Indian Wells 2015: Friday 13th ATP Predictions

Predicted Winners in BOLD Sam Querrey (USA) vs Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) H2H – Home town mojo helps Sam Nick Kyrgios (AUS) vs [WC] Denis Kudla (USA) H2H – Kudla could be a bracket buster, but the slowness of the surface will probably hurt Kudla’s ability to hold serve.  Put this match in Newport, RI and I’d pick Kudla….

Tennis Analogs for NCAA Sweet 16 Teams

As a Kentucky native, I grew up loving basketball.  When my Skyhook was not matched with a 7’2″ frame, I began to drift toward other sports.  In 1985 at 9 years of age, I saw Boris Becker win Wimbledon.  I was hooked.  To be able to combine ATP Tennis with the NCAA Sweet 16 is…

2013 China Open Semifinal Predictions

Predicted Winners in BOLD [4] Tomas Berdych (CZE) v [2] Rafael Nadal (ESP) H2H – I actually do not think Berdych is a bad pick here as he could win, and Rafa is due for a loss.  Still, until Rafa loses or his knees look shaky, I think Rafa has to be favored in any match at the moment. [1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) v [5] Richard Gasquet (FRA) H2H – Richard…

Raonic vs. Berdych Prediction

Milos Raonic was runner-up in Montreal and lost a tight round of 16 match at the US Open.  The big Canadian may be cementing his spot in the top 15 in the world.  Tomas Berdych reached the semifinal round in Cincinnati and also lost in the round of 16 at the US Open.  Each man…

Why Top 8 May Be the Same as Top 4 for Federer going Forward

Top 4 Matters So Long as … Staying in the Top 4 matters so long as the other 3 members of tennis’ big 4 remain in their top 4 slots.  It is a bit like the Prisoner’s Dilema in which each player benefits from the other three banking ranking points.  However, if one of the…

PEDs: Lance Armstrong & MLB’s Lessons for Tennis

Performance Enhancing Drugs have made minimal news in the world of tennis. Major League Baseball begins considering MLB Hall of Fame credentials from players from the gaudy steroid era (juiced ball explanations ran afoul).  Cycling has Lance Armstrong possibly coming clean due to any number of first person accounts rendering plausible deniability moot.  Cycling and…