Winston-Salem SF previews and picks: Janowicz vs. Querrey, Rosol vs. Lu

An all-unseeded affair will pit Jerzy Janowicz against Sam Querrey in the Winston-Salem semifinals on Friday. Lukas Rosol and Yen-Hsun Lu are also bidding for a spot in the title match.

Jerzy Janowicz vs. Sam Querrey

Janowicz and Querrey will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers when they collide in the semifinals of the Winston-Salem Open on Friday. Their only previous encounter came last year on the clay courts of Madrid, where Janowicz prevailed 6-3, 6-4. The 52nd-ranked Pole is suddenly rounding into form in time for the U.S. Open after a disastrous first seven months of his 2014 campaign. He upset Grigor Dimitrov en route to the Cincinnati third round and so far this week he has taken out Carlos Berlocq, Joao Sousa, Edouard Roger-Vasselin, and David Goffin.

Also unseeded, Querrey earned a place in the last four with victories over Pere Riba, Steve Johnson, Kevin Anderson, and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez while dropping only one set to Garcia-Lopez in the process. Like Janowicz, Querrey has also been desperate for some confidence. The 56th-ranked American is still a modest 23-18 for the season and prior to Winston-Salem he had not won back-to-back matches since the grass-court swing. Both of these men serve huge, but Janowicz’s superior variety should make the difference in a competitive contest.

Pick: Janowicz in 3

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(7) Lukas Rosol vs. (9) Yen-Hsun Lu

Rosol and Lu will also be squaring off for the second time in their careers on Friday. Their only previous meeting came last fall in Bangkok, where Lu cruised 6-3, 6-2. Chinese Taipei’s top play is in stellar form right now and at No. 38 in the world he ended up missing a seeded spot at the U.S. Open by just one position. Lu, a third-round finisher in Cincinnati with an upset of Tomas Berdych, has advanced this week with straight-set scalps of Blaz Rola, Marcel Granollers, and Andreas Seppi.

Nobody has been luckier than Rosol in Winston-Salem. Since getting a first-round bye, the 33rd-ranked Czech has only played one completed match. He got a retirement from Ryan Harrison with the American leading by a set, defeated Pablo Andujar in three, then got a walkover past No. 1 seed and two-time champion John Isner. This is Rosol’s first hard-court tournament since Wimbledon after going back to clay for a few weeks, so he really does not have many matches under his belt. The seventh seed may be able to serve his way to set, but Lu’s ball-striking and rock-solid baseline play should ultimately be too much for Rosol.

Pick: Lu in 3

[polldaddy poll=8260084]

21 Comments on Winston-Salem SF previews and picks: Janowicz vs. Querrey, Rosol vs. Lu

ed251137 August 22, 2014 at 8:13 AM

You could say Rosol has been lucky at W-S to have only had to play one and a half matches to arrive in the SF but that also leaves him very short of H/C preparation for the USO.
Agree he will probably bludgeon his way through to a decider.
Lu in 3

Jerzy in three erratic sets

rafaisthebest August 22, 2014 at 8:37 AM

Jerzy;
Lu

Ad August 22, 2014 at 11:47 AM

66 aces to 10 DFs for Querrey this week. 23 aces to 22 DFs for Janowicz. Could be the difference. Though I have no doubt the Janowicz drop shot will cause some trouble today.

- Ricky August 22, 2014 at 1:19 PM
  
  good stats. but Jano did serve better against Goffin (i think).
  
  - Joe (@ProdigyRep) August 22, 2014 at 1:21 PM
    
    Lowish percentage but no double faults.
    
  - Ad August 22, 2014 at 2:33 PM
    
    yeah he did. 0 doubles is pretty amazing for him. Janowicz was actually playing superbly when I was watching. The consistency of Querreys serving will make it very hard for him to break though. He’ll need to keep his head. If he does that he’s got a good chance.
    
rafaisthebest August 23, 2014 at 4:38 AM

Please tennis Gods, Rosol………really?

Jerzy better turn up and wipe the court with his ass otherwise I will never forgive him…..

- ed251137 August 23, 2014 at 5:34 AM
  
  The final will be more of an arm wrestling match than tennis…………..
  
- augusta08 August 23, 2014 at 10:20 AM
  
  rafaisthebest ( at 4:38 am)
  Rafa fans shouldn’t care about aeRosol. Rafa fans should never let Fed fans forget Sergiy Stakhovsky, who trashed Federer at the 2013 Wimbledon..
  
  - rafaisthebest August 23, 2014 at 10:39 AM
    
    ^^
    
    Yes ma’am, I am suitably chastised! Here’s hoping AeRosol vaporizes himself!
    
  - filter August 23, 2014 at 11:37 AM
    
    Ah yes Sergiy is right up there with the greats of the game like Muller, Darcis and Kyrigos. Agree with you 100%.
    
rafaisthebest August 23, 2014 at 5:27 PM

Jerzy a set-up to the good on AeRosol………….

jpacnw August 23, 2014 at 6:04 PM

Dang…Rosol won the 2nd set tiebreak. On to a 3rd set to decide the title. (Yep, I’m actually watching this Jerzy/Rosol match).

ed251137 August 23, 2014 at 6:08 PM

Bother–it’s going to a decider. Aerosol looks like he’s got the bit between his teeth.
Hope Jerzy can keep his emotions under control and regroup for the 3rd set.

rafaisthebest August 23, 2014 at 7:55 PM

AeRosol won.

- filter August 24, 2014 at 12:08 AM
  
  Congrats to AiRosol. He would not be denied.
  
augusta08 August 24, 2014 at 7:55 PM

AeRosol is a better player than Sergiy, who stakhovskied Fed.

- Hawkeye63 August 24, 2014 at 10:04 PM
  
  That fed isn’t this fed.
  
  - ed251137 August 25, 2014 at 3:23 AM
    
    Come to that nor is Stakhovsky………
    
- rafaisthebest August 25, 2014 at 4:35 AM
  
  Nor is this AeRosol……
  
- augusta08 August 25, 2014 at 7:57 AM
  
  … vs Stakhovsky
  
  https://twitter.com/augustazeight/status/445389576694034433/photo/1