Only two seeds are left standing as the Paris semifinals arrive on Saturday, and they are top two players in the world. Novak Djokovic is going up against Grigor Dimitrov, while Rafael Nadal faces recent Stockholm winner Denis Shapovalov.
(1) Novak Djokovic vs. Grigor Dimitrov
Djokovic was a question mark to end the 2019 campaign on his own terms after he retired from a U.S. Open match with a shoulder injury, but he has turned things around during the fall portion of the schedule. The world No. 1’s Asian swing included a title on Tokyo and a semifinal showing in Shanghai; now in Paris he has defeated Corentin Moutet, Kyle Edmund, and Stefanos Tsitsipas all in straight sets. After struggling at times with Moutet and Edmund, Djokovic destroyed Tsitsipas 6-1, 6-2 on Friday.
Up next for the four-time Paris champion is a 10th career contest against Dimitrov, who trails the head-to-head series 8-1. The Bulgarian has lost six in a row to Djokovic after most recently falling twice in 2018; 6-4, 6-1 at Queen’s Club and 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 at the Cincinnati Masters. Dimitrov’s 2019 campaign has been all over the place, but he finally finds himself with a winning record (22-20) thanks to a semifinal run at the U.S. Open and wins this week over Ugo Humbert, David Goffin, Dominic Thiem, and Christian Garin. A steep step up in competition should result in the end of the road for Dimitrov, just as it did against Medvedev in the U.S. Open semis.
Pick: Djokovic in 2
[polldaddy poll=10447932]
Denis Shapovalov vs. (2) Rafael Nadal
Nadal and Shapovalov will be squaring off for the third time in their careers on Saturday. They split their two previous encounters, with Shapovalov scoring a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(4) upset at the 2017 Montreal Masters before Nadal got the job done 6-4, 6-1 last spring in Rome. Shapovalov has earned another shot at the world No. 2 on a surface more favorable for the underdog following Paris defeats of Gilles Simon (via first-set retirement), Fabio Fognini, Alexander Zverev, and Gael Monfils. The 28th-ranked Canadian recently captured his first career title in Stockholm, so his form indoors right now is impressive.
Of course, this surface favored Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, as well, and it hardly mattered on Friday. Nadal followed up routine wins over Adrian Mannarino and Stan Wawrinka by beating Tsonga 7-6(4), 6-1 in the quarterfinals. The second-seeded Spaniard is now 14-0 on hard courts dating back to the summer (one Laver Cup victory included). A confident Nadal will pepper the Shapovalov one-hander with a steady diet of forehands and that will likely make the difference in what should be by far the more competitive semifinal.
Pick: Nadal in 2
[polldaddy poll=10448108]
Leave a Reply