BY MADPROFESSAH

I previously made predictions of the four women's quarterfinals and four men's quarterfinals and got 4 of 8 results correct at this year's French Open. The 2010 Roland Garros men's semifinals are now set.

Roger Federer SUI (1) Robin Soderling SWE (5) vs. Tomas Berdych CZE (15). Soderling loves Court Phillippe-Chatrier at Roland Garros. Last year he beat defending champion Rafael Nadal in the fourth round before losing to Roger Federer in the final. This year he beat defending champion Roger Federer in the quarterfinal and seems destined to reach his second consecutive Roland Garros final on the biggest clay court in the world. But there's someone who is even taller and serves bigger in the way of Soderling's dream: Tomas Berdych. Berdych has cut through the men's draw like the 6'5", 200 pound Czech scythe that he is, eliminating Andy Murray and John Isner along the way without dropping a set. Berdych recently had a career milestone when he finally beat Roger Federer for the first time in 9 matches(second time overall) in Miami in March. Soderling beat Federer for the first time of his career on Tuesday. The two have played 8 times overall, with Soderling holding a slim 5-3 lead in their career head-to-head match up. They have split the two matches they played this year, and they have split the two matches they have played on clay. In my mind, either Berdych will continue his rout of the field and win easily in straight sets (a low probability event) or he will start off hot and not be able to sustain his high level against someone like the powerful Swede who can match him toe-to-toe. Also, although this is Berdych's very first major semifinal, it is only Soderling's second, but this is also where Soderling outlasted Fernando Gonzalez in a very thrilling semifinal last year. I believe he will make it to the final for the second year in a row.

Getty

Spain's Nicolas Almagro eyes the ball after hitting a forehand to Spain's Fernando Verdasco during their men's fourth round match in the French Open tennis championship at the Roland Garros stadium, on May 31, 2010, in Paris.

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We have arrived at the final eight. MadProfessah has posted his predictions and we'll talk about them here as the action unfolds.

Conventional wisdom states that Elena Dementieva is the best active player on the WTA never to have won a slam. I reject that. That honor goes to Miss Nadia Petrova. No, she's never been to a Slam final, never won an Olympic Gold, but she has the most talent and most complete game of the non-Slam winners in the women's field. And she can serve. We know what her deadliest weakness is and I, for one, am hoping she can smother it this week and make her first Slam final.

I'm also rooting for Francesca Schiavone, one of the most imaginative players on the tour who fights to the bigger end. She'll have her work cut out for her against the backboard that his Caroline Wozniacki, but if the veteran can frustrate the youngster enough, she'll advance to her first Slam semifinal in the latter days of her career. What a story that would be.

As for the men, it probably goes without saying but I'll say it anyway: I wanna see Robin Söderling play Tomas Berdych in the semifinals. Let it be, let it be.

Schedule for Day 10: Tuesday, 1 June 2010

Court Philippe Chatrier 14:00 Start Time
1. Women's Singles - Quarterfinals
Francesca Schiavone (ITA)[17] v. Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)[3]
2. Men's Singles - Quarterfinals
Roger Federer (SUI)[1] v. Robin Soderling (SWE)[5]
3. Men's Doubles - Fourth Round
Marc Lopez (ESP)/Pere Riba (ESP) v. Wesley Moodie (RSA)/Dick Norman (BEL)[4]

Court Suzanne Lenglen 14:00 Start Time
1. Women's Singles - Quarterfinals
Elena Dementieva (RUS)[5] v. Nadia Petrova (RUS)[19]
2. Men's Singles - Quarterfinals
Tomas Berdych (CZE)[15] v. Mikhail Youzhny (RUS)[11]
3. Men's Doubles - Fourth Round
Lukasz Kubot (POL)/Oliver Marach (AUT)[6] v. Daniel Nestor (CAN)/Nenad Zimonjic (SRB)[2]

Court 1 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Doubles - Fourth Round
Lukas Dlouhy (CZE)/Leander Paes (IND)[3] v. Mariusz Fyrstenberg (POL)/Marcin Matkowski (POL)[8]
2. Women's Doubles - Fourth Round
Monica Niculescu (ROU)/Shahar Peer (ISR) v. Nuria Llagostera Vives (ESP)/Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (ESP)[2]
3. Mixed Doubles - Third Round
Vania King (USA)/Christopher Kas (GER) v. Tathiana Garbin (ITA)/Marcin Matkowski (POL)
4. Women's Doubles - Fourth Round
Kveta Peschke (CZE)/Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)[12] v. Alona Bondarenko (UKR)/Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR)

Court 2 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Doubles - Fourth Round
Marcelo Melo (BRA)/Bruno Soares (BRA) v. Julian Knowle (AUT)/Andy Ram (ISR)[10]
2. Girls' Singles - Second Round
Nastja Kolar (SLO)[4] v. Charlene Seateun (FRA)
3. Mixed Doubles - Third Round
Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ)/Julian Knowle (AUT) v. Cara Black (ZIM)/Leander Paes (IND)[2]

BY MadProfessah

Here are my predictions for the men's quarterfinals at Roland Garros in 2010.

Roger Federer SUI (1) vs. Robin Soderling SWE (5). This quarterfinal is a repeat of last year's final, which Federer won relatively easily in straight sets. Although Soderling has not beaten Federer in an official ATP Tour match in 12 tries, he did beat the World #1 at an exhibition earlier this year in Abu Dhabi and having beaten Rafael Nadal in what some people call the greatest upset ever, the tall, powerful Swede knows he has the game to end Federer's jawdropping streak of 23 consecutive major semifinals. In fact, this match is very important to Federer, not only due to the semifinals streak, but also because he needs to win it in order to be certain that he will break Pete Sampras' record of 286 weeks at #1 before Wimbledon. Federer has yet to drop a set in Paris this year, but I am sure that he will take the challenge posed by Soderling seriously, even though the 6'4", 195-pound ballcrusher has only ever won two tie-break sets against him. After all, it is very possible to never lose your serve and still lose the match! Some say that Federer is losing his edge now that he is a husband, father and broken the major singles title record. I disagree, even though the fact is that Federer has already lost 6 matches this year (to Nadal, Tomas Berdych, Ernests Gulbis, Marcos Baghdatis, Albert Montanes, and Nikolay Davydenko). Regardless, I think that there is an inexorable march towards another Nadal-Federer final. PREDICTION: Federer in 4 sets.

Tomas Berdych CZE (15) vs. Mikhail Youzhny RUS (11). Berdych has been playing really well this year, and made a huge mental breakthrough by finally ending his losing streak against Roger Federer earlier this year in Miami. He has been demolishing his way through the draw, not dropping a set despite playing good clay court players like John Isner and Andy Murray. Youzhny got lucky in the previous round since an injured Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was forced to retire after losing the first set. Although head-to-head Youzhny leads Berdych 6-4 in career ATP matches, I believe the in-form Czech will take out the (un)lucky Russian. PREDICTION: Berdych in 4 sets.

Jurgen Melzer AUT (22) Teimuraz Gabashvili RUS vs. Novak Djokovic SRB (3). Gabashvili blew Andy Roddick off the court in the 3rd round in straight sets, blasting forehands into the corners of the court and defly handing the American's deflated serve easily. However, he was unable to repeat this performance on the clay against the wily lefty veteran Melzer, who like Samantha Stosur on the women's side, had previously experienced success and fame on the doubles court and used that to build confidence on the singles court. Melzer was one of the few Top 30 players never to reach the fourth round of a major, and now he finds himself in a quarter playing Djokovic. The World #3 has had mental lapses in the second set in three of the four matches he has played at Roland Garros this year. If that happens again, perhaps Melzer can find a way to win the resulting best-of-3 match. All the pressure will be on the higher ranked player to reach a 3rd semifinal against Nadal, who took out the Serb in that round in 2007 and 2008. Roland Garros 2010 is looking like a replay of those years, with another Nadal-Federer final. PREDICTION:Djokovic in 4 sets.

Nicolas Almagro ESP (19) Fernando Verdasco ESP (7) vs. Rafael Nadal ESP (2). The Verdasco and Nadal played one of the best matches of the year (probably of the decade) in the semifinals of the 2009 Australian Open, a five-hour, thrilling slugfest that both competitors were ennobled simply by their participation, although of course there was only one winner (Nadal). Almagro dashed hopes for a reprise of that thrilling Melbourne showdown by taking out Verdasco in four sets. Although Almagro has never beaten Nadal on any surface in 6 attempts, he did start off the match very strong when they played the Madrid Masters semifinal. It i beyond belief that Almagro could maintain that level of play over 5 sets in Paris when he could not do it for 2 sets in Madrid. PREDICTION: Nadal in 4 sets.

by Craig Hickman


Reuters

Last night, Venus Williams rallied from 1-5 down in the final set to give herself a chance to defend another title while Nicolas Almagro failed in his attempt to pull a hat trick at the Albierto Mexicano Telcel. I didn't get to see much of it, but what about Juan Carlos Ferrero? Who's going to beat the old man on clay this spring?

Singles - Quarterfinals
[7] J Monaco (ARG) d [1] [WC] F Verdasco (ESP) 75 63
[2] F Gonzalez (CHI) d [Q] E Schwank (ARG) 36 63 75
[3] D Ferrer (ESP) d P Cuevas (URU) 75 64
[4] J Ferrero (ESP) d [6] N Almagro (ESP) 61 57 62

Doubles - Quarterfinals
[1] L Kubot (POL) / O Marach (AUT) d P Cuevas (URU) / F Gonzalez (CHI) 64 62
F Fognini (ITA) / P Starace (ITA) d [2] M Melo (BRA) / B Soares (BRA) 62 36 10-7
J Monaco (ARG) / H Zeballos (ARG) d [WC] S Gonzalez (MEX) / N Massu (CHI) 75 61

Women's Singles - Quarterfinals
(1) Venus Williams (USA) d. (Q) Laura Pous Tio (ESP) 46 63 75
(8) Polona Hercog (SLO) d. (2) Agnes Szavay (HUN) 64 01 ret. (left adductor strain)
(5) Carla Suárez Navarro (ESP) d. (3) Gisela Dulko (ARG) 61 76(4)
Edina Gallovits (ROU) d. Sharon Fichman (CAN) 75 62

Women's Doubles - Quarterfinals
(1) Hlavackova/Hradecka (CZE/CZE) d. (WC) Cirstea/Cornet (ROU/FRA) 57 75 106
(2) Uhlirova/Voracova (CZE/CZE) d. Fichman/Washington (CAN/USA) 75 61
(4) Hercog/Zahlavova Strycova (SLO/CZE) d. Osterloh/Tatishvili (USA/GEO) 75 62

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Delray Beach International Tennis Championships

Singles - Second Round
[2] I Karlovic (CRO) d D Brands (GER) 76(8) 76(6)
[3] B Becker (GER) d W Odesnik (USA) w/o (ankle)
[4] J Chardy (FRA) d S Giraldo (COL) 75 46 75
J Nieminen (FIN) d [5] E Korolev (KAZ) 57 61 60
[7] J Blake (USA) d R Haase (NED) 63 61
M Fish (USA) d M Zverev (GER) 62 64
E Gulbis (LAT) d T Gabashvili (RUS) 61 64

Doubles - Quarterfinals
B Becker (GER) / L Mayer (ARG) d R de Voest (RSA) / R Wassen (NED) 63 63
[WC] T Dent (USA) / R Harrison (USA) d J Cerretani (USA) / J Chardy (FRA) 63 76(4)

Doubles - First Round
[1] B Bryan (USA) / M Bryan (USA) d L Friedl (CZE) / D Skoch (CZE) 63 62
[WC] J Blake (USA) / R Kendrick (USA) d E Butorac (USA) / D Martin (USA) 63 64
J Nieminen (FIN) / B Reynolds (USA) d J Coetzee (RSA) / S Lipsky (USA) 63 46 10-7

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Malaysian Open

Friday, February 26, 2010

Singles - Quarterfinals
(1) Elena Dementieva (RUS) d. (7) Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK) 60 63
(4) Alisa Kleybanova (RUS) d. Anastasia Rodionova (AUS) 46 63 64
(6) Sybille Bammer (AUT) d. Chang Kai-Chen (TPE) 36 63 63
Ayumi Morita (JPN) d. Chanelle Scheepers (RSA) 63 75

Doubles - Semifinals
Rodionova/Rodionova (AUS/RUS) d. Dzehalevich/Malek (BLR/GER) 61 61

Doubles - Quarterfinals
(2) Chan/Zheng (TPE/CHN) d. Diatchenko/Scheepers (RUS/RSA) 64 64

by Craig Hickman


Mexsports

Richard Gasquet blew a 4-0 lead in the final set, saved 5 match points overall before succumbing to a determined two-time Abierto Mexicano Telcel defending champion in Nicolas Almagro. Quite a display of claycourt prowess from both sides of the net, but the player with the bigger gonads ultimately prevailed. Best match of the day.

Singles - Second Round
[1] [WC] F Verdasco (ESP) d L Kubot (POL) 64 63
[2] F Gonzalez (CHI) d V Hanescu (ROU) 76(2) 36 61
[3] D Ferrer (ESP) d T Bellucci (BRA) 64 61
[4] J Ferrero (ESP) d I Andreev (RUS) 64 63
[6] N Almagro (ESP) d R Gasquet (FRA) 36 75 76(7)
[7] J Monaco (ARG) d J Chela (ARG) 64 76(4)
P Cuevas (URU) d [8] A Montanes (ESP) 75 63
[Q] E Schwank (ARG) d S Greul (GER) 76(4) 63

Doubles - Quarterfinals
[3] M Damm (CZE) / F Polasek (SVK) d [WC] J Elizondo (MEX) / C Ramirez (MEX) 63 62

Doubles - First Round
J Monaco (ARG) / H Zeballos (ARG) d O Hernandez (ESP) / A Montanes (ESP) 62 75
F Fognini (ITA) / P Starace (ITA) d J Isner (USA) / S Querrey (USA) 63 64

Women's Singles - First Round
(1) Venus Williams (USA) d. Kaia Kanepi (EST) 64 64
(2) Agnes Szavay (HUN) d. Renata Voracova (CZE) 75 61
(3) Gisela Dulko (ARG) d. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) 75 61
(5) Carla Suárez Navarro (ESP) d. (Q) Catalina Castaño (COL) 61 46 62
Edina Gallovits (ROU) d. (6) Sara Errani (ITA) 64 57 64
(Q) Laura Pous Tio (ESP) d. (7) Roberta Vinci (ITA) 63 62
(8) Polona Hercog (SLO) d. Alizé Cornet (FRA) 62 64
Sharon Fichman (CAN) d. Mariya Koryttseva (UKR) 62 63

Women's Doubles - Quarterfinals
(4) Errani/Vinci (ITA/ITA) d. Mattek-Sands/Shaughnessy (USA/USA) 63 46 10-8

Women's Doubles - First Round
(1) Hlavackova/Hradecka (CZE/CZE) d. Domínguez Lino/Parra Santonja (ESP/ESP) 62 46 10-7
(4) Hercog/Zahlavova Strycova (SLO/CZE) d. Johansson/Védy (FRA/FRA) 75 61
Fichman/Washington (CAN/USA) d. Gallovits/Koryttseva (ROU/UKR) w/o (Koryttseva: low back injury)

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Delray Beach International Tennis Championships

Singles - Second Round
L Mayer (ARG) d [6] F Mayer (GER) 64 76(4)

Singles - First Round
[7] J Blake (USA) d T Dent (USA) 61 36 63

Doubles - First Round
P Marx (GER) / I Zelenay (SVK) d [3] R Hutchins (GBR) / J Kerr (AUS) 67(8) 61 10-8

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Malaysian Open

Singles - Second Round
(7) Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK) d. (WC) Noppawan Lertcheewakarn (THA) 64 75
(6) Sybille Bammer (AUT) d. Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB) 63 60
Chanelle Scheepers (RSA) d. Tatjana Malek (GER) 46 62 63
(7) Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK) d. (WC) Noppawan Lertcheewakarn (THA) 64 75

Doubles - Quarterfinals
Rodionova/Rodionova (AUS/RUS) d. (1) Kleybanova/Yan (RUS/CHN) 63 76(5)
(3) Kudryavtseva/Voskoboeva (RUS/KAZ) d. Borwell/Kops-Jones (GBR/USA) 62 76(3) 10-7
Dzehalevich/Malek (BLR/GER) d. (4) Amanmuradova/Kustova (UZB/BLR) 75 76(5)

That's what Sam Querrey and John Isner can say about their plans to get some claycourt matches under their belt at the Albierto Mexicano Telcel before traveling to Serbia for Davis Cup in the coming weeks.

Since both have played a lot of tennis of late, winning their first doubles title as a pair in Memphis on Sunday after contesting the singles final, this comes as no surprise, the court surface notwithstanding. Still, Querrey managed to get Fernando González to a third set breaker before bowing out in the first round, while Isner couldn't even manage to win a tiebreak in his straight-set defeat to German veteran Simon Greul.

Would love to have seen Richard Gasquet defeat Carlos Moya in three close sets on Monday. Up next for the Frenchman is defending champion Nicolas Almagro. Two exquisite one-handed backhands go at it later today.

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Singles - First Round
[1] [WC] F Verdasco (ESP) d F Fognini (ITA) 26 64 60
[2] F Gonzalez (CHI) d S Querrey (USA) 64 36 76(2)
[3] D Ferrer (ESP) d P Starace (ITA) 62 64
[4] J Ferrero (ESP) d [Q] D Junqueira (ARG) 62 63
S Greul (GER) d [5] J Isner (USA) 76(4) 75
[6] N Almagro (ESP) d D Sela (ISR) 61 76(0)
[7] J Monaco (ARG) d [Q] A Martin (ESP) 67(6) 75 62
[8] A Montanes (ESP) d D Gimeno-Traver (ESP) 75 46 62
P Cuevas (URU) d M Daniel (BRA) 16 75 76(8) - saved 3 M.P.
J Chela (ARG) d P Luczak (AUS) 60 16 60
V Hanescu (ROU) d F Gil (POR) 76(5) 63
I Andreev (RUS) d [Q] V Crivoi (ROU) 63 64
L Kubot (POL) d H Zeballos (ARG) 61 62

Doubles - First Round
[WC] S Gonzalez (MEX) / N Massu (CHI) d [4] J Brunstrom (SWE) / J Rojer (AHO) 62 67(2) 11-9
[WC] J Elizondo (MEX) / C Ramirez (MEX) d L Arnold Ker (ARG) / T Bellucci (BRA) 76(5) 46 10-8

Women's Singles - First Round
(1) Venus Williams (USA) d. Mathilde Johansson (FRA) 62 63
(3) Gisela Dulko (ARG) d. (Q) Lucie Hradecka (CZE) 61 26 61
(5) Carla Suárez Navarro (ESP) d. (Q) Greta Arn (HUN) 60 60
(7) Roberta Vinci (ITA) d. Arantxa Parra Santonja (ESP) 26 63 64
Kaia Kanepi (EST) d. (WC) Alejandra Granillo (MEX) 60 61
Edina Gallovits (ROU) d. (WC) Zarina Diyas (KAZ) 63 63
Mariya Koryttseva (UKR) d. Angelique Kerber (GER) 57 75 64
(Q) Catalina Castaño (COL) d. Klara Zakopalova (CZE) 57 64 75
(Q) Laura Pous Tio (ESP) d. Patricia Mayr (AUT) 26 62 61

Women's Doubles - First Round
(2) Uhlirova/Voracova (CZE/CZE) d. Craybas/Pelletier (USA/CAN) 76(8) 26 10-6
Errani/Vinci (ITA/ITA) d. (3) Dulko/Szavay (ARG/HUN) 63 63
Mattek-Sands/Shaughnessy (USA/USA) d. Kondratieva/Lefèvre (RUS/FRA) 62 61
Osterloh/Tatishvili (USA/GEO) d. Savchuk/Woerle (UKR/GER) 16 60 12-10
(WC) Cirstea/Cornet (ROU/FRA) d. (WC) Hermoso/Muñoz Gallegos (MEX/MEX) 61 60

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Delray Beach International Tennis Championships

Singles - First Round
[2] I Karlovic (CRO) d P Petzschner (GER) 63 76(3)
[3] B Becker (GER) d K Nishikori (JPN) 63 16 60
[4] J Chardy (FRA) d X Malisse (BEL) 63 76(5)
[6] F Mayer (GER) d [Q] N Lindahl 64 61
[7] J Blake (USA) vs T Dent (USA) 61 36 53 - to resume Wednesday
M Zverev (GER) d [8] M Russell (USA) 64 36 75
L Mayer (ARG) d [Q] K Anderson (RSA) 76(7) 76(2)
E Gulbis (LAT) d [Q] R Harrison (USA) 64 76(5)
R Haase (NED) d [Q] R Kendrick (USA) 76(4) 76(0)
M Fish (USA) d C Rochus (BEL) 57 63 33 ret. (back)
J Nieminen (FIN) d P Lorenzi (ITA) 63 64
D Brands (GER) d [WC] S Grosjean (FRA) 36 63 62
S Giraldo (COL) d [WC] V Spadea (USA) 62 63

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Malaysian Open
Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Singles - Second Round
(1) Elena Dementieva (RUS) d. Bojana Jovanovski (SRB) 62 63
(4) Alisa Kleybanova (RUS) d. Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS) 67(4) 63 64
Anastasia Rodionova (AUS) d. Ekaterina Ivanova (RUS) 62 62
Ayumi Morita (JPN) d. (WC) Yan Zi (CHN) 62 61

Doubles - First Round
(2) Y.Chan/Zheng (TPE/CHN) d. (WC) Basuki/Sema (INA/JPN) 61 36 103
(3) Kudryavtseva/Voskoboeva (RUS/KAZ) d. Chang/Klepac (TPE/SLO) 76(5) 63
Dzehalevich/Malek (BLR/GER) d. C.Chan/Rybarikova (TPE/SVK) 75 62
Borwell/Kops-Jones (GBR/USA) d. Jurak/Marosi (CRO/HUN) 76(5) 62

by Craig Hickman

The Uluru/Ayers Rock Award
For the player who emerged almost out of nowhere and glowed red at sunset



Nicolas Almagro for his late-match, red-hot surge against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the fourth round.

The Red Kangaroo Award
For the player who made the biggest leap



Marin Cilic finally jumped over Juan Martín del Potro at a Slam and landed in his first major semifinal. Too bad all his five-setters caught up with him after winning the first set against Andy Murray.

The Twelve Apostles Award
For the player who rose up to produce the most rock solid game amidst the imminent threat of being washed away



Serena Williams for yet another ledge-end-ary comeback Down Under against Victoria Azarenka in the quarterfinals.

The Koala Award
For the player you just wanted to pick up and hug



Zheng Jie after being stampeded by her idol in the semifinals.

The Great Barrier Reef Award
For the player who created the largest tectonic uplift in the draw



Nadia Petrova for severely eroding Kim Clijsters in the third round.

The Aboriginal Award
For the veteran player who achieved the most success with his native talents



Roger Federer's movement throughout this fortnight was surprisingly efficient. Wasn't that long ago I thought he'd lost a step. If his training regimen doesn't include some combination of ballet, tango/mambo, waltz, tap or Tai Chi, I'd be shocked.

The Tasmanian Devil Award
For the player who delivered the best nocturnal performance



Jo-Wilfried Tsonga against Tommy Haas in the third round.

The Outback Award
For the wildest match of the fortnight



Li Na def. Venus Williams 2-6, 7-6(4), 7-5, Quarterfinals

Venus opened as though she'd run through the match like a river. But the last set and a half was one exhausting expanse of barren terrain. How many times did you think it might never end? Arguably the ugliest televised match of the fortnight, it becomes an early frontrunner for worst match of the year.

The Three Dingoes Award
For the players who fell prey to their own hunting



Igor Andreev and Nikolay Davydenko for their gigantic chokes against Roger Federer in the first round and quarterfinals, respectively, and Alisa Kleybanova for her total collapse against Justine Henin.

And for a few of our more traditional awards:

Best Dressed
Lleyton Hewitt and Samantha Stosur, Australia



Reuters



Getty

Best WTA Match
Serena Williams def. Justine Henin 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, Final


Reuters

I didn't realize how riveting was this tug of war between two of the tour's most decorated champions till watching it a second time.

Best ATP Match (Tie)
Juan Martín del Potro def. James Blake 6-4, 6-7(3), 5-7 6-3 10-8, Second Round


Reuters

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Nicolas Almagro, 6-3 6-4 4-6 6-7(6) 9-7, Round of 16


Reuters

Both featured one tiebreak and went into overtime in the fifth set. Both featured surprisingly exquisite performances from the losing warriors. Both could have continued for another hour. The electrifying tennis sticks in my memory like good preaching.

Speaking of preaching.
I need a day of rest.
At least.

See you when I see you.

by Mad Professah

I predicted the results of 3 of the 4 the men's quarterfinals correctly but only 1 of 4 of the women's quarterfinals correctly. I have already written my women's semifinals preview. Here is my preview of the men's semfinals in the 2010 Australian Open:

Roger Federer SUI (1) vs. Novak Djokovic SRB (3) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga FRA (10). For the twenty-third consecutive time, Roger Federer is in a major grand slam semifinal. Let me say that again. 23 times in a row. That is nearly 6 years of every slam. The next closest total is Ivan Lendl with 10. Federer has also been in the last 17 of 18 major finals (winning 11); his only slip-up was two years ago here in Melbourne, to Novak Djokovic, who ended up winning the tournament against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the 2008 final. Tsonga got his revenge last night by beating the Serbian , a result which I welcome but did not expect or predict. "Jo-Willie" really seems to enjoy the big lights and enthusiastic crowd down in Australia and they bring out the best tennis in the charismatic, hard-hitting Frenchman. Just to get to this point, Tsonga has had to win two tough 5-set matches (his first ever!), most particularly the 4th Round thriller against Nicolas Almagro where he had to recover from "being two sets to none up" (as Mary Carillo quipped earlier this week) and ended up winning the match 6-3 6-4 4-6 6-7(6) 9-7. Against Djokovic, the Frenchman played two very close sets and only ended up winning one of them and then went "on walkabout" during the third set before Djokovic's physical ailments seem to weigh down the Serb's game more and more until it finally collapsed completely in a 7-6(8) 6-7(5) 1-6 6-3 6-1 loss.

The match-up between Federer and Tsonga is an interesting (and exciting) one. They have only played twice (in the last two years), both times on hard courts and the score is tied 1-1. I well remember their meeting at the ATP Masters Series during the Montreal massacre last year because Tsonga lost 10 games in a row and was down 5-1 in the third set before coming back to win in a decisive tie-breaker. Federer showed with his tight 2-6 6-3 6-0 7-5 dismissal of a more energized Nikolay Davydenko for the 13th time in 15 matches that he does not like to lose to the same person in consecutive matches. I personally will be happy with whomever wins this match, there's no one left in the tournament that would annoy me if they claimed the title.
MadProfessah's pick: Federer in 4 sets OR Tsonga in 5 sets.


Marin Cilic CRO (14) vs. Andy Murray GBR (5).This is Andy Murray's year. Unless it's not. On paper, the Scotsman sports head-to-head advantages over all of the remaining semifinalists (6-4 against Federer, 2-1 against Tsonga and 3-1 against his semifinal opponent, Marin Cilic) and should be the favorite for the 2010 Australian Open men's title. He was in the process of imposing his will on the defending champion Rafael Nadal before the Spaniard said ¡No Más! trailing 6-3 7-6(2) 3-0. Murray is yet to drop a set in the tournament, the only player on either side of the draw to do so. Cilic on the other hand last beat Murray the last time they played, in New York, handily 7-5 6-2 6-2. However, here in Melbourne Cilic has played three 5 set matches and a 4-set match to reach his first major semifinal, but the quality of his opponents has been substantially higher than Murray's: 2009 defending US Open champion Juan Martín del Potro, 2009 Wimbledon finalist Andy Roddick and the always wily Fabrice Santoro in the first round. That being said, I think that Murray has both the game and the will to win this match and one more. MadProfessah's pick: Murray in 4 sets.

Reuters

Julien Benneteau of France reacts after defeating Roger Federer of Switzerland in the Paris Masters tennis tournament November 11, 2009.

::

Another day, another outstanding performance by a native son.

First time I saw Julien Benneteau strike a ball was back in 2004. He was beating the crap out of eventual runner-up Guillermo Coria in the third set of their round of 16 at Miami. He had all the shots and was using them viciously.

And then he choked.

Since then he hasn't done anything significant except upset a top player at this or that event. But he's got the weaponry and if he's inspired, he's more than dangerous.

Today was Roger Federer's turn to feel the sting of the French underachiever. And the world No. 1 didn't play poorly. He seemed a bit shell shocked with a tendency toward tentative, but he wasn't flailing like he does when's he's completely disinterested or befuddled.

He wanted to win this match.

But Bennetau let the crowd lift him over the finish line, just as his compatriot the day before. He served brilliantly, retrieved like a backboard, and outsmarted Raja when it mattered most. He wept after victory. Sat down in his chair, cradled his face in his hands.

And wept.

::

I'm still trying to decide if the all-Spanish affair that took more than three hours to complete was the worst match I've seen on the ATP in 2009.

Rafal Nadal played like an amateur. Nicolas Almagro choked like a headcase:

Five. Match. Points.

I don't think I've seen anything like it.

::


Reuters

Marat Safin of Russia reacts during his match against Juan Martín Del Potro of Argentina in the Paris Masters tennis tournament November 11, 2009.

::

The Mercurial One bid tennis farewell. The newly crowned US Open champion ended his idol's career.

Poetry.

::

Singles - Second Round
J Benneteau (FRA) d [1] R Federer (SUI) 36 76(4) 64
[2] R Nadal (ESP) d N Almagro (ESP) 36 76(2) 75 - Saved 5 M.P.
[3] N Djokovic (SRB) d J Monaco (ARG) 63 75
[4] A Murray (GBR) d J Blake (USA) 62 67(3) 76(4)
[5] J Del Potro (ARG) d [WC] M Safin (RUS) 64 57 64
[9] R Soderling (SWE) d I Karlovic (CRO) 64 76(6)
[10] F Gonzalez (CHI) d J Isner (USA) 75 76(3)
[12] M Cilic (CRO) d [Q] L Kubot (POL) 67(3) 64 62
[13] R Stepanek (CZE) d V Troicki (SRB) 64 60
[14] T Robredo (ESP) d T Berdych (CZE) 64 64
[15] G Monfils (FRA) d [Q] D Guez (FRA) 64 75
[Q] A Clement (FRA) d [16] T Haas (GER) 57 63 76(8) - Saved 1 M.P.

Doubles - Second Round
S Aspelin (SWE) / P Hanley (AUS) d [3] M Bhupathi (IND) / M Knowles (BAH) 64 67(6) 10-7
[8] F Cermak (CZE) / M Mertinak (SVK) d B Soares (BRA) / K Ullyett (ZIM) 63 64
J Kerr (AUS) / T Parrott (USA) d [4] L Dlouhy (CZE) / L Paes (IND) 67(5) 64 10-5
M Granollers (ESP) / T Robredo (ESP) d [5] W Moodie (RSA) / D Norman (BEL) 64 75
[7] M Fyrstenberg (POL) / M Matkowski (POL) d J Brunstrom (SWE) / J Rojer (AHO) 64 76(5)