Western & Southern Open Quarterfinal Friday

Thursday was exciting, Friday has the potential to be even better.

ORDER OF PLAY - FRIDAY, AUGUST 19    

CENTER COURT start 11:00 AM
[10] Samantha Stosur (AUS) vs [4] [WC] Maria Sharapova (RUS) - WTA
Not Before 1:00 PM
[7] Mardy Fish (USA) vs [2] Rafael Nadal (ESP) - ATP
Not Before 2:30 PM
[3] Roger Federer (SUI) vs [8] Tomas Berdych (CZE) - ATP
Not Before 7:00 PM
[1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs [6] Gael Monfils (FRA) - ATP
[1] Kevta Peschke (CZE) / Katerina Srebotnik (SLO) vs Natalie Grandin (RSA) / Vladimira Uhlirova (CZE) - WTA

GRANDSTAND start 11:00 am
[10] Gilles Simon (FRA) vs [4] Andy Murray (GBR) - ATP
Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) vs [2] Vera Zvonareva (RUS) - WTA
Nadia Petrova (RUS) vs [9] Andrea Petkovic (GER) - WTA
Not Before 7:00 PM
[16] Shuai Peng (CHN) vs [13] Jelena Jankovic (SRB) - WTA
[1] Bob Bryan (USA) / Mike Bryan (USA) or Lukas Dlouhy (CZE) / Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR) vs [7] Mariusz Fyrstenberg (POL) / Marcin Matkowski (POL) - ATP

COURT 3 start 12:00 pm
Juan Sebastian Cabal (COL) / Florian Mayer (GER) vs [WC] Alex Bogomolov Jr. (USA) / Steve Johnson (USA) - ATP
[5] Rohan Bopanna (IND) / Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs [4] Michael Llodra (FRA) / Nenad Zimonjic (SRB) - ATP
Not Before 2:30 PM
[5] Liezel Huber (USA) / Lisa Raymond (USA) or [3] V King (USA) / Y Shvedova (KAZ) vs E Makarova (RUS) / J Zheng (CHN) - WTA
[3] M Bhupathi (IND) / L Paes (IND) vs T Berdych (CZE) / R Stepanek (CZE) - ATP - after suitable rest 

Wimbledon Men's Semi-Finals

The second and final Friday at Wimbledon brings us the men's semis

The opening act will include Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Novak Djokovic.  Tsonga holds a 5-2 career edge against the Serb, but all of those meetings were on hardcourts and these two haven't played since the 2010 Australian Open.  No matter how well Tsonga is playing, I like the determination and attitude Djokovic is playing with. 

Prediction: The Serb will pull it out in 4 tough sets.

The second match or main event will have the tennis world watching.  Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray.  Nadal holds a big career edge and two victories on grass at Wimbledon.  I don't expect anything to change on Friday and I like Nadal.

Prediction: Nadal in 3 sets.

Odds to Win Wimbledon at the Round of 16

16 men and 16 women remain.

Not too many surprises as we look at the odds to win Wimbledon before the round of 16 is played.

The Gentlemen:

Not too much space separating the top four.  Tomic a bit of a surprise a 100-1 right now.  Kubot is the long-shot.

The Ladies:

I'm a little surprised Serena is the favorite.  Sharapova and Kvitova both ahead of Venus.  Venus is a good bet as is Bartoli, a former finalist.

Round of 16 coming up.

French Open Men's Semi-Final Predictions

The top 4 seeds in a Grand Slam semi-finals.  Does it get any better than that?

Right now it doesn't, but there are some intriguing stories taking place this year in Paris.

Rafa Nadal is going for yet another French Open title and is looking to keep his #1 world ranking.

Andy Murray has dodged all sort of bullets in this event.  He's been like a cat with 9 lives, and I'm not sure if he has any left.

Roger Federer has proved a bunch of people wrong in getting this far, but he's made it here with relative ease.

Novak Djokovic is trying to wrestle the #1 ranking away from Nadal, win another Grand Slam title, and oh by the way, he hasn't lost yet this year.

Predictions:  Nadal and Djokovic.

Day 3: French Open Match of the Day - Ljubicic vs. Devvarman

Ivan Ljubicic (CRO) v. Somdev Devvarman (IND)

An interesting match that will be a great for those watching on Court 3.  An old veteran of the tour in Ljubicic against a rising star in Devvarman.

A few years ago, Devvarman was playing college tennis in the United States.  The Croat has been a top-20 player for many years, but has had mixed results the past couple years.

I like Devvarman's chances, even though clay may not be his best surface.

Look for the Indian to win in 4 tough sets.

Bonus Pick:  The Nadal/Isner match could be closer than some expect, especially if the courts and balls keep playing quickly.