Hi Ricky,
It is tough to predict who will win.But I can predict who won't and that is Federer.Just getting a new coach is not going to work miracles.

nadal is winning this one too ricky......

nalbandian is gonna get burnt out after the murray match.....im not even sure hez gonna beat andy...

Ricky,

We can accept the Nalbandian can beat murray but Nadal ???

In previous match i think Nalbandian has his chances of winning the match but he failed to grab those chances as nadal forced him to play more and tired him and then nadal won the match.

So it could be tight to pick nalbandian against nadal..

For Fed he has good chances of reaching the final but it depends on his game , even in R3 against LLOrda , llorda gifted him many points which caused LLORDA to loose the match..

vij- I agree, its between Nadal and Nalbandian, for the tournament win
Federer is not winning this. Federer better hope that if he does make it to the final that Rafa isnt there, because he will be spanked, proper!

Quarters
Nadal vs Kohl (nadal)
Fed vs Verdych(Fed)
Djoko vs Chardy (djoko)
Nalby Vs Murray (Murray)

Nadal Vs Murray (Nadal)
Fed Vs Djoko (Fed)

Fed Vs Nadal (Nadal)

Good article. I agree with the predictions, except that I'd put my money on a Murray vs Fed final, which the Swiss should win in easy straight sets.

I think Fed looks to be getting into his stride (at the right time) and seems to be more impressive than the other folks in the top 5. Already shades of Annacone are shining through with a newfound aggression and net play from Fed. Sort of reminds me of the 2003-2004 Fed, except this one is slower, but more shrewd.
I think Paul's influence can only benefit Fed's game over time.

All that said, still some way to go before the UsOpen. Certainly Nadal, Soderling, Djokovic and Murray have their work cut out.

agree that nalbandian should make it to the finals. if he plays nadal,the match is on his racquet(as the surface is a fast hard court). It comes down to if he is burnt out or not. He should have no problem with murray,as the scot has no weapons to hurt the argentine.

I do not agree with these predictions. If Rafa and Nalby meet in the semis, I still think Rafa can prevail. I expect a tough match, but I like Rafa's superior physical conditioning and that will to win, the mental toughness that always gives him the edge. I am not even sure that Nalby will beat Murray. That one's tough.

I do not see Fed winning this tournament. He's not there yet. We will see if he can get past Berdych this time and then I expect him to face Djoker.

If Fed meets Rafa, then Rafa will win. Of that I am absolutely sure.

Not realistic.

If Nalby can beat Nadal then he can beat fed or Djok for sure.

sabs,

I am in complete agreement with your comment.

as much as i would like to agree with your predictions ricky, i will be amazed by every more match nalbandian wins... he should be fatigued about a week ago and looked done against ferrer already on tuesday...

qtr finals : nadal over kohli in 2
murray over nalby in 3
berdych over federer ni 3 (really not sure abt this one, fed could well be taking revenge !! )
djoko over chardy in 3

QFs:
Nadal vs Kohlschreiber - Nadal
Murray vs Nalbandian - Murray
Berdych vs Federer - Berdych
Chardy vs Djokovic - Djokovic

SFs:
Nadal vs Murray - Nadal
Berdych vs Djokovic - Berdych (probably the match will be played in the daytime and Djokovic is usually struggling with the heat)

Final:
Nadal vs Berdych - Nadal

No way will nalby reach the final. If he beats Murray, he's gonna be so exhausted, nadal will sweep him off the court.
I think it'll be djok-berdych, and nadal-nalby for the semis. And djok-nadal in the final which I think nadal will take. Though hope it's djokovic!

i don't think nalbandian will beat rafa (assuming that's the match we get). rafa knows how to play him now, and has done since indian wells 09

if he beats murray, and i reckon he will, it'll take 3 sets. and murray (if he can be bothered and doesn't play like in set 2 yesterday) will make him do a lot of running. fatigue will set in sooner or later

but i could be wrong. lets wait and see

nadal in 3
berdych in 2
djoker in 2
murray in 3

ricky,
you said something similar about Nadal ahead of Wimbledon: a very strong showing throughout the entire clay season did not mean he would go far on grass this summer.

I wonder how much of your prediction has to do with that turning point in your writing about Rafa, during the last set he played against Andy at the US Open. You have seemed to be underestimating Rafa's chances ever since.

In the meantime Rafa has gotten both knees well treated with those injections, and his fighting spirit this week is very high: I would be quite surprised if he is not in the finals come Sunday.

QF rafa in 2, nalby in 2, fed in 3 (finally gets revenge), djoker in 2
SF rafa (exhaustion for nalby?) in 2, djoker in 2
F rafa in 1 tight set and one easy one...

Djokovic is looking good, providing it's not too hot as he suffers from extreme heat, so I think Djokovic is likely to reach the final from the bottom half; as far as the top half is concerned, no comments on Ricky's picks, and no predictions from me either as I don't want to jinks my man, all I'll say is that I'm kind of pleased that Ricky is not backing Rafa.

VAMOS!

For what it's worth: 30 minutes into the quarter-final, Nalby double-faulted to give Murray a second break and the first set.

Ricky,

If you expect Nalbandian to burn out because of over exposure these past two weeks, why did you pick it to happen against Federer and not against Rafa in the semis, or Andy M. for that matter?

I go for Rafa over Fed in the Finals in 3 exciting sets.

Gosh, Nalby is following apart!

sorry 'falling'...........i meant

Andy is serving for the match... so long Nalbandian!

Gordo got steamrolled 6-2, 6-2

So Ricky's whole theory of his rally to the finals falls appart. This is what will happen:
Rafa will demolish Kolsh in straights.
Berdych will Beat Roger in straights
Djoko will beat Chardy in straights

Semis: Nadal over Murray in straibghts
Djokovic will beat Berdych in 3

Final:
Nadal beats Nole in 3

Dimon having a prediction season like Roddick's tennis season

And here comes Rafa and Kolsh!

LOL vmk1. Now this gets me worried. Ricky predicted Rafa over Kohl. :-)

what did i tell you guys? murray had a very good chance of beating nalby,,worn out or whatever , muzza still had a great shot and he pulverized nalby , rafa vs murray semi...best possible semi imo becoz these two produce spellbinding tennis... murray may hold the edge though.

Did anyone get Andy in two?? Ahem, is that a no then??
vamosrafa: :)

And vrael too, of course: :)

I'm with u ricky
fed will win the tournament

vmk1 - I'm blowing Roddick out of the water this season, not to mention my fellow TT experts!!!

and i will still salvage a good Toronto when I go perfect on the left side of the draw and Federer wins the tournament!

Ricky,
I think at heart you are a Nadal/Djokovic/Murray fan.That is why you want to jinx Fed by predicting a win for him!
I used to be a Federer fan till Jan this year.But his 'mindgames' type of remarks about Andy Murraybefore the AO final made me wonder whether he deserved my adulation. Any lingering admiration was erased by his ungracious remarks after his Wimby defeat.I hope Berdych defeats him today so that Fed can tell us more about his back and leg issues!

Ricky,
Allow me to bring this up once more, but you have never yet explained in any of your posts, I believe, why you have been forecasting comparatively low results for Rafa for months now.

I can attest to the fact that ricky is NOT a nadal/Djokovic/Murray fan.

I'd more call him a Isner/Berdych/Gulbis fan which is rather funny on a number of levels. :D

Fed's won the 1st set! Are Ricky's 'jinx' powers on the wane?

Why is Ricky a Isner/Berdych/Gulbis fan?
All tall(though Gulbis is only 6' 3")?All big hitters? Or ?Why?

i dont pick for jinxing people

i pick who i think is going to win. Not complicated.

Gulbis and Berdych (the old one) are very similar. Isner is nothing like them.

both of my finalists about to be out

just warming up for the Open, dont worry

top 4 in the semis. its gonna get really good :)

Yipeee! The best semis we could ask for.

Based on the performance in the quarters, Andy has an edge over Rafa; based on Ricky's track record, Nole has an edge over Fed; so I'll revise my prediction to an Andy over Nole in the finals, still in 3 exciting sets.

andy-rafa would be a cracker of a match.....andy must be feeling confident....the surface suits him too.....rafa will have to produce some great tennis to clinch this one....

rafa-fed in the same half in the cincy draw!!!

rafa-fed in the same half in the cincy draw!!!
vrael , 8/14/10 7:32 AM


Fed must be trembling by now! :-)

Rafa over Murray in 3; Nole over Fed in 3.

Rafa over Nole in 3.

I will stick to what I have said before the NA Hardcourt Season starts, that Rafa will jackhammer whoever comes cross his path.

Vamos Rafa !!!

I did not see the Murray/Nalby match, but it appears that Nalby had a bit of a walkabout, the fact that Rafa beat a tough determined Khols fills me with a lot of confidence, so I'm hopeful that Rafa will make the finals.

I love Ricky's predictions or non-predictions. If Sodall was still in, he would have been the man to beat in Ricky's books.

Vamos!

nadline - nope, i picked Soda to lose to Nalbandian. Soda isn't in form. He should have lost to Gulbis...and thats saying quite a lot!

chlorostoma - i picked Nadal to win the French.

i picked him to reach the QFs of Wimbledon, and he probably should have lost in the second or third round.

he still has no good hard court results since last summer (Cincinnati - which ended in a blowout loss to Djokovic, and the US Open - which ended in a blowout loss to Del Potro). Just cause he was on fire on clay and grass doesnt mean he will dominate the hard courts. He definitely could, but the reasons for picking against him are obvious.

Ricky,

'Just because he was on fire on clay doesn't mean he will dominate on grass.'

This was basically your rationale in saying that Rafa will lose to Soda in the QFs of Wimbledon. And look what happened, he went on to "mow down" the opponents as Raindrops would say. :-)

phoenix - very true....but what does that have to do with hard courts???

Ricky,what that means is that Rafa cannot be ruled out on any surface.He is a natural clay-courter but he adapted his game to grass.Now that he has been in 4 Wimby finals and won two of them,people are saying he is good on natural surfaces!It required Rafa to make it seem that clay and grass can be put in one category! Ivan Lendl,Sampras and so many talented stars had given us the impression that domination on the two surfaces are mutually exclusive! As Rafa said,if you want to excel on any surface,you can! So you discount Rafa's chances on any surface at your peril.

Not to mention that Rafa has been the most consistent hard court player of the top 4 this season too. A final, a quarter and two semis as opposed to murray who lost early at the two masters and the same goes for Fed too.
How can one say that Rafa should have lost in the 2nd or 3rd round of Wimbledon? Its like saying that a grand slam champion should never be taken to 5 sets for a victory. At the highest level, the difference between players comes to the fore in the mental fortitude that they show in the 5th set.

vij - theres a big difference between writing someone off and not picking him. I think Nadal has a chance to win Toronto, Cincy, AND the US Open.... I'm just not picking him to do it.

Ricky-you are quibbling.You should have been a lawyer.Everybody knows that anyone who is entered into a draw has a chance to win.So saying Nadal has a chance to win is not really saying anything.The fact that you don't pick him to win is what we are talking about.What you are saying is that you don't think he has a high probability of winning in Toronto or Cincy or US open.Why?He has shown he can excel on both clay and grass.So he is not just a clay court specialist.As vmk1 has said,his form on hardcourts this year has been more consistent than that of the other top players.So why do you not pick him?If it is just crystal ball gazing,then of course you cannot explain.But if it is based on analysis,pl share.

vij - wrong. Only 9 or 10 of the 128 players in the US Open main draw will have a chance to win. Nadal is one of the 9 or 10.

I'll ask again: what does Nadal winning on clay and grass have anything to do with his U.S. Open prospects?

I've taken his recent hard-court results into account, and thats why I don't think he is going to win it. It's not complicated.

Ricky-I could lock horns with you on what 'chance' means.But I will let it pass.

with the way Murray is playing right now, he could well win it. Hard to say with him, of course, but it looks like he has a real shot.

cheryl: of course I would agree but for some reason Andy has started to play a lot more aggressively and it's not just me saying it, the guys on tennistv were just going on and on about him coming "onto the ball" and changing defense to offence whenever possible. Also have read he's stopped trying to put topspin on his forehand and is hitting it much flatter, like he used to do. Who needs a coach?

Rafa fans, just chill out over Ricky's comments. Rafa will not be losing any sleep over the fact that Ricky isn't picking him to win Cincy or the USO. It's not like he has the time or inclination to read what people say about his chances.

Rafa once said that anyone can predict what they want, say what they want, but it's what happens on the court that counts. It has to happen on the court. Rafa will just work harder, practice more, get back that great form and make sure he is ready for the USO. Once Rafa sets his mind to it, he has a way of defying those who still think he isn't much on hardcourts.

I have faith in Rafa and like his chances at the USO.

ladies and gentlemen, THAT is why i picked against Nadal!

I too expected this, after watching Andy's QF against Nalby. You can say that Nalby was burn out and all but I saw what I saw in Andy's form that's why I disagreed when you say that he is slumping, Ricky.

easy to say that after the fact

he was slumping. He is no longe in a slump.

Ricky,
On another but related topic, after the respective semis, do you still pick Fed to win in the finals?

I'll pick Andy in straight sets. (*crossing fingers that the Murray against Rafa in the semis will show up today.)

I would still stick to Federer.
His first set yesterday against Djokovic was just brilliant. Too bad that he couldn't continue that kind of performance in the 2nd set. Nevertheless, he prevailed!! Yay.
I wish I could see Fed and Rafa in the final, but it didn't work in that way.
As Muzza can go really nervous, especially against Fed in a final, we would see Fed to lift the "Roger's Cup" today!

phoenix - too close to call. Murray SHOULD win based on current form, but I think Fed is going to raise his level.

I was right Ricky. Andy did not blink and played aggressive to take it in straight sets. :-)

Congrats to deuce, alex, and all Murray fans.

Congrats to all Murray fans.Like phoenix,I was not at all sad that Nadal lost to Andy in the semis.The talented Andy definitely deserves more wins!
Ricky-you were wrong about Federer winning in Toronto.Hope you are equally wrong about Nadal not winning the US Open.

good pick, phoenix. at least I had Murray winning the match!