A hard court squaring off of Fedal would be interesting. Highly unlikely that Roger can make Rafa succumb on the hC as Murray did. Hope its a Nadal Murray final

Cincy will be interesting. I dont think that Djokovic is going to make it through to the semis,my gut feeling says soderling or nalbandian will get through. If fed plays nadal in the semis,then I like his chances. I also dont think Murray is getting through to the semis,due to the fact he has had a long week in canada AND he has a tough draw. Maybe some dark horse could progress through there.. Speaking of dark horses,where is Jo-Wilfried Tsonga? Is he injured..again.

I also believe that Djoker will not get through to the semis. For once he has a really tough draw. He had the easiest of draws at Toronto and that was one big reason that he got through to meet Fed in the semis.

I think Nalby should have a good shot to get through here. If he doesn't get overcome by the hot, humid conditions, then I like his chances. I don't know about Sod. Normally this fast hardcourt should be ideal for his game, but I don't like how he has looked lately. He has been very inconsistent and not on his game. I saw his first match with Gulbis and I cannot recall seeing Sod serve so poorly in that first set. He managed to regroup in the second set, but I think Gulbis missed out on an opportunity to get the upset win.

I actually think Murray has a decent draw and a real chance to do well here. He is coming into this tournament with renewed confidence after a badly needed win at Toronto. He has found his game again, has been much more aggressive and seems ready to make another run. I don't know how he will come out of Toronto.

Rafa has another tough draw. Now that I know that he has been holding back, is a bit slower by his own admission and is trying to work out the kinks and rust, get that serve working without reinjuring his abdominals and get his backhand firing at full throttle, I am not sure what to expect. I know that he needs match play, so it would be to his benefit to try to go deep here. I won't feel comfortable making any predictions until I see his first match.

I think it is entirely possible that a dark horse could get through, especially in Djoker's half of the draw.

might want to revise my pick after seeing the Toronto final :-)

I think this is the first time since FO 2004 that Fed and Nadal are in the same half..

Neither of them are playing very well..

Murray won toronto, but it took him one tournament (LA) before he won it..

So we can be optimistic about Fed and Nadal to improve well enough to make it to title..

Fed need to win it any how or he may again find himself at the same half of draw as nadal in UO..

Ricky,

It looks like you always predict Fed to win but he is failing to win a title from half of the season.

Djoker, last week enjoyed the easiest draw , now has a real test from R3 onwards.

I think murray has got the easiest draw here , only Gulbis (Though gulbis is overrated) in R3..

Nadal has got a decent draw..In R2 he may have to deal with a fast serving Dent, R3 is ok.I think BAGHDATIS or CILIC will take out berdych..so i think it should be an easy ride for Nadal.

Fed may have to face Istomin a good server in R2, KOHLSCHREIBER in R3 , MONFILS in R4.FERRER in QF.

So Fed will have to play well to meet Nadal in Semis..

May be we wont see top 4 in semis this time..

champ00289 - im not picking Murray cause he just won Toronto, im not picking Nadal because its Cincinnati, and im not picking Djokovic because he just lost to Federer. Plus Federer has BY FAR the easiest draw.

easiest ?????

KOHLSCHREIBER ,MONFILS and FERRER are good players and can test Fed..

KOHLSCHREIBER took nadal in third set.FERRER also prefers HC instead of clay.So it is not the easiest draw..

champ00289 - let me know when you back from dreamland.

Hope Andy doesn't win, needs to rest up b4 the Big One 1! I think he got to semis last year, enough, plus here is where he injured his wrist last year.

My prediction is... if Rafa can fix his serve, he can beat Federer and Murray over Soderling in the semies... Murray over Rafa in the final. Otherwise another Federer vs Murray in the final, and Federer will win this time

I think Fed and Murray may make it to the semi and lost. It seems those winning at Canada couldn't carry on and win in Cincy, Roddick was the exception in recent years. Murray won Canada last year and lost in the semi at Cincy. I think he won't win Cincy, rather conserving his energy for the USO. Fed may meet Rafa or Berdych in the semi should he get there, and I fancy Rafa/Berdych's chances against Fed.

Contrary to what some here believed, I think Nole is getting back on track and he may do well here at Cincy. I hope he does, and that will be ideal preparation for him for the USO. I hope he meets Murray at the semi, and I think he has a good chance of beating Murray, as he is slowly and steadily on the rise now and Murray may be a bit exhausted after the Canada win.

I like Rafa's chances in winning the Cincy title for the first time. He is not exhausted by the Canada tournament, he is practising more now on his serve and his backhand (having mentioned them in particular as areas he needs to work on), and I think if he is not worried about his abdominal muscle straining or whatever, he may go all out to test himself on the fast hard court before the USO.

I hope to see a Rafa/Fed and a Nole/Murray semi, and a Rafa/Nole final with Rafa winning the Cincy tournament for the first time.

murray should win this one too... tennis has finally heated up again, after long sleep since wimbledon...

Nadal over Murray in the final

nalbandian got a PR entry to cincy. what does that mean?
anyone picking against murray now should have a very good reason.

@champ, ferrer prefers hard court over clay?? when did that happen?? NO WAY and secondly , nadal and federer were in the same half in rome but fed fell to gulbis so they couldnot meet.

i'm with luckystar on this one.

Ricky......

I am at a loss to know why many people(including you) think that Rafa can't beat Rog on HCs...their h-to-h is 3-3 fellas.....

the baghman knocked out CILIC !

Federer over Murray in the final

People who should do well at Cincinnati:
Wawrinka
Kolshreiber
Roger
Petzshner

This tournament is going to play out similar to Toronto with all the top four going deep. I think both Rafa and Nole are improving their game steadily so I'm going to go with a Rafa-Nole final this time, with Novak for the win. Let's see what happens.

Who will win at Cincy? One of the top 4 or the others?I suspect it will be one of the others.Maybe Berdych or Fish or Nalbandian.Or Querrey?The field is wide open?

Ricky:

'Nadal faces a potential opener against fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, one of just two players to beat the world No. 1 since the beginning of April. Tomas Berdych, who has a perfect game to trouble Nadal on fast hard courts, looms large as a potential quarterfinal opponent.'

******************

Here we go again - all the doom and gloom reserved for Rafa. Ricky, when was the last time Berdych beat Rafa? Berdy hasn't taken a set off him in the last 7 meetings on any surface, and three of those have been on h/c. How does that make Berdy a threat, just like Sod was going to beat Rafa at RG and Wimbledon, Oh and Toronto, I forgot about that prediction.

i want to see if anyone can get 3 out of 5 - http://www.tennistalk.com/entertainment/test-your-tennis-knowledge.htm l

well,Ricky,you got one prediction right.Baghdatis over Cilic

Blake was terrible today, lost in 45 min wouldn't be surprised if this is his last season

Wawa and Kolsh doing well as I thought. Too bad for Blake. And Rafa gets Dent for starters. Quite an interesting tourney so far.

Fed still is the best out there and should be viewed as favourite everytime. Nadal is not a threat on a hardcourt for Fed or Murray or an in-form Djoko. If Berdych plays close to his best, Nadal would lose in quarters. Fed wil not lose against Murray again this year, that's for sure. Funny how a he is written off and thought of as a mediocre player suddenly. All the other players lose matches every now and again but no fuss is made about that. They are still viewed as good players

Rafa Nadal's hard court record includes 9 tiles, with a Grand Slam and Olympic Gold.
In what universe is he not a threat to anyone on hard courts?

Sorry, typo, obviously Rafa has 9 TITLES, not tiles.
I forgot to mention he also has an additional 5 HC finals. On the top 10 only Roger, Nole and Murray have a better HC record (Although Murray is debatable, since he doesn't have a GS or Gold Medal... how many Masters are those worth?). In fact Rafa's Hard Court record leaves Soderling, Davydenko, Berdych, Verdasco, Del Potro and Tsonga in the dust, and most of those guys are usually considered "a threat" on hard courts... then how come Rafa isn't?

Nadal not a threat on hard court? Strange that people can come up with comments like this, obviously a bias person, who doesn't like Nadal.

A hard court slam winner beating the supposed goat in the final is not a threat on hard court? Well at least he is a threat to the supposed goat! The other supposed threats of Nole and Murray have a total of ONE hard court slam between them, how are they better than Nadal?? I think that is simple maths.

Actually Nole n Murray having more hard court titles than Rafa because they compete in more hard court events and winning some of them - those 500 n 250 events. In terms of masters 1000, the three of them each has five, one/two of which was an indoor hardcourt event - Rafa n Murray won Madrid when it was an indoor hard court event; Nole won Paris and the TMC, both indoor hard court(I'll count TMC as a masters 1000, though it is worth more ranking points).

Rafa having nine hard court titles is nothing shabby considering the fact that he does not play as much on hard courts as Fed/Nole/Murray; and hard courts being Rafa's least favorite surface.

I'm just bored of defending Rafa's h/c credentials, let people believe what they want to believe, those who write him off simply don't let the facts get in their way. Rafa is 3:3 h2h with Roger on h/c and has beaten Roger in a slam, the day after he had a 5hr gruelling contest with Verdasco, when Roger had been relaxing and prancing about for two to three days. Not bad for someone who is not a threat on h/c against the 'GOAT'!

The results are what matter, people are entitled to their warped opinions, but it doesn't mean that Rafa will not continue to do well on h/c. To suggest that Berdych is looming large as a potential qtr final opponent because he has the perfect game to upset Rafa, when he hasn't even taken a set off Rafa in their last 3 contests on h/c is puzzling. So how perfect is Berdy's game against Rafa, or is there a new definition of perfect.

Non Rafans just don't want to give him the credit he deserves, that's all there is to it. Obviously, there are no certainties, and anyone can beat anyone, anyday.


VAMOS!

Hey Nadline: I don't think when someone is picking against rafa then he is writing him off. All that is said is that cincy has the fastest hard court in the tour, even faster than the US Open, so players with a high risk game like berdych could trouble rafa especially after berdych's level of play has much improved this year. That doesn't mean that rafa won't win, he can win if he plays with the right tactics.

Why is it that people are ALWAYS picking on Rafa when it comes to hardcourt season? Hasnt Rafa made you guys eat your words enough? He has made the US Open semi twice in a row, and for so many of those so-called hard court threats, I cant remeber them ever reaching the semis.........not even once!!!!!!!!!! Has Sod or Berdych ever reached the US OPen semis?........not that I can remember? So what are you people talking about? Its like Rafa is so poor on h/courts, that anyone who does not know better would think he should not even bother turning up at those h/c tourneys!!! If I had the time I would prepare a list of all those who really should not bother turning up...........but then again, what is the point?!!!

I wish Rafa all the best at Cincy and at the US Open!!!!! One match play at a time!!!!!

Rafa is preparing himself for the US Open. He will not kill himself in Cincy. If he gets to the quarters or semis he will be pleased with his result. His build up is for the US Open and for the first time ever, he is making sure he is arriving there 100% Fit 100% Rested and I tell you what, its going to be a cracker!

Fit or Unfit, I dont see anyone other than Murray, Djokovic and Federer beating Nadal in the US Open this year. Rafa will "atleast" make it to the SF's for the 3rd straight year.

bolboi, I just don't think that Rafa gets the credit he deserves, what would people say if he hadn't made it past the Qtrs on fast hard courts like so many of the players who are supposed to be a threat to him.

Don't get me wrong, no match is easy, and I'm not saying that any of these players is a walk in the park for Rafa or are not capable of beating him, I'm just saying that only Rafa gets a hard time with his performance on h/c, when other players who have not achieved half as much get put on a pedestal.

I agree with Isabeau that Rafa's goal is the USO, of course he plays every match to win, but he is preparing himself for NY, and he doesn't want to arrive there less than 100% fit as he did last year, so he will not be stretching every sinew to win Cincy.

isabeau,

Did you see Rafa's match with Dent? He is still looking a bit out of sorts. His game isn't all that sharp, but I make it a point not to read too much into his first match in a tournament.

You make an interesting point about Rafa not wanting to push to win Cincy and save himself for the USO. What I am concerned about is his form. He is still misfiring with the backhand, still missing shots he would normally make and I am wondering if he is still protecting those abdominals when he is serving.

I think that Rafa wanted to do just enough to get the win against Dent. He made is easier for Rafa by playing some really crappy tennis in that first set. I do think you have hit on something, because I sense Rafa holding back.

By the way, it's nice to see the Rafa fans jumping to his defense as a strong hardcourt player. It's getting really old reading the same old comments all the time. I am pretty much done trying to argue or convince others who prefer to believe that Rafa is not a threat on hardcourt. Facts don't seem to convince them otherwise, so let them think what they will.

tbh this court is too fast for rafa to make a real influence .

my picks


semi finals: nadal vd fed ... fish vs djo

final : fed over fish and fed retains no.2 :D

anyone wanna get in expert picks tomorrow?

I think Ernie has a chance against Murray, judging by the way Murray played against Chardy. I'll go for Rafa/Fed and Nole/Ernie semi; Rafa/Nole final, 50-50, chance for Rafa/Nole winning the final.

Third round expert picks - http://www.tennistalk.com/en/blog/Ricky_Dimon/20100819/Expert_picks:_C incinnati_third_round

final : fed over fish and fed retains no.2 :D
vamosrafa
, 8/19/10 1:14 AM



wooaaahh !! i must be given a medal if fed really goes on to beat fish ! i havenot seen any one tipping a fed-fish final but i did it and if fed wins i am the best predictor of the week ! huhuhahah (no arrogance meant just fun involed ) :D :D

vamosrafa I think you are well on your way to an excellent prediction! :)

vamosrafa - i've already clinched the weekly win. Nice try!!!!

Does Ricky know something we dont know? Why was he so sure Rafa would not be in the final at Cincy and why is he predicting with such certainty that he cant win the USO?

@ricky hahah...let the others decide ! federer over fish says A LOT ! :P

ed, it's no secret that both the form book and the stats are lined up against Rafa right now. He hasn't beaten a player ranked inside the world's Top 8 (as opposed to a player who might be seeded 8 or better in a given event) on a hard court in seventeen months. And, while most of the tour's elite took time out of competition in the five weeks between Wimbledon and Toronto, we cannot be sure how much time Rafa needed with the knee treatments in that period. These deprived him of the strenuous work-outs that keep all the best players in top condition, andthereby put him at a disadvantage in the past two weeks.

But it's just like My Guy to sniff out a challenge, and to rise to it. You can be sure he wants to grab that career slam at Flushing Meadows, and to finish the year in style with a first-ever WTF title to add to his growing collection.

VAMOSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

vamosrafa - Fed over Fish would have been a decent prediction at the BEGINNING of the tournament!

@ricky, i made my pik on 19th , this was after all players finished playing their 2nd rnd matches !! i made the pick even before u posted the 'expert 3rd rnd predictions' !!! all top players were alive in the draw when i posted federer over fish so what is the difference between making a pick after rnd 2 matches and making pick before the start of the trnament???!!..the diff is minuscule! lol

i had Federer winning it BEFORE the tournament started!!!

@gorafago
someone on another forum said nadal had blood injections on his knees,and bcoz of that couldnt hit a ball for 3 weeks,thus why he was more rusty than usual in canada and cincinnati.

Rafa has plasma replacement therapy done to both his knees during that five weeks break so he couldn't train as much as he needed. We saw how rusty he was during his Toronto and Cincy matches, esp. his backhand and his serves. We can see that his serves improved tremendously during Wimbledon; now it has gone backwards due to the rust in his game. I hope he shakes off the rust in time for the USO. A Fedal final will be interesting and the New Yorkers have been waiting for ages for that to happen. Rafa is the one who can't make his side of the deal since becoming no 2 in 2005. Now that he is the no1, he should try his best to make it to the final. I think he can if he avoids Murray in the semi. I think Nole is not at his best yet so maybe Rafa has a chance against him in the semi. I also think that Rafa has enough game and will power to outlast opponents like Nalby/Berdych/ Baggy in the later rounds of the draw, just hope that Rafa won't meet players like them during the earlier rounds(of course Berdych can only meet Rafa in the QF or after). Hope Rafa make it to the final this time to meet Fed(I think Fed will be in the final regardless of who he meets along the way). I want Rafa to prove something- that he can beat Fed in a fast hard court final.

vamosrafa,

I congratulate you on your pick. That was good thinking on your part! Whether you win anything or not, whether or not you were the first, doesn't matter in the end. Your instincts and smarts were on the money, so enjoy! :)

gorafago, 8/22/10 2:14 PM Point taken!

It was fairly evident Rafa was protecting his body during both those tourneys. But what was of more concern were the lapses in concentration and his lack of lucidity at key moments. Then his confidence deserts him. Like you, I'm banking on his famous will to win to come to the fore at the USO. However, I'm not so optimistic about the WTF - he has never been at his best on indoor courts - he needs a blue sky and plenty of sunshine to play his best tennis :-)

Ricky,

Finally Fed has won a Tournament.

You predicted him winning Wimby , toronto too.

LOL:)

@native, thanks a lot for ur good words :D ...hope u are doing good these days :)