Three of the top four seeds are through to Saturday’s semifinals in Rotterdam, with the lone impostor being No. 8 Gilles Simon. The Frenchman is joined in the last four by Tomas Berdych, Milos Raonic, and Stan Wawrinka.
(4) Stan Wawrinka vs. (2) Milos Raonic
Raonic and Wawrinka will be doing battle for the fourth time in their careers when the clash in the semifinals of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament on Saturday. Wawrinka is sweeping the head-to-head series 3-0, including 2-0 on hard courts. They most recently met last spring on the clay of Monte-Carlo, where the Swiss prevailed 7-6(5), 6-2 on his way to the title. Wawrinka’s two hard-court victories came in 2012 (2-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 in Cincinnati) and 2013 (7-6(2), 6-4 in Shanghai).
Both men have run into a decent amount of trouble en route to the Rotterdam semis. Wawrinka needed three sets to get past Jesse Huta Galung and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez before beating Gilles Muller 7-6(3), 6-3 on Friday. Raonic overcame Andrey Kuznetsov in three, rolled over Simone Bolelli, then edged Sergiy Stakhovsky 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the quarters. The Canadian, who has always struggled against top competition, cannot afford serving lapses like he endured in the first two sets against Stakhovsky. Rotterdam’s indoor surface should help him, but Wawrinka carries plenty of successful experience of handling his opponent’s huge deliveries.
Pick: Wawrinka in 3
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(8) Gilles Simon vs. (3) Tomas Berdych
Berdych and Simon will be facing each other for the 10th time in their careers when they collide again on Saturday. Simon leads the head-to-head series 6-3, including 5-3 on either hard courts or carpet. They most recently squared off last fall at the Shanghai Masters, where Simon wore down the Czech en route to a 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-0 victory. Berdych last prevailed 6-7(5), 6-2, 7-5 at the 2013 Bangkok event, thus leveling their indoor matches at two wins apiece.
It has already been an unexpectedly successful week for Simon, who took care of and Jeremy Chardy before having to face nemesis Andy Murray. The Frenchman tweeted that nobody will beat him 13 times in a row and he made good on his word by ending a 12-match losing streak to Murray with a 6-4, 6-2 upset. Berdych has been one of the most consistent–and best–players in 2015. The world No. 7 reached the final in Doha and the semis at the Australian Open and so far in Rotterdam has defeated Tobias Kamke, Andreas Seppi, and Gael Monfils. Simon’s backboard baseline play has troubled Berdych in the past, but right now the favorite is playing like he can hit through anything.
Pick: Berdych in 2
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If Seppi’s A game can take a set of Berdych here then Simon’s can take at least that. Should be a little too much firepower from Berdych in the end though. 6-4, 5-7, 6-3
Congratulations to me
I like Raonic in 3 and Berdych in straight…but both could be fun matches to watch!
I was very impressed with Milos yesterday coming from a set down although Sta’vsky kind of lost his way after the 1st set making too many errors, still nothing should be taken away from Milos.
Berdych supreme. Simon a bit off his game, but the Birdman is flying so high I doubt anyone can touch him this week.
This match is actually on Milos’ racquet if he plays his best tennis.
Problem is that’s a big if.
The problem is that it will be on his racket.
Funny because it’s true.
Ricky, how’s about doing me a big favor and removing those two posts of mine on Rafa’s page I asked you to?
Why would a post need to be removed?
They don’t need to be removed per se.
I really regret that I posted those two in particular and I was just hoping you’d respect my request in this particular case. That’s all.
i don’t feel like going to look for them
ah.
I found them for you.
https://tenngrand.com/social/player-pages/rafael-nadal/comment-page-48/#comment-182710
https://tenngrand.com/social/player-pages/rafael-nadal/comment-page-47/#comment-182707
Hawkeye, why do you regret posting those pictures?
I hadn’t realized the extreme sadness in Rafa’s eyes and hate being reminded of it.
As I said when he lost, for me, it was his saddest loss.
I’m sorry I posted it.
You have to decide on which side you are on then you won’t get all tangled up with where your loyalties lie.?
I choose occasional mistakes and regret over blind fandom any day.
‘Blind’ is superfluous to fandom. The word ‘fan ‘ is a derivative of fanatic and by it’s definition is blind. You are either a fan or you’re not; there is no halfway house.
That’s what an extreme Islamist would say..
So some of us are Rafa fundamentalists are we??
You said it, not me.:)
Oops! The conspirator made a mistake! 😳
And therein lies the difference. Extremism is incapable of admitting a mistake.
Milos played far from his best in the critical opportunities he had in the match which is why he lost.
He’s getting better overall though. Ljubicic has done incredible work with him.
https://twitter.com/TennisTV/status/566694333240598528
Yup.
Sampras: Serve-and volley “pretty much extinct”; Raonic close to major
“He’s getting close,” Sampras said. “He has the monster serve, he’s very competitive and he moves well for a big man. If he has a fault, it’s trying to go for the big shot, when it’s not there. He needs to find his rhythm out there, when he’s not hitting the ball great, knowing how to throttle it back a touch. That should come with more experience.”
http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2015/02/sampras-serve-and-volley-pretty-much-extinct-raonic-close-major/54066/#.VN_Ztyn89G6
Raonic does show signs of all court improvement but he is not able to sustain it for long under pressure. He still relies heavily on his serve.
https://twitter.com/ATPWorldTour/status/566770511448113152