Andy Murray’s winning streak will be put to the test against Milos Raonic in the Cincinnati semifinals on Saturday. Marin Cilic and Grigor Dimitrov are also aiming for a place in the title match.
(1) Andy Murray vs. (4) Milos Raonic
It will be a rematch of the Wimbledon final when Murray and Raonic square off in the semis of the Western & Southern Open on Saturday evening. Not only does Murray boast a current 21-match winning streak overall, but he has also won six in a row at Raonic’s expense dating back to the fall of 2014 after taking care of the Canadian 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-6(2) to lift the trophy at the All-England Club. What was once a 3-1 advantage in the head-to-head series for Raonic is now a 7-3 deficit.
There is, however, ample reason to think Murray’s streaks may end. He is making a quick turnaround following another gold medal-winning performance at the Olympics, where he outlasted Juan Martin Del Potro in a four-hour final just last Sunday. The second-ranked Scot has advanced in Cincinnati with victories over Juan Monaco, Kevin Anderson, and Bernard Tomic. While Murray was toiling away in Rio de Janeiro, Raonic rested up for this week. That decision has paid off in the form of convincing wins over John Isner, Yuichi Sugita (dropped a set but took the others 6-1, 6-1), and Dominic Thiem. The fast conditions in Cincinnati should help Raonic dictate play with his serve and forehand and run Murray just enough for the tour’s hottest player to finally run out of gas.
Pick: Raonic in 3
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(12) Marin Cilic vs. Grigor Dimitrov
Cilic and Dimitrov will be facing each other in a second consecutive tournament when they meet again on Saturday. Their third career encounter came just last week at the Olympics, where Cilic cruised through a first-round affair 6-1, 6-4. He is a perfect 2-0 against Dimitrov on outdoor hard courts, but the Bulgarian scored a 7-6(3), 7-6(2) indoor victory last fall at the Paris Masters. Although Dimitrov got off to a slow start this season, he appears to be turning things around just in time for the U.S. Open. After reaching the quarterfinals of the Rogers Cup, the world No. 34 has gone one step further in Cincinnati thanks to defeats of Gilles Simon, Feliciano Lopez, Stan Wawrinka, and Steve Johnson.
Aside from blowing a two-set lead to Jack Sock in a Davis Cup quarterfinal rubber, Cilic does not have any bad losses since early June. The 14th-ranked Croat was a semifinalist at Queen’s Club, a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon, and he is coming off a third-round performance in Rio (fell to an in-form Gael Monfils). Cilic, who recently split from coach Goran Ivanisevic, is through to the last four this week with wins over Viktor Troicki, Fernando Verdasco, Tomas Berdych (in three sets), and Borna Coric (via retirement). Although Dimitrov is starting to build some confidence, there is no reason to think he will completely turn the tide from what transpired at the Olympics.
Pick:Â Cilic in 2
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WWW?
Jamaica.
Raonic and Cilic in three
Muzza in two. Cilic in two.
Murray and Cilic in three but both could go either way
Murray in 3 sets.
Cilic in 3 sets.
Murray and Cilic in 3
John McEnroe failed. M.Raonic got clobbered A.Murray.
John McEnroe helped M. Raonic to his first slam final lol.
Toni Nadal can’t get Rafa past slam quarters in over two years.
Pot and Kettle blind fan doesn’t get it.
Toni Nadal failed. R. Nadal got clobbered B. Coric.
Congrats to Me. Commies to My fan for being obsessed. I told Ricky Milos wasn’t gonna win Cincy with Muzza in his path.
Milos within 45 points of Rafa now.
Murray within 815 points of Nole in the race if he wins tomorrow.
Rafa seeded #4 for US Open, Hawkeye 🙂
Andy Murray for Cincy #3
You took the words right out of my keyboard. 🙂 If Rafa gets/stays healthy he should make the YEC’s, too.
Rafa’s postition in the ATP 52-week rolling rankings didn’t/won’t change during this week.
U.Toni’s pupil won a gold medal in Rio.
You mean the type you played down when fed won it?
Pot and kettle. Nothing new lol.
You’re welcome My fan.
#troll alert
#Stopabuse
Mary W (AT 5:18 AM),
🙂
If anyone’s watching I’m the one yelling lets go Marin lol
Benny, are you at Cincy?
Yes I was there tonight or rather this morning lol and yesterday for QF. I was going crazy lol. Felt really bad for grigor though. He was really nice later too by taking a pic with me and giving an autograph. You could tell he was sad though. He may have been the better player this one. I was rooting for Marin a bit more but I do like grigor better now that he has gotten his act back together. When he started to lose non stop and go off the rails I felt like he was really wasting his talent but now he seems way more focused on his tennis again like 2014 when he was one of my favorite rising stars. His attitude was really good the past few weeks he’s really picking up the pieces again. QF in Toronto and SF in cincy = great summer for grigor. Hope he bodes well at U.S. open. Same with Marin and I’m hoping he takes down Andy tomorrow but that’ll be tough.
Congrats to Marin, he’s into top ten again. Can he take the next step, ie winning a Masters? Let’s see. Murray is too tough for anyone to handle now.
Thanks to Murray for stopping Raonic at the SF and thus helping Rafa gets his no.4 seed at the USO. Hope Rafa put that into good use.
Rafa didn’t ‘get’, he mantained his No.5 ranking and No.4 seed at the USO. 🙂
Rafa has been ranked No.5 since August 1.
To add to my post AT 8:35 AM, Rafa earned 90 points in Cincy. That’s exactly what he needed to maintain his No.5 ranking.
And for moving Stan to number three of course!?
Rafa should thank Lendl for helping him keep his rank, not Toni.