Roger Federer will be back in action on Friday in Toronto as he goes up against David Ferrer. Milos Raonic and Feliciano Lopez are also hoping to snag a spot in the semifinals.
(5) David Ferrer vs. (2) Roger Federer
Federer and Ferrer will be going head-to-head for the 15th time in their careers when they collide in the quarterfinals of the Rogers Cup on Friday night. All 14 of their previous meetings have gone the way of Federer, who is 29-3 in total sets against Ferrer. Amazingly enough, not a single one of their encounters has ever come at a Grand Slam. Federer is 7-0 in Masters 1000 events and also 4-0 at the year-end championship. The two veterans have not faced each other since 2012, when Federer earned straight-set victories in Madrid and at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.
The 33-year-old Swiss, whose birthday is on Friday, survived a third-round scare against Marin Cilic with a 7-6(5), 6-7(3), 6-4 victory in which he required seven match points. That was preceded by a 6-2, 6-0 blowout of Peter Polansky. Ferrer advanced by taking out both Michael Russell and Ivan Dodig in three sets. The 32-year-old Spaniard is a decent 39-14 for the season. With Ferrer in mediocre form, it’s hard to see him troubling Federer–especially on a relatively fast hard court.
Pick: Federer in 2
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(6) Milos Raonic vs. Feliciano Lopez
Raonic and Lopez will be colliding for the third time in their careers on Friday. They last played in the 2013 Bangkok quarterfinals, with Raonic prevailing 6-4, 6-3 to take a 2-1 lead in the head-to-head series. The Canadian also scored a 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 victory at last summer’s U.S. Open. Lopez’s lone win over Raonic came via a 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-4 decision three years ago on the clay courts of Madrid.
Despite a long week in Washington, D.C. that resulted in a title, Raonic is right back in gear at the Rogers Cup. The 2013 runner-up survived Jack Sock in three tiebreakers in his opener and also needed three sets to get past Julien Benneteau on Thursday. Lopez booked his spot in the quarters with wins over Roberto Bautista Agut, Tim Smyczek, and Tomas Berdych. The 32-year-old Spaniard is 30-18 for his 2014 campaign and on the verge of surging into the top 20. With home-court advantage and an ability to keep points short to fend off any possible fatigue, Raonic has to be considered a huge favorite.
Pick: Raonic in 2
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Wow. Feli! Judy will be happy. I think Feli’s Davis Cup experience proved very helpful. He didn’t let the crowd get to him when he saved those 9 break points.
Who won the match..Federer or Ferrer, Aug 8,2014
Fed
^^Ricky, lol…although it was inevitable once Roger broke in the 3rd set. What a couple of strange semis tomorrow: Dimitrov vs Tsonga and Fed vs Lopez.
I keep forgetting to watch this tournament. But who would have bet that it would be Dimitrov, Tsonga, and Lopez in the semis along with Fed?
Very surprising!
🙂
I wonder why that is!
I have almost constant house guests this month so haven’t seen many matches and finding the time to watch on Catch Up is difficult. Besides it is not the same as watching it develop live. As you say, some surprising results this week. Andy was unlucky – his preparation was disrupted by the re-scheduling after the rain delays plus the walkover. A pity because he played a very good 2R match and I thought he was on course to make a run to the final.
The SFs should be interesting.
As you said, it’s not the same as watching it live. This is the time of year when I finally get to see tennis in my time zone, so I should be watching. But I have been so bummed about Rafa that I just didn’t have the heart.
I did see most of the Fed/Cilic match and that was a good one. I didn’t see Tsonga trounce Novak. I am going to make ia point to watch the semis.
I thought I was reading wrong when I saw that Tsonga also beat Andy. I thought he had a good shot in this tournament.
wow were your predictions terrible
wrong!
On this occasion the comment at 2.06pm was not by this Anonymous!!
I haven’t been watching avidly,definitely not the late night matches but I had the good fortune of enjoying Novak go down to Tsonga, 62 62. That was such fun. 🙂
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