RICKY DIMON’S PICKS FOR THE FRENCH OPEN SEMIFINALS: DJOKOVIC VS. MURRAY, WAWRINKA VS. TSONGA

Ricky’s picks for the French Open semifinals: Djokovic vs. Murray, Wawrinka vs. Tsonga

 

There will be a little bit of something for everyone in the men’s French Open semifinals on Friday. One showdown is blockbuster matchup between familiar foes Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. The other tilt features two relatively surprising semifinalists, including one of France’s own in Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. He will be going up against a suddenly in-form Stan Wawrinka.

 

(1) Novak Djokovic vs. (3) Andy Murray

Djokovic and Murray will be squaring off for the 27th time in their careers and for the fourth time already this season. The series once stood at a basically even 8-7 in Djokovic’s favor, but he has won seven in a row and 10 of their last 11 encounters to storm ahead of Murray 18-8 in what is becoming a lopsided head-to-head matchup. Murray has not defeated the Serb since the 2013 Wimbledon final. Djokovic prevailed earlier this year 7-6(5), 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-0 in the Australian Open title match, 6-2, 6-3 in Indian Wells, and 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-0 in Miami.

 

They have faced each other only twice on clay. Djokovic cruised 6-0, 6-4 at the 2008 Monte-Carlo Masters and survived a 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(2) thriller at the 2011 Rome event.

 

The red stuff has always been Murray’s worst surface, but don’t tell him that right now. Roland Garros’ No. 3 seed is a perfect 15-0 on clay in 2015 with titles in Munich and Madrid. So far this fortnight he has taken out Facundo Arguello, Joao Sousa, Nick Kyrgios, Jeremy Chardy, and David Ferrer. A red-hot Murray, who is 36-5 overall for the season), also reached this stage at Roland Garros in 2011 and 2014 (lost on both occasions to Rafael Nadal).

 

Nadal is now out of the way thanks to Djokovic, who trounced the nine-time champion 7-5, 6-3, 6-1 on Wednesday. The world No. 1 preceded that huge victory with straight-set beatdowns of Jarkko Nieminen, Gilles Muller, Thanasi Kokkinakis, and Richard Gasquet. Djokovic, who has not even been pushed to a tiebreaker during this tournament, is 40-2 for his 2015 campaign and has won 27 matches in succession.

 

Not unlike in his recent dominance of Nadal, Djokovic is able to dictate play in this matchup and keep his opponent in a defensive position. Murray should be able to put up more of a fight than did the Spaniard because his return of serve is superior and he generally gets more depth on his shots–especially given the way he is performing right now. Still, Djokovic is looking unbeatable these days and he should beat Murray in a fashion similar to their previous meetings: early drama followed by Djokovic running away with a commanding win.

 

Pick: Djokovic in 4

 

(14) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. (8) Stan Wawrinka

 

Wawrinka and Tsonga will be doing battle for the seventh time in their careers. Interestingly, if not amazingly, this will be their sixth consecutive meeting on clay and the two veterans have not squared off on anything other than clay since 2007. The head-to-head series stands at an even 3-3, with Wawrinka having won three of their five encounters on the slow stuff. They most recently faced each other last fall in the Davis Cup final in France, where Wawrinka silenced the crowd in the form of a 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory. A pair of 2013 showdowns saw Tsonga prevail 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 before the Swiss came out on top 6-2, 6-7(9), 6-4 in Madrid.

 

Although both men have reached Grand Slam finals (Australian Open; Wawrinka won in 2014, Tsonga lost in 2008), whoever reaches this title match must be considered a significant surprise based on recent form. Wawrinka had been 8-7 in his 15 previous matches heading into Roland Garros, but so far this fortnight he has taken out Marsel Ilhan, Dusan Lajovic, Steve Johnson, Gilles Simon, and Roger Federer. The world No. 9 dropped only one set to Lajovic and his 10-set winning streak has required only one tiebreaker.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tsonga, in part due to injury, had been even worse than Wawrinka over the past few months. In his recovery from an arm issue the world No. 15 won just six of his first 11 matches this season. But as he suggested after upsetting Kei Nishikori in five sets on Tuesday, Tsonga loves Roland Garros (“Roland je t’aime”). The 2013 semifinalist preceded his quarterfinal win with convincing victories over Christian Lindell, Dudi Sela, Pablo Andujar, and Tomas Berdych.

 

This is Tsonga’s second trip to the last four in Paris and the second time he will be playing an opponent outside the “Big 4″ with a spot in the title match at stake. He fizzled when presented with such an opportunity in 2013, losing swiftly to David Ferrer 6-1, 7-6(3), 6-2. Tsonga should turn in a better account of himself in this one, but Wawrinka’s firepower was downright scary against Federer. The No. 8 seed is a slam champion who will not crumble at this stage of a major.

 

Pick: Wawrinka in 4

 

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

Topics: Andy Murray, Djoker Nole, French Open semi-finals, Jo Wilfried Tsonga, Novak Djokovic, Paris, Ricky Dimon, Roland Garros, Stan Wawrinka, Tennis News

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