RICKY DIMON’S PICKS FOR THE WIMBLEDON 2015 SEMI FINALS: DJOKOVIC VS. GASQUET, FEDERER VS. MURRAY

Written by: Staff on 9th July 2015

RICKY DIMON'S PICKS FOR THE WIMBLEDON 2015 SEMI FINALS: DJOKOVIC VS. GASQUET, FEDERER VS. MURRAY

Novak Djokovic of Serbia in action against Marin Cilic of Croatia during their quarter final match for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 08 July 2015. EPA/GERRY PENNY |

Ricky’s picks for the Wimbledon SFs: Djokovic vs. Gasquet, Federer vs. Murray

By Ricky Dimon

Three of the top four players in the world will take the court when the men’s semifinals at Wimbledon are contested on Friday. Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, and Andy Murray are all in action. The underdog is Richard Gasquet, who earned his spot in the last four by upsetting Stan Wawrinka on Wednesday.

(1) Novak Djokovic vs. (20) Richard Gasquet

Djokovic and Gasquet will be squaring off for the 13th time in their careers at the ATP level. The head-to-head series once stood at a modest 2-1 in Djokovic’s favor, but the Serb has won nine in a row at Gasquet’s expense and 11 of 12 overall. Each of their two previous Grand Slam encounters came at the French Open; Djokovic cruised 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 in 2011 and 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 earlier this season. The two veterans have never faced each other on grass.

That Gasquet has reached the semifinals is a huge surprise; that his third career major semifinal is coming at the All-England Club is hardly unexpected. The 20th-ranked Frenchman also advanced this far in 2007 and he has been to the fourth round on four other occasions. Gasquet’s latest run has come thanks to defeats of Luke Saville, Kenny De Schepper, Grigor Dimitrov, and Nick Kyrgios prior to the monumental win over Wawrinka. Djokovic booked his spot in the last four by taking out Philipp Kohlschreiber, Jarkko Nieminen, Bernard Tomic, Kevin Anderson, and Marin Cilic. The world No. 1 dominated four of his matches in straight sets but had to storm from behind to beat Anderson 6-7(6), 6-7(6), 6-1, 6-4, 7-5 in a thriller that spilled over from Monday to Tuesday.

Richard Gasquet of France returns to Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland in their quarter final match during the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 08 July 2015. EPA/FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA

Surprisingly, Gasquet is a perfect 3-0 lifetime in slam quarterfinals. However, he is 0-2 at this semifinal stage. In fact, the former world No. 7 has never pocketed a set in the last four of a major; he fell to Roger Federer 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 eight years ago at Wimbledon and succumbed to Rafael Nadal 6-4, 7-6(1), 6-2 at the 2013 U.S. Open. More of the same should continue.

Pick: Djokovic in 3

(3) Andy Murray vs. (2) Roger Federer

Federer is leading the head-to-head series 12-11 after taking all three of their meetings last season. The current world No. 2 prevailed 6-3, 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-3 at the Australian Open and 6-3, 7-5 in Cincinnati before humiliating Murray 6-0, 6-1 at the World Tour Finals. They have squared off twice on grass and both of those encounters came in the span of one month. Federer triumphed 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 in the Wimbledon final only to see Murray to dominate 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 for gold at the London Olympics.

When Federer fell to Djokovic in five sets in last summer’s title match at the All-England Club, many thought it would be his “last best chance” to win an 18th major. But the 33-year-old Swiss remains in daunting form and so far this fortnight he has cruised past Damir Dzumhur, Sam Querrey, Sam Groth, Roberto Bautista Agut, and Gilles Simon, dropping only one set to Groth in the process. Murray is a two-time Grand Slam champion (including the 2013 Wimbledon title) who may be playing the best tennis of his career right now. The third-ranked Scot is 46-6 for his 2015 campaign following victories this fortnight over Mikhail Kukushkin, Robin Haase, Andreas Seppi, Ivo Karlovic, and Vasek Pospisil.

Roger Federer of Switzerland returns to Samuel Groth of Australia in their third round match during the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 04 July 2015. EPA/GERRY PENNY

Andy Murray of Britain celebrates a winner against Andreas Seppi of Italy in their third round match during the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 04 July 2015. EPA/ANDY RAIN

Playing with aggression on a more consistent basis than he has in the recent past, Murray should be able to put pressure on the Federer backhand. The 17-time major champion can get into trouble when time is taken away from him on that particular wing. Service breaks will come at premium, as Federer has dropped serve only once at this event and Murray has been broken just once in his two most recent outings. Expect several tiebreakers, and perhaps even an extended fifth set.

Pick: Murray in 5

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

Topics: 10sballs.com, All England Club, Andy Murray, Atp World Tour, London, Novak Djokovic, Richard Gasquet, Ricky Dimon, Roger Federer, Tennis News, Wimbledon 2015

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10sBalls_com says:

July 9, 2015 at 8:37 pm

-@Dimonator’s PICKS FOR THE @Wimbledon 2015 SEMI FINALS: @DjokerNole VS. @richardgasquet1, @rogerfederer VS. #MURRAY- http://t.co/3J905WEBVy