Tennis Acumen

Roger Federer & Rafael Nadal Meet for the 31st Time Tonight in Cincinnati

PETE ZIEBRON in CINCINNATI

Roger Federer powers his way to victory against Tommy Haas.  Pete Ziebron Images

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will resume their historic rivalry tonight in the quarterfinals at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati.  The match will be the 31st time they will meet, with Nadal holding a commanding 20-10 advantage in their head-to-head matchups.

The highly anticipated battle later today at the Cincinnati Masters was in serious jeopardy as both Federer and Nadal were pushed to 3 sets yesterday.  Federer fought back tenaciously from a 1-6 1-3 deficit against his very good friend Tommy Haas and ultimately prevailed 1-6 7-5 6-3 to advance to the quarters.  Nadal was up a set and a break and in command of his match against rising ATP star Grigor Dimitrov.  However, Dimitrov, as he had in their previous two meetings, won the 2nd set to take the match to a deciding set.  Nadal once again found his groove with an early break and would break yet again later in the final set to take the match 6-2 5-7 6-2 to set up the quarterfinal against Federer.

Rafael Nadal has high praise for Roger Federer and calls their matches special.  Pete Ziebron Images

In his pre-tournament press conference on Tuesday, I asked Nadal whom he most enjoyed playing during his entire career.  He took a moment to contemplate the question and specifically singled out Roger Federer in his response:

"I think matches against Roger always was special feelings of that.  We played all of the important matches for our careers, and combination of styles makes the match interesting.  One player finding one thing, another one trying to find solutions to not let him play as he was.  

And it's a little bit more strategic match.  And playing for big titles, that match made me feel very special every time."

Once the quarterfinal against Federer was confirmed following his victory over Dimitrov yesterday, Nadal again had high praise for Federer as well as for their history when they compete against one another:

"Tomorrow will be another match against a great player, probably the best in history, and if I am not 100% ready to fight every ball and to make the right decisions in the right moments, I will not have chances to win.

So I have to be ready to keep playing aggressive but making the right decisions in every moment."

"Always play against Roger is a special feeling.  We have a great history behind us in our confrontations, so it's not another quarterfinals.  It's a special one because you're playing against a very special player.  Our matches were very special always.  

But, again, it's a quarterfinals match, not the final, so that's a big difference."

Roger Federer's pre-tournament press conference was held last Saturday and I also asked him whom he enjoyed playing the most throughout his career.  His reply mentioned Rafael Nadal but others as well:

"That's a tough question.  I have to break it into time periods.  At first it was playing against the guys that I watched on TV growing up, (Andre) Agassi and Pete Sampras.  Then it was (Lleyton) Hewitt, (Andy) Roddick, (Marat) Safin and (Juan Carlos) Ferrero.  Then it was Rafa (Nadal) and now it would be the top four (Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal).

Following his victory over Tommy Haas yesterday, Federer was asked about a potential quarterfinal match against Nadal and had high praise for Nadal and his efforts this year:

"For him (Nadal) has been unbelievable, how he came back and how successful he's played, almost always achieving finals really.  

So it's a great season for him.  He's coming into this tournament clearly very confident.  I'll be excited to see how he plays tonight.  Then if I play him tomorrow, it's clearly going to be a difficult match because he comes in with a lot of confidence again."

Roger Federer - Rafael Nadal XXXI gets underway at 7 PM tonight on Center Court at the Western & Southern Open.  "One player finding one thing, another one trying to find solutions to not let him play as he was" is how Nadal described how he and Federer go after each other.  The 11,400 ticket holders in Cincinnati as well as an enormous world wide television audience will have yet another opportunity to watch two of the greates tennis players of all time compete against one another.  Advantage: tennis aficionados and casual sport fans everywhere.

2024 French Open expert picks: Who will win the men’s title?

This article originally appeared on The Grandstand.

Expert picks are back for the 2024 French Open, which projects to be one of the most wide-open Grand Slams on the men’s side in recent memory. A three-team panel weighs in with its title predictions.

Ricky Dimon: Novak Djokovic

I’m pretty much going with Novak Djokovic by process of elimination. Carlos Alcaraz is injured. Jannik Sinner is injured. Daniil Medvedev doesn’t appear to be a serious contender on clay. Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Casper Ruud, and Andrey Rublev have never won a slam. Sure this is definitely a spot where someone could finally win his first major, but at the same time it’s probably not wise to predict it. The likelihood of it is slim.

As for Djokovic, it’s true that he hasn’t been close to his usual self in 2024. Still, I wouldn’t overreact to bad losses at meaningless tournaments (yes, he has all but said that at this point in his career nothing matters other than slams and the Olympics). The Djokovic that will be on display at Roland Garros is almost certain to look a lot different than the Djokovic who stumbled and bumbled in Miami, Rome, and elsewhere. If the Serb can’t win this slam given the status of the rest of the tour, he may not be able to win another one. And I have a hard time believing he won’t win another one.

Cheryl Murray: Alexander Zverev

This is as wide open as this tournament has been since Rafael Nadal started his reign of terror back in 2005. It’s a year of opportunity in what has been the least suspenseful major on the calendar. So when I asked myself who we might see during week two, the answer was fairly simple to provide. Tsitsipas, Zverev, Ruud, and Djokovic should all be there. But answering which one can actually win? That’s a harder question to answer.

I have lingering doubts about the mental toughness of Tsitsipas and Ruud to get it done when it’s all on the line. And, of course, we all know by now that Dkokovic knows how to win. He does that even when he’s not playing well. The problem is that he’s really not playing well right now. The-of-five format helps him out because it gives him time to intimidate early opponents, but I can’t see him for the title at this point. That leaves Zverev. He is peaking at the right time and he’ll be delighted to be called opportunistic if it means he pockets his first major.

Pete Ziebron: Stefanos Tsitsipas

In 1997, one Roland Garros semifinal featured world No. 66 Gustavo Kuerten versus world No. 122 Filip Dewulf–a qualifier. Kuerten played (and won) a Challenger immediately preceding his French Open title that year. In 2003, Martin Verkerk reached the Roland Garros final–having never previously played the event. Verkerk’s career later finished at 25-25 on the ATP Tour. While these results actually took place, the reality of something similar happening this year is a longshot despite the fact that many consider this major to be up for grabs; unseeded players as well as double-digit seeds have been reaching Masters 1000 semifinals and finals this year on clay with regularity. That had certainly not been the case ever since Nadal stormed onto the scene and won the French Open in 2005 in addition to another 13 times.

My pre-draw pick to win it is Stefanos Tsitsipas, the 2021 runner-up. The Greek won the Monte-Carlo Masters for the third time this year. It’s also worth remembering that he had a two-set lead on Djokovic in the French final three years ago before managing to win just nine games in the last three sets. This year he defeated Zverev, Sinner, and Ruud en route to his Monte-Carlo triumph. Even though we have seen some recent career-best efforts from players in their 30s, Tsitsipas at 25 knows this may very well be his best shot to win a major going forward. As a result, we should see a significantly more dedicated and determined effort from him this year. His run to the final three years ago is more than most in the draw have accomplished and he will build on that valuable experience.

Injury Timeout: Socks and Sock

In 2021, Tennis Acumen interviewed American Evan King at the Champaign Challenger tournament. Here is a part of that conversation:

Tennis Acumen: I said I'd tell you a story, Evan. Now, my wife and I are just crazy tennis fans. This would be July 2013 in Winnetka, OK? Semifinals. Jack Sock and Somdev Devaarman. Jack's hip is not working, OK? It is absolutely not working. He somehow takes the first set, he's down in the second, and it's all about to fall apart. He gets an equipment time out because his socks were wet.

Evan King: Interesting. Socks and Sock. Yeah, that's good.

 

Tennis Acumen: He goes over to the clubhouse. Have you been to Winnetka?

Evan King: Yes. So, it’s a short walk from center court over to the clubhouse.

 

Tennis Acumen: 20 minutes later, Jack has not come back yet, and Somdev is going mad.

Evan King: Oh, furious. Yeah, for sure.

 

Tennis Acumen: Somehow, Jack gets into the third set. It's four all, and he just can't move. So Somdev is serving at 4-4. Jack just takes four serves. He just stands there, and he doesn’t even move. Somdev serves at 5-5. Jack takes four more serves. He saved what little he had for his service games. Oh, and he managed to claw his way through and win the tiebreak.

Evan King: That's impressive.

 

Tennis Acumen: And he was exhausted.

Evan King: Yeah. And that's summertime, too.

 

Tennis Acumen: The crowd is gone, the line judges leave, Somdev is gone and there's nobody in the stands. Jack is still sitting in that chair, just exhausted. I just walked on court to Jack, patted him on the shoulder and said: “That was gritty, Jack, just gritty.”

 

More of this exclusive interview is available at Tennis Acumen. Go to the interviews category, shown on the upper right hand side of the screen.

Tags: @EvanKingChicago

Photo of the Day: James Blake

Dateline Cincinnati, Ohio   |     August 7, 2002

Two weeks prior to his second Cincinnati Masters appearance, James Blake made it to the finals in Newport, Rhode Island. Next, he won his first round match at the Masters event in Toronto. That was enough to put James Blake in the top 30 for the first time as he came into Cincinnati. Blake beat Andrei Pavel in the first round, and lost to Juan Carlos Ferrero in the second. Blake's career high ranking was # 4 in the world.

 

photo credit: Karl Corbett,  Tennis Acumen