Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray have gone by the wayside, leaving Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer as the two favorites heading into semifinal Friday at Wimbledon. Djokovic is going up against Grigor Dimitrov, while Federer is facing Milos Raonic.
(1) Novak Djokovic vs. (11) Grigor Dimitrov
Djokovic and Dimitrov will be facing each other for the fifth time in their careers when they collide in the Wimbledon semifinals on Friday afternoon. Dimitrov stunned Djokovic 7-6(6), 6-7(8), 6-3 on the clay courts of Madrid last spring, but their other three encounters have been mostly straightforward affairs in the Serb’s favor. Djokovic improved his head-to-head series lead with a 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 blowout at last year’s French Open.
Dimitrov contested his first Grand Slam quarterfinal at this season’s Australian Open and he is now making his debut semifinal appearance at a major. The in-form Bulgarian is 35-9 for his 2014 campaign following wins this fortnight over Ryan Harrison, Luke Saville, Alexandr Dolgopolov, Leonardo Mayer, and defending champion Andy Murray. Djokovic got past Andrey Golubev, Radek Stepanek, Gilles Simon, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga before needing five sets to beat Marin Cilic on Wednesday. The world No. 2 has not been dominant of late, but this should be a decent matchup for him. These two players are similar in their incredible athleticism and ability to turn defense into offense. The problem for Dimitrov is that Djokovic can do everything he can do while doing all of it better–and, of course, with more experience on the final weekend of majors.
Pick: Djokovic in 3
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(4) Roger Federer vs. (8) Milos Raonic
It all seems to be falling into place for Federer, who is looking like a completely different man from the Federer of last summer who lost in the second round of Wimbledon and the fourth round of the U.S. Open. Most importantly, he is simply playing stellar grass-court tennis. The 17-time Grand Slam champion captured the Halle title and so far at the All-England Club he has taken out Paolo Lorenzi, Gilles Muller, Santiago Giraldo, Tommy Robredo, and Stanislas Wawrinka. Now he is running into Raonic instead of nemesis Rafael Nadal, who bowed out to Nick Kyrgios in the fourth round.
Federer leads the head-to-head series 4-0, but in each of their first three meetings he dropped the opening set before winning the next two. They most recently squared off at the 2013 Australian Open, where Federer cruised 6-4, 7-6(4), 6-2. Their only previous grass-court clash saw the former world No. 1 prevail 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(3) in the 2012 Halle quarterfinals. Like Dimitrov, Raonic made it to his first-ever slam quarterfinal earlier this year (French Open) and is now into a semifinal for the first time. The eighth-seeded Canadian booked such a spot by defeating Matthew Ebden, Jack Sock, Lukasz Kubot, Kei Nishikori, and Kyrgios. This is a considerable step up in both competition and pressure, so it remains to be seen how the underdog will handle the occasion. Raonic’s only hope, of course, is to serve incredibly well and take the match out of Federer’s hands.
Pick: Federer in 4
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My only consolation is that another loss in a Slam final will sap Djoker’s confidence further……….
C’mon Rafa!
I have to choose between bad and worse. Fed is bad, Djoko is worse. 👿
^^I agree with you, @augusta08……..
Once again we must agree to disagree gussie.
#Federazzi
#AjdeNoleFam
#ABF
+1
+1 to Augusta’s post not hawkeye’s
One way or the other one of them will be crying all the way home.
I’m going with Novak. It doesn’t bother me that Rafa will lose the #1 ranking. Rafa and Novak are more than likely going to see-saw back and forth with that in the next few years anyway, depending on the time of year. As long as they’re one/two or two/one, it makes no difference in tournaments. Novak’s had some real soul-crushing losses in the last few years and he’s been gracious in defeat. I’ll give him this one as a wedding gift.
The media will be unbearable if Roger wins.
You make a good argument there @jpacnw. Tbh, I cannot be bothered either way………..
Ajde Nole!!!!
#ABF
#18NID
@jpacnw,
I agree with you. Even though it would mean losing the #1 ranking, I would prefer Novak finally stop his losing streak in slam finals over Fed getting his 8th Wimbledon title and 18th slam. I want Rafa to stay close and have a shot at tying or exceeding his slam count.
Other than that, it won’t really matter. I probably will watch. But I will be thinking all the time that Rafa should have been there.
All the way supporting Nole here and him for the win. I too dont care if No 1 is lost , it makes no real difference. However if Fed gets No 18, it will mean Rafa has to stay on top for another 2-3 years to catch upto 4-5 slams. Ofcourse the delusional Rafa hating Fed fans will be unbearable if Fed winsand that is the primary reason I never/dont support Fed
jpacnw ( at 5:54 pm),
—The media will be unbearable if Roger wins—
Money (in the bank accounts) talks. Don’t read (& listen to) the media for a while!
Impressive from FED!!
How well he moves on Grass, Nole is bit off in that department.
Still wondering how RAFA lost against these big hitters?
sabs (at 6:17 pm),
—Still wondering how—
Aren’t you wondering how FED lost to Stakhovsky last year???
Bad Back…
Hope this helps 🙂
The master of injury excuses. Who was the guy who once said if you play, you’re fit?
Guess it doesn’t apply to the Mighty Ballerina.
Shut up @sabs………
You keep wondering if you have nothing better to do. Rafa is on the beach.
^^^^ That’s personal, something you should have refrain to do.
If not in RAFA’s proportion, I too doing my bit for the world!
@sabs, when has Fed ever had more than two hard servers in his quarter?
This is why you fail.
#HopeThisHelps
On the other hand, would give me great satisfaction to see Novak unleash his vulgar, primal screaming, shirt-ripping triumphalism in Fed’s face……..
It would be nice, but not going to happen. Novak is now Rafa’s real rival, so the less Novak wins the better for Rafa. I want Nole to stick at 6 slams for as long as possible.
rafaisthebest ( at 6:22 pm),
I only think what is better for Rafa!
Jeez, if Fed wins on Sunday his total ranking points will still be less than half Rafa’s………….
At times Dimitrov looked like a giraffe on a skating rink out there today………..
#graceless
Raonic. People need to stop feeding him false hope. He is not even in the Ferru/Berdy/Wawa grouping yet.
Kyrgios. The less said the better. Whatever happened to that other Australian who was supposed to be the next big thing, Tomic?
Raonic doesn’t play tennis, he serves and when he is behind, his serve deserts him. If he thinks he is on his way to #1 anytime soon, he’ll have a rude awakening. He needs to get real.
What makes you think he thinks he is on his way to #1 anytime soon or ever for that matter.
It’s one of his stated career goal. At this point in his career given his current age and ranking, if it isn’t a goal, he wouldn’t be where he is now and should question his priorities.
hawkeye, don’t be so thinned skinned.
You said he needs to get real when nowhere has he said he thinks he’ll be No. 1 soon.
I respectfully disagreed.
Please calm down nadline. How is that “thin skinned”?
Fed gets praised when he pollutes the air, so they can’t herald him any more if he wins his 18th slam. Just imagine if he had the looks as well.
Hahahaha! “Just imagine if he had the looks as well”!
OMG, perish the thought………..
Unlike that olive-skinned, rumbustious, 6 foot 1 (not you @hawkeye63) Mallorcan honey…..
Deft volleying skills and great points on display from Raonic…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfUqkY6DUa0
Saying he just has a serve is not unlike calling Rafa a moonballer.
hawkeye why have the bull horns as your avatar instead of the maple leaf for the player you support?
Milos is not my favourite no? Maybe gussie should have a french flag.
augusta is an unadulterated Rafan. No doubt about it.
Nadline, I’d be a little worried if you thought that I was an unadulterated Rafan.
Some fantastic clay points from Raonic at RG14 where the effectiveness of his serve is reduced….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfUqkY6DUa0
#YoureWelcome
Try try again…
The point at 0;50 is my personal fave…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbXYmmaXyOU
^^^One swallow does not make a summer.
Just an example of many fine points on multiple surfraces as evidence that there is now much more to his game than “just a serve”.
#YoureWelcome
Not a lot more, to be honest.
Well from someone who’s not impressed with the skills of Roger Federer, I’m not surprised.
hawkeye, I know you are not an undiluted Rafan,
On the contrary, I believe that staying hydrated is very important.
https://twitter.com/BillieJeanKing/status/485134882180694016
Pfft, what does SHE know about tennis, hey nadline.
@hawkeye,
I was going to reply to you, but I think all of your posts are great, especially the one @ 7:52pm and 7:57 pm!
You are really on fire today!
—You are really on fire today!—
Where there’s fire, the firefighters are needed.
Thanks nny. I know you’ve been there.
I just like to have a chuckle when told how to be the right kind of fan and who is a good fan and who isn’t.
Again, I’m not here to seek approval from anyone but I do enjoy discussing the game and the commraderie from all of the tennis fans here from both ends of the spectrum.
Disappointing results. I was hoping Dimitrov and Raonic would be able to defeat Djokovic or Federer, at least one of them. As much as I dislike Federer now, I still would root for him over Djorkovic, it’s not about Rafa retaining his number 1, I just don’t want Djorkovic to win any more slam.
liz, that makes two of us. 😀
I must say, the very idea of Novak losing to Rafa at RG and then following it up with a loss to Fed at Wimby is a mouth watering prospect………..
Allez Fed!!
*evil grin*
Hahah, this is why they are all lining up to have a pop at Rafa! A fluke beating of him and you become a star, the world becomes your oyster!
“Rafael Nadal win means world is Nick Kyrgios’ oyster, says celebrity agent Max Markson”
The world is Nick Kyrgios’ oyster after his sensational Wimbledon victory over world No.1 Rafael Nadal looks set to open the door to million-dollar contracts, says celebrity agent Max Markson.”
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/tennis/rafael-nadal-win-means-world-is-nick-kyrgios-oyster-says-celebrity-agent-max-markson-20140702-zstoj.html#ixzz36Z9QmBCG
Note: Kyrgios now has the world as his oyster, we are told, not because he reached the Wimby quarters, but because he beat Rafael Nadal.
Honestly, Rafa should fire Carlos Costa, his agent, if he does not ensure Rafa gets a cut of all these wannabe’s earnings from the fame they get from beating him.
I wonder how much Sergiy Stakhovsky earned thanks to demolishing Fed at Wimbledon last year. Or was he banned from endorsements by the Federazzi?