U.S. Open QF previews and picks: Federer vs. Monfils, Berdych vs. Cilic

A semifinal spot will be at stake when Roger Federer goes up against Gael Monfils on Thursday at the U.S. Open. Tomas Berdych and Marin Cilic also have a huge opportunity ahead of them in New York.

(20) Gael Monfils vs. (2) Roger Federer

Federer and Monfils will be facing each other for the 10th time in their careers and for the second time this summer when they collide in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open on Thursday night. A recent Cincinnati showdown went Federer’s way 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 as the Swiss improved to 7-2 lifetime in the head-to-head series. Interestingly, Federer has actually fared better against Monfils on clay (4-0) than on hard courts (3-2). They have squared off three times at Grand Slams–all at the French Open–and Federer is a perfect 3-0.

Monfils, though, is arguably playing the best and most focused tennis of his life this fortnight. The 24th-ranked Frenchman was the only player other than Novak Djokovic to go through the first four rounds without dropping a single set. He ousted Jared Donaldson, Alejandro Gonzalez, Richard Gasquet, and Grigor Dimitrov all in straight sets. Federer has advanced with victories over Marinko Matosevic, Sam Groth, Marcel Granollers, and Roberto Bautista Agut while surrendering just one set to Granollers in the process. Will Monfils’ believe he can beat a 17-time major champion who is coming off a title in Cincinnati? His attitude so far in New York suggests he does, but the majority of his past history against Federer indicates he does not.

Pick: Federer in 3

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(6) Tomas Berdych vs. (14) Marin Cilic

Berdych and Cilic will be clashing for the ninth time in their careers on Thursday. The head-to-head stands at 5-3 in Berdych’s favor, but Cilic won their most recent meeting 7-6(5), 6-4, 7-6(6) earlier this summer in the Wimbledon third round. Berdych has won three of their four previous hard-court encounters, including with a 6-4, 6-2 blowout in this year’s Rotterdam final. Cilic, though, was still just coming back from a four-month suspension late in 2013 and he is now playing some of the best tennis of his life. The 16th-ranked Croat is 44-16 for the season following victories in Flushing Meadows over Marcos Baghdatis, Illya Marchenko, Kevin Anderson, and Gilles Simon.

This is already by far Berdych’s best hard-court tournament of the summer. After his loss to Cilic at the All-England Club, the seventh-ranked Czech bowed out early from Washington, D.C., Toronto, and Cincinnati. So far this fortnight, however, he has battled past Lleyton Hewitt, Martin Klizan, Teymuraz Gabashvili, and Dominic Thiem. Berdych went to five sets with Klizan, but the other three matches were straight-set routs. The No. 6 seed capitalized on an inexperience opponent on Tuesday and hit both Hewitt and Gabashvili off the court. He will not be able to do either against Cilic, who has the edge in form between two players whose styles are extremely similar.

Pick: Cilic in 5

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