Predicted Winners in BOLD Nishikori’s win was not a total shock, but it does send Roger into the clay court season only picking up 216 points in Miami rather than the 360 or more he would have added had he reached the semifinal round. That could be important for Wimbledon and French Open seeding. Rafael…
Category: Rafael Nadal
Masters Miami Predictions: March 24, 2014
Predicted Winners in BOLD Milos Raonic (12) vs. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez – This is no sure thing, I think Raonic wins. He likes the surface in Miami and that means a lot. Alexandr Dolgopolov (22) vs. Dusan Lajovic – Dolgopolov has been strong as of late. Tomas Berdych (7) vs. Joao Sousa – Cash the Big Czech for at…
Indian Wells Predictions March 10, 2014
Predicted Winners in BOLD [27] Dmitry Tursunov (RUS) v [7] Roger Federer (SUI) – I would not be shocked if the blogging Russian found a way to win a single set, but I think Federer advances. [1] Rafael Nadal (ESP) v [28] Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR) – A rematch of sorts, but I think Rafa wins unless Dolgopolov has a superhuman moment playing for his native Ukraine in…
Tennis Power Ranking 2014: Pre-Indian Wells
Second Tennis Power Ranking 2014 Not a lot has happened since Melbourne and that is about to change with two Masters 1000 events being played in succession Rafael Nadal – Rafa has won 2 events in 2014 and was runner-up at the first slam. He is a lock for the top spot right now. Stanislas…
Does Andujar’s Close Call Mean Something?
Pablo Andujar pushed Rafael Nadal to the limit in last week’s semifinal match in Rio. Andujar is not the young clay-court player I keep expecting to break onto the scene and make matches wars of attrition. He is actually older than Rafael Nadal. Still, It is a big deal for a baseline player to have…
The 5 Least Important Federer-Nadal Matches
A lot was made about the recent Australian Open match between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Notable tennis observers even called it a career defining match. Sometimes reality works out in ways that tennis analysts would not predict. Federer lost to Nadal again, but Rafa getting to 17 majors seems like a more uphill affair…
Australian Open 2014: Nadal vs. Wawrinka Championship Prediction
Rafael Nadal (ESP) [1] vs. Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) [8] Stan and the Tough Draw Nole got the Tough Draw When the draw was released it looked like Rafael Nadal would have a tough quarterfinal match with Juan Martin del Potro who had beaten him last fall. Stanislas Wawrinka’s two instant classic matches in 2013 against Novak Djokovic were overlooked….
Australian Open 2014: Nadal vs. Federer Prediction(!)
Rafael Nadal (ESP) [1] vs. Roger Federer (SUI) [6] With 30 majors between them, this is about as big as a semifinal can get. Rafa had a somewhat close straight set win over Kei Nishikori and then struggled with Grigor Dimitrov until the fourth set. Roger Federer has looked as sharp as he’s been since winning Wimbledon…
Australian Open 2014: Day 10 Men’s Predictions
Predicted Winners in BOLD Rafael Nadal (ESP) [1] vs. Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) [22] – I think Grigor may win a set. Winning 4 matches here bodes well for Grigor’s transition to the top tiers of tennis, but Rafa is very likely too much for Dimitrov at this time. Don’t be shocked if Rafa does what he did to Monfils….
Tennis Abides: Dan Martin on Tennis and Life 