RICKY DIMON’S TENNIS PICKS FOR THE MIAMI SEMIFINALS: DJOKOVIC VS. ISNER, MURRAY VS. BERDYCH

Written by: Staff on 3rd April 2015

RICKY DIMON'S TENNIS PICKS FOR THE MIAMI SEMIFINALS: DJOKOVIC VS. ISNER, MURRAY VS. BERDYCH

epa04690557 Novak Djokovic of Serbia reacts against David Ferrer of Spain during their quarter-final round match at the Miami Open tennis tournament on Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USA, 02 April 2015 EPA/RHONA WISE |

No Roger Federer (did not play), Rafael Nadal (lost in the third round), no problem. Despite lacking two of the best players in the world, the Miami Open semifinals feature a pair of blockbuster matchups on Friday. Novak Djokovic and John Isner have waged plenty of intriguing battles in the past, while Andy Murray vs. Tomas Berdych has the makings of a heated rivalry in the aftermath of their recent showdown Down Under.

Previews and picks:

(1) Novak Djokovic vs. (22) John Isner

John Isner of the United States in action against Kei Nishikori of Japan during their quarter final match at the Miami Open tennis tournament on Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USA, 02 April 2015. EPA/ERIK S. LESSER

Djokovic and Isner will be facing each other for the ninth time in their careers and for the second time in as many tournaments. A 6-4, 7-6(5) win in a high-quality Indian Wells battle extended Djokoic’s lead in the head-to-head series to 6-2. Not surprisingly, both of Isner’s victories have come at home in the United States. He prevailed 7-6(7), 3-6, 7-6(5) in the 2012 Indian Wells semis before pulling off a 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-5 upset in the 2013 Cincinnati quarters.

The world No. 24 is suddenly on fire after a dreadful beginning of the season. He reached the fourth round in the desert and played great in a loss to Djokovic. Isner has been even better this fortnight, with straight-set defeats of Andrey Rublev, Grigor Dimitrov, and Kei Nishikori sandwiched around 6-7(3), 7-6(6), 7-6(5) triumph over Milos Raonic. Djokovic has trailed multiple times at this event but has managed to scrape past Martin Klizan, Steve Darcis, Alexandr Dolgopolov, and David Ferrer. The top-ranked Serb has the benefit of having seen Isner’s serve so many times before, whereas Nishikori had never faced Isner prior to Thursday. Isner is a dangerous matchup for anyone anywhere right now, but it is tough to pick against Djokovic on a medium-paced hard court under any circumstances.

Pick: Djokovic in 3

(3) Andy Murray vs. (8) Tomas Berdych

Familiar foes will also be clashing in the first match of the day, as Murray and Berdych have squared off on 11 previous occasions. They did not meet a single time in 2014, but this will already be their second encounter of this year. A contentious semifinal at the Australian Open saw Murray get the job done 6-7(6), 6-0, 6-3, 7-5. Still, the fourth-ranked Scot trails the head-to-head series 6-5, but he has defeated Berdych five times in eight tries on either hard courts or carpet.

Andy Murray of Great Britain in action against Dominic Thiem of Austria during a quarterfinal match at the Miami Open tennis tournament on Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USA, 01 April 2015. EPA/ERIK S. LESSER

Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic in action against Bernard Tomic of Australia during their third round match at the Miami Open tennis tournament on Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USA, 29 March 2015. EPA/ERIK S. LESSER

Murray is once again performing admirably in Miami with wins over Donald Young, Santiago Giraldo, Kevin Anderson, and Dominic Thiem. At the same time, his up-and-down tennis in 2015 has continued in the form of sets dropped to Anderson and Thiem. Berdych is on his second life this fortnight after saving four match points against Bernard Tomic. Following that scare, he completely controlled play against Gael Monfils (who retired in their second set) and Juan Monaco. The afternoon slot is exactly what Berdych wants, just as Isner would prefer it against Djokovic. Balls will be flying fast and bouncing relatively high, which is a favorable combination that can help the eighth-seeded Czech take rips in his strike zone and hit through the court.

Pick: Berdych in 3

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Topics: Andy Murray, Atp, John Isner, Miami semifinals, Miami tennis, Novak Djokovic, Ricky Dimon, Tennis, Tomas Berdych

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10sBalls_com says:

April 3, 2015 at 8:06 am

-@Dimonator’s #TENNIS PICKS FOR THE #MIAMI SEMIFINALS: @DjokerNole VS. @JohnIsner, #MURRAY VS. #BERDYCH- http://t.co/GhAW4yRkSW #MiamiOpen

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