals or better in  three majors, the first time she had ever progressed that far in any Grand Slam. Errani is a fighter but she has no shot that could trouble Serena, and the match was basically a mismatch, with the result never really in doubt.

Victoria Azarenka BLR (1) d. Maria Sharapova RUS (3) 3-6 6-2 6-4.
The other semifinal was completely different, one in which the result was hard to predict until the very last game, which was won by Azarenka. These two are establishing a significant rivalry, having played four times in 2012, with Vika winning three of these matches and now has a 6-4 lead in their career head-to-head.  The two have very similar playing styles with hard-hitting groundstrokes on both wins, with stronger backhands than forehands. Azarenka has significantly better movement, while Sharapova can have a significantly better serve when she gets in a groove. This match was a war of attrition, with Azarenka surviving Sharapova's firepower with her retrieving powers (the Russian ended with 44 winners and 42 unforced errors, while the Belarussian ended with 19 winners and 19 errors). Sharapova's mental toughness and competitive spirit has served her well in winning 4 majors but Azarenka is 2 years younger and could very well end her career with  an even larger numbers, depending on when Serena decides to retire.

The Women's Final: Prediction

Victoria Azarenka BLR (1) vs.  Serena Williams USA (4). Serena has an overwhelming 9-1 career head-to-head advantage against Azarenka and this really reflects the 90% probability that Serena will win this match. Despite this act, it should be a relatively close, hard-fought match, perhaps of the quality of their 3rd round match from 2011, which was won by Serena 6-1 7-6(5). This is pretty typical of their matches; Serena wins the first set relatively easily and when she gets up a break in the second she relaxes and gives Azarenka a chance to get back into the match and eventually has to gut out the second set in a close tiebreak. Serena does not feel any kind of animus towards Azarenka and will not try to blow her off the court as she did with Sharapova during her 6-0 6-1 drubbing to win the Gold Medal match at the London Olympics earlier this year.

However, after experiencing two bad experiences in New York in 2011 against Sam Stosur and in 2009 against Kim Clijsters, Serena has been on her best behavior this year. Serena was unable to play the 2010 tournament due to her year-long medically induced hiatus from the game, and she last won this title in 2008 (over Jelena Jankovic). It's amazing that  a few weeks before her 31st birthday Serena is the heavy favorite to win her 15th major title, pulling her within striking distance of the magic number of 18 that all-time greats Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert ended their storied careers with. If she were to get to the number then the question of Greatest of all Time would be another legitimate title to bestow upon her.

MadProfessah's Prediction: Serena.

2012 US OPEN Day 3: Robson Ends Clijsters Career

Kim Clijsters win streak ended at 22 matches when she joined the list of other great tennis champions like Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi who ended their careers at the US Open. Clijsters lost to British mixed doubles silver medalist Laura Robson in two tough sets 7-6(4) 7-6(5) despite leading 5-2 in the first set. Robson is a powerful lefty and she showed why she will be a force in the future as matched and then outmatched Clijsters' power from the baseline, despite not moving as well on the surface as the preternaturally flexible Belgium (well-known for doing splits on the court).

Clijsters leaves the game with a Hall of fame career; she won 4 major titles (2005 US Open, 2009 US Open, 2010 US Open, 2011 Australian Open) and 41 tour titles. She was ranked #1 for 20 weeks and was also ranked #1 in both singles and doubles simultaneously at one point.

You'll be missed, Kimmie!

Olympiad XXX Tennis: Women's Final Preview

Today was one of the most exciting days of the year in tennis as all four semifinals in the 2012 London Olympics occurred. In this post I wil just talk about the women's side of the draw.

Women's Semifinals Review
On the women's side, as I expected and predicted yesterday, Serena Williams made mincemeat out of reigning World #1 (*cough* *cough* according to the computer *cough*) Victoria Azarenka, removing the last obstacle to her path to playing in the Gold Medal match with a dominant 6-1 6-2 win. Maria Sharapova played up to form by reaching the final again by dashing the hopes of countrywoman Maria Kirilenko 6-2 6-3. Her path to the final really involved getting past fellow 4-time major champion Kim Clijsters, which she did in the quarterfinal round.

Women's Final Preview
Serena and Maria have met in two major finals (2004 Wimbledon, won by Sharapova and the 2007 Australian Open, won by Serena). That last match still reverberates in my mind as the best match I have ever seen Serena, and possibly any woman, play. She simply could not miss. There was no question about the outcome of the match after the second game. I think Serena had something like 25 winners to 3 unforced errors. The official score was 6-1 6-2 but it really wasn't even that close. Head-to-head the two have a surprisingly lopsided tally of 8 wins for Serena, 2 for Sharapova. In fact, after losing to Sharapova twice in 2004 in two awfully big matches (the other loss was the WTA Tour Championships in Los Angeles) Serena has won every meeting in the subsequent 8 years, and has only dropped a single set (on clay) and won 14.

Their styles of play do not match up well for the Russian, because Sharapova has one gear, hit the ball hard, and if that doesn't work then hit it harder. Serena can absorb and return pace and moves extremely well. For Sharapova to have a chance (oh who am  kidding, she doesn't really have a chance!) she wil have to hope that Serena gets nervous as she approaches achieving one of her lifetime goals, winning a Gold Medal in singles (she already has two in doubles and is likely to win a 3rd one here) and the Russian needs to play out of her comfort zone. Even in that scenario, I don't see how Serena loses this match. As everyone knows, Serena has the best serve in women's tennis history and has now won at Wimbledon 5 times, thus sharing the title of best grass court player of her generation with her big sister. When she wins on Saturday, maybe she'll be the undisputed holder of that title.

MadProfessah's Prediction: Serena.

Olympiad XXX: Men's & Women's Semifinals Preview

The tennis competition at the XXXth Olympiad in London is approaching the crucial stages of the event: the men's and women's semifinals are now set. The winners of the next round will be guaranteed a medal.

Women's Semifinals
S. Williams USA (4) v. V. Azarenka BLR (1). Serena continued her demolition of the field by demonstrating once again that former World #1 Caroline Wozniacki is not really in the same class as the Big Babes of tennis. The 14-time Grand Slam champion won their quarterfinal meeting 6-0 6-3. In the same half of the draw World #1 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus dismissed powerful lefty Angelique Kerber of Germany6-4 7-5. This semifinal is a repeat of the semifinal at the 2012 Wimbledon championships a mere four weeks ago. That match was won relatively easily by Serena, although it was more competitive than the final score 6-3 7-6(6) would indicate. That being said, Serena is on a mission to win her first Olympic Gold Medal in singles, and it is doubtful that anyone can deny her when she wants to achieve something on a tennis court. MadProfessah's Prediction: Serena.

M. Sharapova RUS (3) v. M. Kirilenko RUS (14). Maria Sharapova ended the fairytale run on Kim Clijsters in the quarterfinals by winning their showdown 6-2 7-5. This was a somewhat surprising result, and thus the popular Belgian will end her career never having had much success on the grass courts of Wimbledon. An even more surprising result, however, was Maria Kirilenko's 7-6(3) 6-3 win over the 2011 Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova. This has to be a very disappointing end to Kvitova's quest to win a medal and will raise the simmering questions about whether her 2011 breakthrough on the grass courts as well as her year-end championships win were flukes. It does mean that Russia is guaranteed at least a silver medal in tennis, although this would actually be a demotion, because in 2008 Elena Dementieva of Russia won the Gold medal. MadProfessah's Prediction: Sharapova.

Men's Semifinals
R. Federer SUI (1) v. J.-M. del Potro ARG (3). The Federer Express keeps on rolling toward the Gold Medal match. In order to do so, he needed to get past one of the players no one likes to see across the net, 6' 9" big-serving John Isner. Federer lost to Isner earlier this year, on clay at home in Basel Switzerland no less, but this time he was able to win 6-4 7-6(5) in a surprisingly tight match. Juan Martin del Potro was able to beat the up-and-coming Kei Nishikori by the identical score. Federer and del Potro have met 14 times before and the Argentinian has only won twice, both played in a 4 month period in 2009. In fact, Federer and del Potro have met an astonishing 5 times in 2012 and del Potro has managed to win just one set, although that was in their most recent meeting, at the 2012 French Open quarterfinals which was quite competitive until del Potro's injured knee hampered his movement and made him uncompetitive. Del Potro has a reasonable chance of winning this match with Federer, but grass is not his best surface. However, the fact that it is a 3-set match should give del Potro hope. If he starts off well and Federer starts off badly, things could get complicated. But, there are very few occasions where Federer has answered the call of history, and he will almost certainly find a way to do so again.
MadProfessah's Prediction: Federer.

N. Djokovic SRB (2) v. A. Murray GBR (3). The most interesting match of the four semifinals should be this match between these two rivals. Djokovic has generally been the better player in their most important matches (2011 Australian Open final, 2012 Australian Open semifinal) and leads their overall head-to-head 8-5. The two have never met on grass and Murray should be the overwhelming favorite of the crowd. Murray has shown that he is getting closer to Djokovic by his performance in Australia this year, and in 3-set matches the head-to-head score is merely a 6-5 lead for Djokovic. That being said, I still think that Djokovic has the edge, and will almost certainly face Federer on Sunday to play for the Gold medal. MadProfessah's Prediction: Djokovic.

Olympiad XXX Day 3: Venus, Serena, Raja, Vika Win

Venus Williams won her first round match over 2012 French Open finalist Sara Errani of Italy, while her sister Serena won her second round match over Urszula Radwanska of Poland. #1 seed Victoria Azarenka  17-time major champion Roger Federer won his 2nd round match over Julien Benneteau of France. Americans Varvara Lepchenko, John Isner and Andy Roddick also won. The latter win sets up a 2nd round clash with World #2 Novak Djokovic of Serbia. Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia will face American John Isner in the 3rd round. Interesting second round match-ups include Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France against Milos Raonic of Canada, Djokovic versus Roddick and Richard Gasquet against Marcos Baghdatis.

On the women's side, Venus will play Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada next while Serena will face Vera Zvonareva. Kim Clijsters will face Ana Ivanovic in the 3rd round while Caroline Wozniacki(8) will face Daniela Hantuchova.

Other players of note still in the hunt for medals are Petra Kvitova(6) and Maria Sharapova(3).

2012 Wimbledon: Women's Quarterfinals Preview

AP

Here are my predictions for the women's quarterfinals at the Wimbledon Championships for 2012. Last year I  correctly predicted 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals and correctly predicted 4 of 4 women's quarterfinals.

Maria Sharapova RUS (1)  Sabine Lisicki GER (15) vs. Kim Clijsters BEL Angelique Kerber GER (8). Instead of this all-German match I had expected a quarterfinal meeting between two 4-time major champions, but instead they both lost their fourth round matches. One of these results was an upset, while the others was just  upsetting. Sabine Lisicki was able to learn from her 2011 Wimbledon semifinal loss to Sharapova to realize that she had to go for broke and seize every possible opportunity this year. Most impressively, she was able to execute her plan to perfection and dismiss the betting favorite for this year's championship. Kerber upset most of the tennis world with her straight set drubbing of fan favorite Kim Clijsters in her last Wimbledon appearance. Kerber has played her countrywoman 4 times on tour and has never lost to her. When asked about this, Lisicki quickly responded that she had never beaten Sharapova in 3 attempts before today with the obvious implication that she could overcome a losing head-to-head record. It's true that Boom Boom has a massive serve and a strong return game, but she doesn't move better than the crafty lefty who has won an astonishing 44 matches on tour this year, the most of any player. One year ago, Kerber was an unknown but after surprising everyone to reach her first major semifinal at the 2011 US Open, in the last three majors Kerber has only lost to players who have reached the final. I think that streak will continue to four grand slam tournaments in a row. PREDICTION: Kerber.

Agnieszka Radwanska POL (3) vs. Maria Kirilenko RUS (17). Aggie Radwanska is one of two players who has a chance to reach the World #1 ranking now that the current #1 was dismissed by Sabine Lisicki in the 4th round. Her frenemy Victoria Azarenka is the other player who has a chance to reach the top spot as long as she wins more matches than Radwanska.  Interestingly, the two are in opposite halves of the draw because Vika has beaten Aggie in 7 consecutive matches this year. Radwanska would be an even more controversial #1 player than former #1 Caroline Wozniacki because she has never been to the semifinal of any major. It may seem surprising to some, because Radwanska, like Wozniacki, has no obvious weapon or shot that opponents fear. She is really a player more in the mold of a Martina Hingis, where her most dangerous weapon is her court sense and ability to cause her opponent difficulties by placing the ball with pinpoint accuracy in the position that causes the most damage. She has used this skill to deadly effect in 2012, having won 42 matches this year, just a few behind Angelique Kerber's gaudy total. Regardless, she has, however, been to 5 major quarterfinals, which is 4 more than her Russian opponent. In fact, Radwanska has a clear 5-2 head-to-head edge against Kirilenko and is dead-even against both of her potential semifinal opponents. I suspect that she will be playing in her first major final on Saturday. PREDICTION: Radwanska.

Tamira Paszek AUT  vs.  Victoria Azarenka BLR (2). Azarenka embarrassed  former World #1 Ana Ivanovic in the previous round by conceding a single game in a rout on Centre Court. The win ensures that the 2012 Australian Open champion will have more ranking points than current #1 Maria Sharapova at the end of the tournament. There has not been much chatter about Azarenka's chances of winning this title, probablybecause Serena Williams is still in the tournament and although Azarenka had a 26-match winning streak earlier this year, her record at major tournaments is not very impressive. She has only ever been to two major semifinals, and the first of those was at the 2011 Wimbledon. In fact, who was the opponent she beat to reach her first major semifinal? Tamira Paszek. Last year, Azarenka easily won in straight sets but this year Paszek is undefeated on grass, having won 9 matches in a row on the surface, which includes winning the Eastbourne warm-up tournament. But it's not just the fact that Paszek is playing well on grass that gives her an excellent chance for the upset against Azarenka, it is her mental toughness. In those 9 grass court matches this year she has faced match points down in three of them (against Marion Bartoli and Angelique Kerber at Eastbourne and against Wozniacki in the 1st round here). I really believe that Paszek feels like she can not lose. Unfortunately for her she will probably learn what Azarenka learned earlier this year: no streak lasts forever. PREDICTION: Azarenka. 

Serena Williams USA (6) vs.  Petra Kvitova CZE (4). This showdown between the 2011 Wimbledon champion and the 2010 Wimbledon champion is the marquee match of the tournament, not just of the quarterfinal round. Serena has never lost to Petra, having played her in the last two major tournaments she has won (2010 Australian Open in the 3rd round and in the 2010 Wimbledon semifinals). Kvitova has the power to out-hit almost any player off the court, but it is extremely doubtful that she can do that to the 13-time major champion. Serena has not been playing her best tennis, but she has been displaying her mental toughness by gutting out two consecutive three-set matches (6-7(5) 6-2 9-7 in the 3rd round and 6-1 2-6 7-5 in the 4th) with clutch serving and excellent defense powered by her superior grass-court movement. semifinals. Kvitova has been having an easier time of it, only having dropped one set, in her previous round against 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone. The Czech player is currently higher ranked, but no-one really thinks that seeding alone will determine who wins this match. I believe the most important factor is who wants it more,and at this point in her career that player is the older player. Regardless, the player who wins this match will almost certainly be the prohibitive favorite to win the title against anyone from the top half of the draw. PREDICTION: Williams.

2012 Wimbledon Day 5: Federer Passes 5-Set Test

Reuters

The day after the earth-shattering upset by World #100 Lukas Rosol from Czech Republic upsetting World #2 Rafael Nadal in the 2nd round everybody was wondering whether "upset fever" would be contagious among any of the other seeds. Encouraged by Rosol's success Julian Benneteau(29) and Radek Stepanek(28) nearly gave the Top 2 seeds as much as they could handle on their third round encounters. World #2 Roger Federer lost the first two sets and World #1 Novak Djokovic lost the first set in their matches but ended up winning. The seeds  that lost today were #8 Janko Tisarevich, #12 Nicolas Almagro,  #15 Juan Monaco, #17 Fernando Verdasco and #21 Milos Raonic.

On the women's side everyone who was expected to win did so, namely Maria Sharapova(1), Aggie Radwanska(3), Kim Clijsters, Angelique Kerber(8), Sabine Lisicki(15) and Maria Kirilenko.


Match of the Day: R. Federer SUI (3) d. J. Benneteau FRA (29) 4-6 6-7(3) 6-2 7-6(6) 6-1.
The 16-time major champion endangered his jaw-dropping streak of 32 Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances by flirting with disaster against the powerful Frenchman today. Benneteau played excellent tennis, staying close to Federer in the first set and sneaking away with it with one break. In the second set, Federer earned an early break but Benneteau was able to get the break back and again stay close, eventually pulling out the second set in a tiebreak. Now Federer had a tremendous task ahead of himself: coming back from 2-sets down to win a match at a major. He was able to step up his game and easily took the third set 6-2. In the fourth set, Benneteau was able to right the ship and was able to hold serve until the inevitable high-stakes tiebreak. The problem for Federer was that he was serving second in the 4th set so if his serve was broken it could mean sudden death; it turned out that five times he was two points from defeat but after a hard-fought tiebreak featuring amazing shotmaking Federer was able to win the 4th set, forcing a 5th set decider. Unfortunately, Beneteau's body betrayed him and he quickly succumbed 6-1 to lose his best chance to write his name in the history books. Interestingly, last year in the quarterfinals, Federer had been up 2 sets against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and never even earned a breakpoint in the last 3 sets in a stunning 5-set loss. This year the roles were reversed and Federer dropped the first two sets and then never faced a breakpoint in the final 3 sets, eventually winning.

Federer will have the entire weekend off and face Xavier Malisse in the 4th round and then either Denis Istomin or Mikhail Youzhny in the quarterfinals. Djokovic faces countryman Viktor Troicki in the 4th round and either Richard Gasquet or Florian Mayer in the quarterfinals. The #1 and #3 seeds are the only remaining players in the Top 16 in their half of the draw.

2012 Wimbledon Day 3: Stosur(5),Wozniacki(7) Lose

Paul Gilham/Getty Images

After a pretty uneventful Day 2 at the Wimbledon Championships, Day 3 turned out to be a bloodbath for some of the top seeds in the women's draw.  Reigning U.S. Open champion Samantha Stosur, the #5 seed, lost a very strange and streaky match versus Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands, 6-2 0-6 6-4 despite saving two match points! Stosur won 2 games, then lost 6 games, then won 6 games, was down 2-5 and managed to crawl back to on-serve at 4-5, 40-15 when she suddenly lost 3 points in a row and her place in the tournament.

Match of the Day: T. Paszek AUT d.  C. Wozniacki DEN (7) 5-7 7-6(4) 6-4.
But this was just an appetizer for what turned out to be the match of the day between Eastbourne winner Tamira Paszek and former World #1 (and current #7 seed) Caroline Wozniacki, a 1st round encounter that was carried over from Day 2. Paszek served for the 1st set at 5-4 but was broken and eventually lost the set 7-5. In the second set Wozniacki had double match point with Paszek serving 5-6, 15-40 but the Austrian player was fearless, dismissing both match points with screaming backhand down-the-line winners a
few centimeters from the lines. Paszek ended up winning the 2nd set in a tie-break. Wozniacki got the early break in the first game of the 3rd set and went up 2-0 but Paszek fought back to even up the set at 3-all. After holding serve to go up 4-3 in the final set on serve, Paszek broke Wozniacki and tried to serve out the match but was broken by good play from the Dane. However, when Wozniacki tried to hold serve she faced a single break point which was also match point and after a long stirring rally (one of many) Paszek won the match with another one of her 53 clear winners.

Amongst all this #11 seed Li Na was dismissed in straight sets. Kim Clijsters, Aggie Radwanska, Vera Zvonareva and Sabine Lisicki all won. Youngsters Sloane Stephens and Heather Watson also both reached the 3rd round. Maria Sharapova was unable to complete her match against Tsevetana Pironkova.

There were basically no upsets on the men's side, with Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, David Ferrer, Milos Raonic and Janko Tipsarevic all won, with Andy Roddick completing his 1st round win.