Beijing SF previews and pick: Djokovic vs. Murray, Berych vs. Klizan

October 4, 2014 Ricky Match previews 145

Murray 3Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray will renew their extensive rivalry in the Beijing semifinals on Saturday. Tomas Berdych and Martin Klizan are also seeking a place in the title match.

(1) Novak Djokovic vs. (6) Andy Murray

Djokovic and Murray will be facing each other for the 22nd time in their careers and for the third time this season when they collide in the semifinals of the China Open on Saturday. The head-to-head series stands at 13-8 in favor of Djokovic, who has taken both of their 2014 encounters. He prevailed 7-5, 6-3 at the Miami Masters and 7-6(1), 6-7(1), 6-2, 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open to improve to 11-6 lifetime against Murray on hard courts.

Bouncing back from a slow hard-court summer in the kind of fashion that anyone could have expected, Djokovic has improved to 22-0 for his Beijing career following straight-set victories this week over Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Vasek Pospisil, and Grigor Dimitrov. The top-ranked Serb is two wins away from a fifth title at this event. Murray reached the last four by taking out Jerzy Janowicz, Pablo Cuevas, and U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic. The 11th-ranked Scot has been getting better and better since a three-set struggle against Janowicz in round one. Murray’s quick work of Cilic was just what he needed on Friday, but he has still played a ton of tennis over the past two weeks and that is not likely help his effort to stop what has been an unstoppable force in Beijing.

Pick: Djokovic in 2

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(3) Tomas Berdych vs. (Q) Martin Klizan

Berdych and Klizan will be squaring off for the fourth time in their careers and for the third time at the ATP level. All three of their previous meetings have gone Berdych’s way; 6-3, 7-6(3) at the 2009 Prostejov Challenger, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 last year at Wimbledon, and 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 at this summer’s U.S. Open. The sixth-ranked Czech has not been outstanding of late, but he has been dominant in Beijing. Berdych booked his spot in the semis by rolling over Feliciano Lopez, Viktor Troicki, and John Isner in routine straight sets.

Klizan, meanwhile, is in the midst of a borderline miracle week. He trailed Xin Gao 6-4, 5-1 in the first round of qualifying and had to save three match points to stay alive. The 56th-ranked Slovak eventually qualified for the main draw, got past Leonardo Mayer and Ernests Gulbis, then stunned world No. 2 Rafael Nadal 6-7(7), 6-4, 6-3 on Friday. It has been a great run for Klizan, but it is always hard to follow up a monumental win especially with no day of rest in between matches.

Pick: Berdych in 2

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49 Comments on Beijing SF previews and pick: Djokovic vs. Murray, Berych vs. Klizan

      • Well, continuing with the symmetry: Djokovic has never beaten Rafa at Barcelona, so I do not expect Rafa to beat Djokovic at Beijing. However, Djokovic has beaten Rafa at Madrid (which follows Barcelona) so I expect Rafa to beat Djokovic at Shanghai, which follows Beijing!!! However, do not expect to see Francis Roig cavorting on a car in Shanghai after the feat………….*wink*

        Reply

    • I know, I know…….
      I am trying to be STRICLY correct: just talking about ATP events, making the comparison to Barcelona more apt.

      Reply

  10. Novak is far more consistent than Rafa ..that is the truth..Rafa from past 4 years (2011 onwards) has far too many ups and downs..u can expect shock losses from him which will hardly happen to Novak. Rafas confidence comes from lot of play unlike Novak who seems to settle into the groove easily.

    You can almost count on Novak to be in semis/finals 85% of the tourneys..we cant say that for Rafa at all (except 2013 where he surprised us all year except the 1st round exit in Wimby, he was there in semis and finals everywhere and ofcourse won 10 titles)

    Reply

      • Truth is always bitter to swallow..but the truth is NOVAK IS FAR MORE CONSISTENT THAN RAFA..and the results from past 4 years show that and only facts speak for themselves.

        Who cares if someone puts a dustbin pic..does not change the truth.

        I would have loved as a Rafa fan to see Rafa as consistent as Novak ..unfortunately is not meant to be and we have to put up with all the highs and lows. As long as he wins the critical bigger tourneys (read slams and Masters and WTF) ..I do not bother about the lows.

        Reply

      • I did not exclude 2013..I made a mention of it ..but 2011 onwards till 2014 ..why don’t u count the number of semis/finals Novak has made vs how many Rafa has made?

        Novak – 28 titles (10, 7,6,5 2011-2014) and 9 finalist appearances

        Rafa – 21 titles (3,4,10,4) and 15 finalist appearances

        If you add it is 37 Novak vs 36 Rafa , but then if you add semis also as business end..Novak will be far higher. Novak is far less prone to suffer shock exits.

        Numbers for Roger are 14 titles (4,6,1,3) and 13 finalist appearances.

        And if Rafa gets injured..does not mean we belittle Novaks consistency. It is to Novaks credit that he avoids injuries..I wish Rafa could.

        Reply

  11. I really loved watching Kei today..that guy is so great from both wings..he takes ball so early and quality of his winners is outstanding..If his health is good..he can do some serious damage.

    I place him above Grigor and Raonic in 2015 to cause some serious damage and make some serious noise.

    Reply

    • Rafa is nowhere in the running for no 1 this year..You know it too well enough 🙂

      Look at my post above. I am talking 2011-2014

      And please don’t bring Rafas injury to bail him out. If Novak can stay healthy and Rafa cannot, that is Rafas problem..he needs to find a way to stay healthy.

      Reply

      • Why exclude 2013? also, mathematically, Rafa can still be YE #1.

        2O12
        Rafa played half of the season
        4 titles 1 final

        Nole – full season
        6 titles 5 finals.

        There is no need to detail 2013 because everyone knows who did better that year. if you want to denigrate Rafa, you should be able to do better than that. It’s ridiculous to say Rafa’s time out should not be included because he can’t be expected th win matches if he is not playing.

        Reply

      • Where am I excluding 2013..I said 2011 to 2014 which includes 2013..All my stats are including 2013

        Rather than saying Rafa has a chance to finish 2014 as No 1 which will never happen, let us hope he hangs on to the No 2 atleast..I see that itself as a big risk.. This is Rogers strongest part of season and Rafas least favourite.

        No one is denigrating Rafa..you choose to see it that way.

        If Rafa gets injured that often..it is his fault..it is not Novaks who manages to stay healthy

        If Novak is far more consistent..that is to Novaks credit too..Rafa needs to do better at being consistent and not get bumped out by nobodys. Who is responsible for Rafa playing half seasons or 75% seasons? Rafa himself right..What matters is finally who won how many titles and made how many finals..history does not look at injury time etc..I am sure u know that 🙂

        Reply

      • Lordy da, just had a vision of @Sanju turning up at a recent Rafa training session (with Rafa’s right wrist in a splint btw) in Majorca wearing a Vamos Rafa t-shirt, holding a placard reading, “If you get injured often, it’s your damn fault. You need to find a way to stay healthy, signed: your truth-telling fan”.

        *shivers*

        Reply

  13. I’ll be happy if Rafa can manage to finish No. 2. He still trails Roger by more than 500 points in the Race.

    Shanghai will give us a better indication but as Rafa said himself, the remaining tournaments and the ball used don’t suit him well and he it’s treating the rest of the year almost like practice.

    #PractiseWeTalkinBoutPractise
    #HappyNewYearEverybody

    Reply

    • I don’t think Rafa will end the year as #1 all I’m saying is, that despite missing 2 Masters and 1 slam, it is still possible for him to end the year as #1. None of the others have been able to lock the #1 ranking. Rafa is only 285 points behind Federer in the race.

      Reply

    • Rafa is practically done with No. 1 chances for the year now trailing Nole by a whopping 1975 points in the Race.

      However, he is only 295 points behind Federer, closer than I’d thought) so he should be able to pass him by end of year but there are a lot of factors standing in his way ATM.

      Reply

  15. Tomáš BerdychVerified account @tomasberdych
    We saw great tennis from @DjokerNole /god’s performance/ congrats and well done!!See you in #shanghai

    Looks like someone sufficiently stretched his imagination.

    Now, who to believe.

    I know! My own eyes!!!!

    #2.0

    Reply

      • You need to work on your reading comprehension dear filter. Not what he said.

        He was referring to one match out of the 600 he’s played.

        That’s quite the wishful extrapolation you made there.

        #ReadingFilter

        Reply

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