US Open Mens Finals

Well only 2 of my predicted Semi-Finalists made it to the final four. But, with such depth in men's tennis these days, the only safe bets to predict the last four standing are Federer and Nadal. And that may not be for long. The Men's Finals is about to start in a couple of hours. It did not turn out to be the glamorous Fed-Rafaa finals matchup as many predicted. Its gonna be Federer vying for his record 6th consecutive US Open title against the kid from Argentina, Juan Martin Del Potro.

No doubt Federer is going to be prepared for the big game, as he always is. It will be interesting to see how ready will Del Potro be in his first ever grand slam finals. As I had already mentioned in one of my previous posts, I had high hopes for Del Potro, barely 20 yrs of age, in this tournament and with Murray out of the way, he made his way through Cilic and then the injured Rafaa to reach here. Now that Rafa is not in the finals, I am rooting for the Argentine to unseat the champ out of his throne. His fitness issues may not be a hindrance because of all the rain delays and the short match against Rafa, giving Juan enough rest for the biggest game of his life yet.

Juan has bursted out to the forefront ahead of schedule. His already exciting game has been improving all along, with a better serve now than a few months ago, and his already killer forehand is touted to have an upside (hard to imagine eh?). Even if he fails to beat Roger today, we will see a newer version of Del Potro next season, who will be a legit contender right from the start. So watch out you guys at the top, there's a new threat in the horizon in men's tennis. Its well known he has the talent to beat anyone in men's tennis, but today is his first test of mental strength. Ability is one thing, but to actually execute against Roger at the big stage is another thing. Hope he has a little bit of the Rafa fight inside him.

Prediction:

I know you possibly cannot pick against King Roger. But I'm willing to go out on a limb and pick Del Potro for the upset. The way I see it, Juan is not going to be an underdog for long. I am not gonna miss the chance to pick him as an underdog. But one thing I can be sure of, we are about to witness some fine artistry on the court by Federer and some sweet shot making from Del Potro.

My call: Del Potro beats Roger in 4 sets.

END OF GAME UPDATE:(6:20 pm PST) Well, I was off by a set ....... but i'll take credit. But seriously, what a display of strokes as well as mental resurgence from both players. I was more so impressed by Del Potro considering it was the biggest stage of his life yet and he was clearly shook up and stream-rolled by Federer till the middle of the 2nd set. And it was against Roger.....not too many people can come back from a deficit to beat him especially in a grand slam final. Rafa is the only one to beat Roger in a Grand Slam event the last 4-5 years. Welcome to the Big Boy's club of men's tennis Juan. And Andy Murray needs take a lesson or two from Del Potro on composure at the big stage.

US Open 2009 Preview

Not in the last few years has the men's field of grand slam tennis been so deep. You can pick a handful of players (or maybe more) who have a legitimate claim to the Championships at Flushing Meadows this year. Here's a preview of the top contenders (my pick for the 4 semi-finalists) and my predictions of the second week of the tourney.


Roger Federer

Roger is the No.1 seed and the de facto favorite to win the whole thing. It is hard to imagine that only earlier this year up till a couple months after the Australian Open, he seemed to have lost his mojo and was written of by almost everyone to win at the big stage again. Then came Roland Garros and a few lucky breaks (like no Nadal waiting for him at the finals) and he finds himself trying to win his third major in a row. What a turn of events for the 15 time Grand Slam Champion. He and many others must like his chances to pad up that Grand Slam count to untouchable realms (maybe it already is). His quarter in the draw should be no threat for him, with Davydenko or Sordeling being his potential Quarter Fianl opponent. And his Semi-Final opponent will come from Andy Roddick / Djokovic quarter of the draw.




Andy Murray

The No.2 seed this year is the Scott. He has had a good hard court season this year leading up to the US Open, bagging a couple of Masters' trophies en route. He was the runner-up last year, the finals no-show of 2008 probably being due to the first time finalist nervous jitters. But this year he seems to be ready for his big day. He should have smooth sailing through to his quarters, where he might have to face Del Potro or Giles Simon. And a potential Semi Final with Nadal. Murray is my pick to go all the way. But, he may have a few roadblocks to take care of to win the first major of his young career. This kid has what it takes.

Rafa Nadal

Rafa is trying to make his comeback after his rather long injury / rehab break due to his knee tendenitis. He is not yet up to the mark he would want to be, but I would never write him off. This guy is a warrior on court. It is never over till its over with him. If he manages to take the title this year, he would be the second player to complete the career grand slam in 2009 after Roger took the French earlier this year. How historic would that be? But it's a long way before we can think of that. He is the No.3 seed and has a bunch of dark horses in his quarter of the draw - Gasquet, Tsonga, Monfils to name a few. And has a potential semi-final matchup with Murray (who is my favorite to win the whole thing).

Andy Roddick

Roddick is the No. 5 seed this year. But he has a whole lot of momentum flowing with him while attempting to win his 2nd US Open title. His epic Wimbledon finals with Roger is still fresh in the minds of many of us. Never has a grand slam final loss been a good thing for a player before it happened to Andy. He took a lot from his valiant effort at Wimbledon and had a good efficient summer of tennis. If nothing else, he has become a better stronger player after the Wimbledon classic. He is in probably his best physical condition in a long time and has the ability to go deep this time at the US Open. His quarter of the draw has Djokovic, with a potential clash of the 2 in the quarters. If he and I would expect him to get through that, he would have a semi-final matchup with Roger. And wouldn't that be a potential classic; a rematch of their epic final weeks ago?

The above 4 are my picks to make it to the Semi's as of now. The dark horses in my opinion are:

Juan Martin Del Potro

Seeded No.6, this is the new kid on the block. He could be the Andy Murray of last year going deep into the 2nd week, ahead of schedule in his career. He has improved his serve and has tremendous upside to his already flashy game. His forehand is unreal and with a little adjustment can be the best in the game, which is a lot to say with so many big forehands already in the tennis circuit ala Roger, Gonza, Nadal etc. His biggest problem is his fitness, which has improved over the last year, but may not be good enough to last through two entire weeks of grand slam tennis. Moreover, he would have to beat Murray in the Quarters to go deep, which would be a tall ask, but is not out of his reach pending the fitness aspect.

Novak Djokovic

Novak has had a strong hard court summer, but not successful enough to be a threat at the Open. He will bring his usual solid game match after match, but I do not think he has that little extra to topple the other big guns. I do not expect him to come out of his quarter if he meets Roddick in the Quarter-Final as the seeding would draw them.

My Sleepers: Jo Tsonga, Fernando Verdasco, Gael Monfils, Tommy Haas, Fernando Gonzales, James Blake


Quarter-Final Predictions

Quarter-Final 1: Roger Fedrer beats Mikhail Youzhny
Quarter-Final 2: Andy Roddick beats Novak Djokovic
Quarter-Final 3: Rafa Nadal beats Fernando Gonazales
Quarter-Final 4: Andy Murray beats Juan Martin Del Potro

Will update or write up a new post come semi-finals time.

Wimbledon Finale!

Wow!! What can I say? ....time to eat my own words?? Although I subconciously knew any 2 of the four semi-finalists, I must admit, I didn't see Murray going down to Roddick.

On the face of it, looks like Federer is well on his way to no. 15. I have a feeling, it aint gonna be so easy. Roddick is playing some inspired tennis right now. To take out the local kid who kinda was my favorite to go all the way is no joke. He seems to be a different player than the young angry restless player who wanted to prove a point to people that he belonged in the big stage. But now, in his own words (paraphrased of course), he has reached a comfort level to his place in the tennis heirarchy. It may not seem to be a big deal. But it really is....think of all the pressure off his shoulders...albeit pressure he put on himself. He knows who he is, and you are not gonna see him trying too much on the court, trying to blow Federer off the court, which he has learnt the hard way is a futile strategy. He is gonna take his shots with that big forehand... but he isn't going to try too hard and give away too many unforced errors.

I probably lost my cred with my semi-final predictions. I'm gonna go main stream here and change my finals prediction (duh...I didn't even have the right 2 players). I am gonna go with the general consensus: Federer in 4 sets. But we might be sorry if we don't tune in. We could be in for a surprize!

UPDATE (July 7, 2009: after the finals): What an epic battle? I never thought any finals could top last years in terms on-court drama ..... i think this one just did. (Last years still is high up on off-court drama since it was Rafa vs Fed). I don't mean to gloat about this, but just as I had expected, Roddick showed up against Federer. The quality of tennis late into the 5th set is testament to the physical fitness of the 2 players ...... ridiculous! So now Fed has his 15th .... and hopefully Roddick can carry this form into the hard court season through to the US Open. And the debate about Federer's greatness (GOAT) still goes on ......

Wimbledon Final Four Preview

The Championships at Wimbledon ..... this year I expect the semi-final match-ups and possibly the finals to be as intriguing as the feel for the mid-summer classic tournament itself. As a fan of tennis, I love watching the game being played on the green pastures (not so green now...towards the end of the 2nd week with all the wear and tear), especially what a sight it is on Hi-def. The red clay of Roland Garros comes a close second (talking just about the mystic view of the court ... not quality of tennis per se).

I am going to talk about only the men's side here. This year all of the four semi-finalists seem to have a chip on their shoulders. Not only is each one of them playing exceptional tennis heading into the final weekend of the Championships, but all of them have, what you may say unfinished business, especially cause its wimbledon.

Let me start with the dark horse of the 4 here - Tommy Haas. He is a 13-14 year vet who has many a times knocked at the door at the semi-final level of slams, but has never been able to take that next step. Not that he is'nt talented enough, for he can beat anybody when he is at his best (yes...including Federer). Add to this his consistent bouts of injuries all through his career, its fair to say he had a very limited window to really show off at slams. But this time, it might be different. Haas seems to be playing with a purpose now. He knows that window is fast closing on him to win a slam. Recently at the french open, he almost busted the fairy tale story of Federer winning the French...... leading him 2 sets to 0 in the quarters, only to see an epic comeback from the Fed. He was that close, and now he gets another chance....this time in the semis. Federer may be more comfortable on grass than clay (which is an understatemnt :)).... but the same goes with Haas. All I can say is ...watch out Fed!! Haas has always been a thorn on Federer's path, grabbing a set or 2 from Federer in slams, even when Federer was stream-rolling through his draws at his peak. Their head-to-head record may not tell you the whole story.

Talking about Federer, his quest of pocketing grand slams is just ridiculous....well on his way to No.15 and that too on his favorite surface. With every win, he is just bolstering the case to be annointed the "Greattest of all time" (GOAT). Some people have already made up their mind that he has reached that point, although I still think he has ways to go to be the undisputed GOAT. Right now, he seems to be at the top of his game. But one thing different now than in 2005-06 is that his opponents beleive in their heads that they have a chance. Back in 05-06, Federe won his games on paper...guys just pshyched out before they even played him. Rafa was probably the only one with immunity to that effect. Now guys do not have that fear. They think they can win everytime they take the court against Fed, especially Djokovic and Murray. So I think Federer has his hands full. But, hey....this is home....he is not gonna let anyone take it without a fight. If I had to bet on the number of sets for the Haas-Federer semi-final (considering the line being 4).....I confidently take the over. It could turn out to be a classic.

Andy Roddick has been exceptional this tournament. He had to sweat it out against Hewitt in the previous round, but getting through that just shows A-Rod is mentally ready. He has his own tryst with Wimbledon. Roddick's game is tailor-made for grass. But for a man named Federer, he may have won 3-4 slams here. Kind of like how Rafa was there at the french for Federer. Could the tables turn this time around? Just like Federer breaking through at the French, could this be Roddick's turn to return the favor? Well...he has to get through a bloke named Murray first.

Andy Murray..... never in my lifetime has a brit player had a legitimate credible chance at the wimbledon. This kid knows his way on the grass and he's been phenomenal the last 2 weeks. If he can get past Roddick, he should like his chances against Federer. After all he has owned Federer of late (Head to Head Murray is up 6-2). But its a whole different story playing at Federer's home (the center court at wimbledon). If it turns out to be a Murray - Federer final another angle to the story will have to be the crowd. We all know they love Federer. But will they root against their local kid?? Will be interesting to notice the crown sentiment if such a final pans out.

My Predictions:

Semi-final 1: Murray def. Roddick
Semi-final 2: Federer def. Haas

Final: Murray def. Federer

I know I'm going out on a limb here predicting an upset in the final ..... but hey it just feels that way!

I'll try update a final's preview if I can get to it before Sunday.