2009 U.S. Open Preview — Federer and Serena FTW!

WILL do you think nadal should stop because it seem that his abs problems can get worse

Murray paid the price for refusing to play offensive tennis and I think that helps del Potro more than anyone. At the start of the tournament I liked DP to take out Murray but worried the match would take a lot out of him physically. I predict he beats Cilic easily and is fresh to take on Nadal. In Montreal del Potro played a bit tentative for the first 12 games against Nadal but after opening up and going for more he absolutely blew Nadal off the court in the tiebreak and second set (although it was Nadal's first tournament back). I think del Potro will beat Nadal (although it will be a lot closer than the match in Montreal) and hope he's got something left for the final against RF. Unless he wins a taxing 5 setter on Saturday, del Potro has a better shot than anyone at ending the streak - remember the semis at the French? Considering stamina is his weakness and that he hits the ball harder and flatter than anyone esle out there, clay would be the worst surface for del Potro to play Federer on. The US Open courts suit del Potro's game better than any other courts out there.

Will - You wrote del Potro off for getting tired in a 3 set match against Murray. He was dead before the match started. His footwork was awful from the first point and he still managed to come up huge in the first set tiebreak and his second set service games before he got too tired to serve over 110mph in the 3rd. That was also his 9th match in 13 days (many of which were played in very hot conditions). He's as fresh as anyone right now and with Murray out will likely be just as fresh for the semis.

Hey Brent. I expect Nadal to do to DelPo, assuming it gets to that, what he just did to Monfils: run him around the court, extend each point, and break him physically and mentally. After watching Nadal last night, I wouldn't bet a dime on DelPo's chances should he play Nadal in the semis.

Nadal/JMDP in the semis seems a safe bet at this point. So how bout it? On paper it's a really bad matchup for Nadal--not surprising he lost the last two times they played (but Nadal was exhausted in Miami and far out of form in Montreal). Like Murray, I think JMDP is going to have to prove he can get it done in slams before we get too excited about him. He's got excellent game for best of 3, but 5? That and he's had a very soft draw to this point. Unless he can take it in straights (unlikely), I don't think he beats Nadal. And Fed's worst nightmare becomes reality....

JAJAJA seems that your women predictions were baaad only serena is left

Well I can still somewhat salvage my predictions if she wins =)

le Roger will win the tournament. Safe bet. Just watched him against Robredo and he is in fine form once again. Only getting better as the tournament goes on. Djokovic is gonna get butchered in the semi's.
Bottom half is far more interesting. It would be easy to say that Murray is gonna reach the final. I opt (and hope) for Gael Monfils though, the most entertaining player on the tour who is going to have to break through some time in the near future. So:
1. le Roger
2. Monfils
3. Murray
4. Djokovic

da Flipsta

My top picks on the men's side:

Federer
Murray
Del Potro
Tsonga

In that order.

I predict that Del Potro will go far. Pity that my compatriot Haas did not take his chances against Verdasco. The spanish knows how to get back into a match. I guess, that he just disappears for some minutes off the court, goes to the gents, and comes back with new strength. He did that already in Melbourne vs Nadal.
So my favourites are Federer (bad form vs Hewitt), Del Potro, Murray and Isner. Nadal will not reach the semifinals.

Nice safe picks FYB

Roddick bye bye, guys this is tennis you can t predict, hwo will won it, you say that roddick will beat djokovic and meat fed ex in te semis, but he didn t pas 3rd round, beacouse this is tennis, one bad day in the office and you are out, you have to be focou two weeks that is realy tough, anything can happen, we will see it

Del Potro shouldn't be discounted. I fancy he will beat Murray and Nadal.

Welp so much for Roddick making the final, heh.

Hi Will.....
what do u think of Roger and Rafa in final in a favour of Nadal....would that be a start to see Roger going down again...? considering I love the way Roger plays these days...he is awesome ,,,,but on the other hand another theory is Roddik and Murray in final....what do u think of that,,,,it can shock everyone....? which in that case i ll go Roddik

A Roddick - Murray final seems extremely unlikely... even with Federer struggling a little bit right now vs. Hewitt. But if that were to happen, I agree with you -- Roddick would take it in a close one. Crowd gets him over the top.

Will,
I think if its a Federer - Roddick final. NY will be absolutely on fire. The crowd will be 100% behind Roddick in order to see him make amends for the heartbreaking Wimbledon loss. Federer needs to step up a couple of levels in order to win again. He is not playing with the same intensity that we saw at Wimbledon. He's had a couple of lethargic wins in the early rounds here and a loss to Tsonga a couple of weeks ago. He looks a little fatigued. First serve not working as well and too many unforced errors with hitting the ball long.

We'll see. You're right that the crowd will be behind Roddick and that will help. But they're not going to be against Federer, so they're not going to negatively affect his level.

The bottom line is that Federer is a better player than Roddick so I expect him to win. Roddick has the tools to pull off an upset, but I just don't see it happening.

I thinnk that's spot on. I completely agree.

i think that djokovic can suprise evrebody, he had enough of roddick and i think that he will pass him to semi-final and there will face federer. He know how to beat federer, he proved that, so i think that he can go all the way like he went in Australia Open, there he lost in intire turnement just a set in the final, like nobody can hurt him, so i think that we can t just put him on the side

there is a question i would like to ask that would kinda leave those -who try to make federer look bad- with some kinda exclamation marks over their heads... we all knw tht nadal won federer in wimbledon n yes we knw tht nadal won federer in roland garros a couple of times, however i rly dunno where nadal was the four years federer spent as number 1 with tons of championships won, do u?? i seriously don understand why u guyz try 2 underestimate a guy with sick skills just for the love of a new player that couldn take the tention of being number one for more than a year

Andy Roddick will beat Federer.....hes playing amazingly and to be quite honest, he very easily could of taken the wimbledon from him too

Federer has to hard of a time breaking A Rod's big serve....the time of Federer beating Roddick is over

Roddick and Murray in the final

just FYI!!!! Fed served 50 aces in the Wimbledon final!!! Roddick obviously has the rep of a bigger serve, but just case in point of how great Fed is. Anything his opponent can do, he can do better and he showed that by actually outserving him at wimbledon. Also people say Wimbledon was a close match... LOL. Scores don't tell the story. The back hand overhead that Rod missed (what people say cost him the match), that was no accident. Replay a tape to view what Fed did with that ball. Hit it to Rod's backhand, high with extreme top spin. He made sure that he gave him a look at one of the toughest balls to control and sure enough his plan was brilliant. There after in the match no matter how many tie breaks or close games, there was only one man who was gonna win it, because he's ICE even under pressure. Come's up with the best exactly when he needs to!

i meant

Roddick VS Nadal in the final....Nadal will probly win

Roddick would beat Murray though if they met in the final

Hi will

What do you think about Kim Clijsters game ?
I think she is showing great consistency and power. I would bet for her in the final.

She's a great athlete. She's got a tough draw though and I doubt she can be consistent enough to go deep in the tournament having just come out of retirement.

Well, I will beg to differ, after watching first round and some of second rounds. Nadal and Roddick are playing impeccable tennis. Federer will have to lift his game, which he often can, to beat them. This would be toughest US open he has faced in last 6 yrs. I give him only 25% chance of winning.
Roddick can easily take it this time. He is great shape, most importantly getting his backhand going, especially down the line and as always he is mentally a rock. Its a tough one, but I put him as my favorite.

My prediction is Roddick as well. So i think we are on the same page as far as that goes.
The world knows that the best player (Roger ) can't always win. Roddick will probably win because of his hunger because we all know that as far as skill goes, he's not even in the same league as Roger, but then again NOBODY is! Also the law of averages/ numbers is against Roger. 6 times in a row since 2003 is just an insane statistic and it has to come to a break at some point. This can be a welcome relief to the other players as there is Roger at world #1 and then a very very very distant #2..3.. 4 ..5 and so on. Maybe if he decides that he's done, he should coach them on how to play!

Hard to pick a clear winner here for the U.S open as the top seeds are playing close to each others levels at the moment and any one player has to drop their game just fractionally for their opponent to get on top, however here are my predictions.

On current form its Roger Federer. He's relaxed. Owns all the records including the French which was bothering him and now its a question of a little temporary burnout for him. It takes a lot to achieve what he has and your energy and levels of play are bound to drop a little just to be able to get a breather from the sport. Also the small matter of having twins at home. We haven't seen a form slump from Federer yet but if it is to happen, it can happen now. A couple of lethargic matches in the U.S Open series, one to Tsonga and one just two days ago tells of that possibility.

On hunger/ desire to fulfill a dream that keeps slipping - Andy Roddick. Specially since his heartbreaking loss at the Wimbledon. Having said that. Andy played out of his skin at Wimbledon and close match or not, it was still not good enough to beat the GOD of tennis. That's because the world has seen that GOD is so good that he can raise his level just that much just when required to morally crush any opponent. Andy is playing the best he has ever played but to expect a Wimbledonesque performance again is more that dreaming. That's a once in a lifetime performance from him, but he's still the favorite to win over other players here at the U.S open.

Murray is the most boring player the world has ever seen. His game is good but nothing too special to talk about. No chance for Murray at the U.S open.

Nadal is great, but i can't pick him either. That big looping spinning forehand requires feeding him a short ball and i think the flat hitters have shown that if you push him back and rush his shots he's relatively harmless. Sorry Nadal, but i think going forward you have your work cut out for you on clay as well!!!! You have Murray, Simon, and Soderling to curse at for unlocking the secret to tackling your game. I think Nadal is a great competitor and a real entertainer but when you are a one weapon (forehand) wonder, it can only last so long before the pros figure out what needs to be done to tackle it.

I think ur totaly correct on the perdictions ....considering roddik has improved his game ,,,I might include djokovic in the semi just beacause he might be more confident and relaxed based on his better seed ...anyways as you said roddik has got the crowd edge....but I ll go with something exactly as the cincinati 's semis,,,, surely Nadal is much more of a player in a slam in front of murray and will go through......now in final,,,as ur saying Roger is playing great ,,,,,But if u consider if that little dark side comes into his mental challenge like he had in Australia .....maybe maybe we could face a 5 sets finnal and in that case again its a possibility for Nadal to break all of federer's Dreams in this special open.....at the end I got to add that my Brain and half of my heart is Federer and Just a half of my heart is Nadal to vote...... it is just more drama that comes into tennis if Nadal wraps this one up....
Thanks for u Videos ,,,,I watch them all the time ....great job man....wish to see u one day.......Navid from Newport,UK

If you had a chance to watch Nadal's games during early flush, you probably will know that he will become a formidable competitor~~

I don't really see Nadal passing the Tsonga test before he gets to the Murray! Nadal is coming back but he is not moving as fast as he was doing before the injury. Partially because he is not in the same shape and even more so by realizing that movement of the kind that he was doing before will not allow him to play even in his late 20s. I hope for him that he realized that and that he will try to improve some other parts of his game to compete with big guys and stay healthy!

As of the rest I completely agree, but I think Federer will face Murray in the finals.

I saw most all of Oudin/Dementieva. Oudin looks awful good moving, at net, and with the forehand. To bother a Williams though, she's going to have to improve that serve and/or figure out how to create more offense from the backhand wing. Then again ED was eating her alive on 2nd serves, so that might account for her conservative placement on 1sts in this match. Given her apparent mental toughness, she could well get in the top 10 before her teen years are up. Get ready to hear her compared to Justine Henin ad nauseum....

I only saw the last set and Oudin was playing well during it, the first two sets were obviously closer though. I don't think Dementieva was playing at her very best but it didn't look like she gave the match away either. Oudin does look promising, she has upset two top-10 players in majors this year (other being Jankovic at the French). One thing I will say though is she needs to get her serve up to the level of the other top women. Maybe she was tired in the third set I saw but she wasn't getting a full extension on her serve, and that vulnerability will be costly against the Williams or Sharapova.

Anyway I live just a few miles from her hometown so I'll be pulling for her.

Nice try on the prediction Will, you can't be right about everything! I wouldn't have seen this one coming either, although I might have expected it more from Oudin than some of the other lower ranked players in the draw.

Ya Oudin did well at Wimbledon so I knew she was capable of an upset. Just wish she hadn't messed up my predictions =)

I'll definitely be rooting for her -- hopefully she's the next great American.

Whops!
It seems one of our candidates for the final is already out! It is very difficult to make previsions! Why do this happened in your opinion, Will? I can say that Oudin played very well in the third set. I could not see the first two.
Now Sharapova has some possibilities of being in the quarters, even if she can loose at any moment.

DOH!

Didn't see the match... will have to watch the highlights. But I think it's fair to say that Oudin has a bright future ahead of her.

Still think you're oversimplifying. Saying who'd win if both players play their absolute best doesn't help much--doesn't happen often enough. The question should be: how well are both players likely to play given a) recent past results, and b) their matchup with each other?

Just so we're clear and not arguing semantics, I'd favor Fed over anyone in the draw. But where Roddick, Murray, and Nadal (based on seeing him v. Gasquet) are concerned, it'd be by the merest whisker. To me, that means you could safely say that they all have an excellent chance to take out the man. Further, I'd say that means Fed's level wouldn't have to drop appreciably for him to lose to either three. Aside from getting hot for a weekend in Cinci, he hasn't really destroyed great players this year as he did in years past. Due to his play in past slams, I don't like the pick, but there's gotta be a good reason so many of the intelligentsia like Murray to win, no?

A digression, but I'd say there's one guy who can beat Fed at his best on grass, if perhaps not hard courts. How close to his best would you say Fed played at the Wimbledon Final in 08? Personally, I don't think he could've played much better over the course of 5.5 sets. I don't even know if Nadal was at the top of his game--really should've won that 3rd set tb. Even in Wimby 07, Nadal was right there until his knees hurt enough late in the match to ask for the trainer. Nadal can sure play some good tennis on grass--good enough to beat Fed at his best, I'd say.

RE: the "playing their best" discussion, I was commenting on your statement that Murray or Karlovic wouldn't lose if they played to the best of their abilities.

I didn't think Federer played particularly well in the first two sets of the '08 Wimbledon final. He was awful on break points -- 1 for 13. If he converted just 2 more break points he probably wins that match (he missed a routine swinging forehand volley long on one in the second set). And 3 for 13 is 23%, which is still a pretty bad conversion percentage. Otherwise, he played great.

IMO, Murray gets more credit than he deserves vs. Fed. Sure, he beat him something like 4 times in a row in non-major, best of 3 matches. That counts for something. But majors are completely different animals. And Murray hasn't really shown me anything in majors that leads me to believe that he can beat Federer in a best-of-5 when everything is on the line.

Yeah, Fed did lose 5 straight games in the 2nd set of 08 Final, so maybe he wasn't at his best level through the whole match. But a) half those break points came in sets he won anyway, b) Nadal's level dropped here and there too (esp. in tb's) and c) I'd say the best tennis I've ever seen any human play was Nadal's run all 3 surfaces from May thru August 08. So I'd have to say at his best, he beats Fed's best on grass. If he takes the USO this year from Fed in the final, and then we'd have to talk about a new GOAT contender who's 5 years the current's junior.

Couldn't agree with you more about Murray, btw. But if he actually wins this thing, look out.

Well I disagree that Nadal is a better grass court player. Federer is clearly better, imo.

I do think if Nadal beats Federer at the USO then that raises some "GOAT" questions.

"The only person Federer's going to lose to is himself." Okay, if you made me bet the farm on it, I'd say Fed wins. But that statement is way over the top. What do you think this is, 2006? :) The new and improved A-Rod playing on his home court could well beat him. What's with mentioning their past matches "not counting the Wimbledon Final"?? I don't think it was any fluke Roddick almost beat him. In that match, I certainly wouldn't say Federer played poorly by his overall standard of the past couple years.

Not only would A-Rod have an excellent chance to beat Federer, but so would a pair of guys on the other half that he has poor records against--Murray and Nadal. And if Soderling gets to the quarters, that's a tough out, too. As for that other half, sure Nadal beat Murray in IW. But as I recall, the court conditions were rough, and Murray served quite poorly. It'd be a major ask for Nadal to even get to the semis though with all the rust, and with Tsonga in his quarter. As for the rest, Djokovic doesn't have the head for it (compare his use of drop shot with Fed's, for one example) and JMDP has the game but not the stamina. Imagine if he managed to beat Murray in 4 or 5 in the semis. He'd be toast for the final the next day!

Hi Orange. I'm not sure how over the top my statement was. If you agree that nobody can beat Federer when he's playing his best -- that he's the GOAT -- then it doesn't matter how well Roddick or others are playing. They're still going to lose.

Hey WH. Fed may have had the greatest tennis career of all time, and IF he plays his BEST at the US Open he won't lose. But you could say that about anyone--from Andy Murray to Ivo Karlovic. If Richard Gasquet had played as well as he ever has, he could've won the whole thing, too. Point is: how often does he or anyone else play at their BEST? I think one must consider things as they are, not as they could be. So judging from Fed's current level of play, and that of his potential opponents deep in the tournament--Roddick, Murray, and Nadal (esp. after watching him wax Gasquet) all have excellent chances to beat him--if he plays close to his level of the last few months (which should be expected, of course). I suppose you could also talk tactics, but all three of those guys are too smart and too capable not to make adjustments for the next time they play him....

Well if Federer plays his best and Murray / Roddick / Karlovic play their best, Federer's going to win every time. Only exception is Nadal on clay -- he's the GOAT on that surface.

Given Fed's level, I think saying some guys have an "excellent" chance to beat him is a stretch. Do they have a shot? Sure -- they are all incredibly talented players. But it's just not likely to happen unless Federer's level drops.

I think Fed is going all the way for sure. I don't think Nadal is going to be as big of a threat as he would've been. Not only was he off with injury to his knees, I believe Federer has gotten over some big mental road blocks. I'm sure he was feeling an immense amount of pressure to beat Samprass' record. I don't think he feels he has much else to prove and I think this is only going to make him tougher than he already is.
I don't know much about Nadal's knee injury, but I think he might lose a step as the slam goes on.
As for the rest of the field I think Del Potro will make a strong showing and has a great shot to get to the final. Roddicks looking better than he has for a while. Whether its Potro, Roddick, Murry, or Nadal, I think they will be playing for second place.

Hi Matt. I love Del Potro's game but I don't think he's quite ready to make it to the final of the US Open. He's got a huge game -- and he's still has room to improve -- but I question his fitness. He ran out of gas vs. Murray in a best of 3-set match. Don't think he's going to have the legs for 6 5-set matches to get him to the finals.

Why cant I register on forum,it keeps asking me are you human???
I think that Nadal cant beat Muuray or Del Potro on hard court!!!

The "are you human" is a challenge question to make sure that you are not a spam bot. Just answer the question and it will let you register.

I think if del potro doesnt get burned out he can get to the finals. When he played that last match against murray he looked like he was dead and he still took a set off murray and the second set went to a tiebreak. I believe del potro won his last 2 matches against Nadal, so I like that match up. If he plays well i think he can get through murray too. Those matches against nadal and that recent match against murray were best of three instead of best of five, but i still think if his fitness doesnt let him down he should make it to the final.

hi all,
Found the video very interesting, it's always a pleasure to see new things coming on my favorite tennis website ;)
I think it's really interesting to see Nadal playing his first US open in full physical potential, he is a great tactician, very smart player (althought he's in a very unfair way taken for a running monster !), now from what I've seen the couple of last matchs he played : if he impoves his serve a bit, his return of serve (a lot !), the accuracy of his forhand, then he will go through to the final, then we will see... It's also very interesting to compare with the Australian open : back then nadal was in his top, and Federer, to say the truth, had a bad serve and a high pourcentage of unforced errors, it took him a while to work those things out, and now he's with no doubt in level so close to his 2006-2007 level, which is theoricly unbeatable !
How would nadal be capable of generating into federer's mind lack of confidence and push him to make as much unforced errors as possible, that's the key for him to win.

Federer- Murray, 2008 reedited. I don't think Nadal is 100%, he's knees are causing visible trouble... but who know's,,, and you can't take Roddick out of the pocket. Maybe Fed wil be tired and also the crowd can make a difference. Personally would love a FedNad final.

I agree with Serena's prediction!! She will come through and win!!

I think that it will be a Nadal-Roddick final on the mens side!! I think Roddick will beat Federer in front of his home crowd in the semis and then go on to beat Nadal in the final!!

That's my prediction!!

I agreee with u man, specially the part where you say , that, if Federer it`s gonna loose, will be against himself, and the worst version of that is definitely the Nadal factor. Good thing you pointed the new set of tactics used by him during madrid master series, fully agree.
Plus, I think it counts as a mental factor, the achievment of both Roland Garros & passing Sampras as the all-time Slam Player, that could lend him some new perspective, with the included tactics, while at it.

All the best.

Dear Will,
I agree with you about the semis and finals. What about the quarters?

I think Federer will play another match against Soderling, who will beat Davydenko. Then Roddick-Djokovic, as you said. Nadal will probably meet Tsonga, and I think that Murray will meet Ferrero, who will beat Del Potro.

For the women, against Safina there will be Jankovic or Ivanovic, I hope it is Ivanovic. Against Dementieva we can find Wozniacki or Kuznetsova, but I hope to see there Cirstea instead. Against Venus Williams, what about Schiavone? But she needs to beat Azarenka to be there. Against Serena Williams we can find Pennetta, she played very well in the last two months, I think she can beat Zvonareva. I would love to see two Italians in the quarters.

Hi Daniele,

Soderling beating Davy doesn't surprise me. That said, Soderling had an elbow problem recently so he may not be 100%.

Tsonga vs. Nadal is certainly a possibility. Tsonga is amazingly talented but sooooo inconsistently. He could lose in the 2nd round if he doesn't show up to play.

I think Del Potro is going to make it to the quarters where he'll lose to Murray. DP has been having a great summer and he's going to win some majors in the future, imo. But he's not quite there yet.

Ivanovic is another player who is all over the map. If she's playing well she's so tough but she's been inconsistent lately. Safina, like I said, will make a pretty deep run but I doubt trust her mental state later in tournaments. I suspect she'll have a breakthrough at some point but I don't think it's going to happen in NYC.

For the past couple of years, whomever won the Rogers Cup in Toronto for the women went on to win the US Open... which would mean this year Dementieva will pull off what Clijsters did in 05 - win the US Open series and the US Open. =P

I know Serena is the favorite. And she just might win. But I picked Jelena Jankovic. She won in Cincinnati and she looks great right now. Her game is solid. But I see Serena getting to the Final. I also see Jelena Dokic getting into the semis. She might upset Kjlisters and Venus on the way to the semis. Odd but those are my picks for the women's draw. Nadal over Federer in the final. Verdasco into the Quarters and Roddick out in the 4th Round. I'm not sure about the potential 4th round matchup between Davydenko and Querrey. That could go either way. What do you think? The US Open is going to be great this year.

Federer definitly! Murray is ok, but he's no Federer. :)

Ain't nobody Roger Federer but Roger Federer! Everyone else is pale in comparison!

Federer x (murray or roddick)

Rafa's definetly gonna win, he isn't 100% yet but he's coming back slowly slowly. Andy Murray is just hopeless!!

i actually i hope that nadal will face federer then atleast there will be some excitement in the final.

Ya that would be really interesting to watch.

Could potentially be a huge downer on Federer's stellar season. Losing to Nadal in the final would definitely produce a chorus of, "Fed only won the French / Wimbledon because Nadal didn't play" and "is he really the GOAT if he can't beat this guy?"

Its a mental game for sure, but after winning the French and the 15th slam, Federer won't be so hung up on his bad record against Nadal. There is no question that Fed is the more skilled player and clearly records don't tell the entire story. For those that raise their doubts that Nadal wasn't in the French Final and didn't play Wimbledon which gave Fed the chance aren't purists of the sport. Nadal won Wimbledon 2008 against a Roger with an ailing back and for the first time in his career playing with fitness issues. Nadal fans will chose to overlook that ofcourse. Fed beat Nadal at madrid this year. On CLAY, and Fed beat Soderling who ripped Nadal apart at the French on CLAY. To the doubters... Need i even say more?? LOL. The purist know who's a real legend and who are the entertainers. They just need to ask Sampras, Agassi, McEnroe, Borg, Laver, Gilbert and pretty much anyone who was someone in the past and they will say the same thing!

How refreshing to see a thorough and well thought out prediction. Personally I already think that the reason Fed won Wimby and French is because Nadal was not there -- fully healthy. Nadal has gotten inside Fed's head during the past. I do think they respect each other and I look forward to a final between them. I think Federer is fortunate to have great physical genes and as well as taking care of himself isn't so prone to injury. I certainly hope Nadal is on his way to robust health so we can see an exciting final.

federer does though have a chance of victory because he beat him in madrid and nadal was away for a month i think. nadal wins: federer is not the greatest of all time and stops federers winning streak in the us open. federer wins: he reinforces the fact that he is the greatest of all time and continues the winning streak

I think the toughest challenges are in the second half of the draw, but I think it may well be another Fed / Murray final. Murray lost to Nadal at Indian Wells, sure, but that final was remarkable for being played under extremely windy conditions and they suited Nadal's game better than they suited Murray's. Prior to that, Murray had beaten Nadal at the start of the season, and with Rafa not being quite up to speed (although to be fair he may be by the time we reach the semis) would give Murray the edge.

The prediction sounds just on key. Serena I definitely see winning the Open this year without a shadow of a doubt. She just always seems to step up in the majors which really counts. Federer we might as well give the guy a free pass to the final. The way he has been playing lately is just phenomenal. Forget that lost in Toronto to Tsonga. He will show up. Hate to say Roddick will lose to Fed. Hands down as always although I always root for Andy. Nadal in the final? Hmm is James Blake on Nadal's half of the draw? Sleeper upset...Murray I believe will return to the final again. I guess we'll see. Good Stuff Will.

I've always had a place in my fanbook for Andy R. I'm hoping he comes on like a wolf and maybe gives the Fed as hard a time here as he did in Wimbledon. Obviously there were good chances early on in that final for Andy to put the match away so I'll be curious to see if he can make those kinds of opportunities for himself again.