RICKY’S TENNIS PICKS FOR THE MADRID MUTUA OPEN 2016 SEMIFINALS: NOVAK DJOKOVIC VS. KEI NISHIKORI, RAFA NADAL VS. ANDY MURRAY

Written by: Staff on 6th May 2016

RICKY'S TENNIS PICKS FOR THE MADRID MUTUA OPEN 2016 SEMIFINALS: NOVAK DJOKOVIC VS. KEI NISHIKORI, RAFA NADAL VS. ANDY MURRAY

epa05291785 British tennis player Andy Murray returns to Czech Tomas Berdych during their Mutua Madrid Open quarter final match held at the Caja Magica tennis complex in Madrid, Spain, on 06 May 2016. EPA/J.J. Guillen |

By Ricky Dimon

A pair of blockbuster semifinal showdowns will be on the Saturday schedule at the Mutua Madrid Open. Two of the top four seeds failed to advance (Roger Federer withdrew and Stan Wawrinka lost his opening match), but their spots have been filled by more than worthy competitors. It will be Kei Nishikori going up against No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal facing second-seeded Andy Murray.

(1) Novak Djokovic vs. (6) Kei Nishikori

Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic returns the ball to Spanish Roberto Bautista during their Mutua Madrid Open tennis tournament round of 16 match at the Caja Magica Tennis Center in Madrid, Spain, 05 May 2016. EPA/JUANJO MARTIN

Djokovic and Nishikori will be facing each other for the 10th time in their careers on Saturday night. The head-to-head series stands at 7-2 in favor of Djokovic, who is 2-0 on clay. The Serb lost two of their first three meetings, but he has since reeled off six victories in a row at Nishikori’s expense. Djokovic has won eight straight sets dating back to the decider of their 2015 Rome showdown, and none of those eight sets has been more competitive than 6-2.

Nishikori should at least take some hope heading into this semifinal, even though he has not upset the world No. 1 since the 2014 U.S. Open semis. The sixth seed finished runner-up two years ago in Madrid and was beating Nadal before being forced to retire due to a back problem. So far this week Nishikori has taken out Fabio Fognini, Richard Gasquet, and Nick Kyrgios.

“I thought it was a great match,” Nishikori commented after outlasting Kyrgios in a high-quality three-setter. “I think he served really well. Even though I had many opportunities in the first and second sets, many break points, I couldn’t convert. If I could [have played] better on those important points, maybe I could [have finished the match in] two sets…. It was a really tough match, so I am very happy to win.”

Djokovic has bounced back from a shocking Monte-Carlo loss to Jiri Vesely with Madrid wins over Borna Coric, Roberto Bautista Agut, and Milos Raonic. No opponent has managed to break the top seed or snag more than four games in any set. Raonic served at a respectable 68 percent in the quarterfinals and still had no real hope of making the contest especially competitive. Djokovic is now 31-2 for his 2016 campaign and in search of his fifth title.

Pick: Djokovic in 2

(5) Rafael Nadal vs. (2) Andy Murray

Nadal and Murray will be squaring off for the 24th time in their careers won Saturday afternoon. Not only is Nadal dominating the head-to-head series 17-6, but he is also 8-1 against Murray on clay. The Scot’s lone victory on the red stuff, however, came last spring in the title match of this same Madrid event (6-3, 6-2). Still, Nadal has won four of their last five meetings after most recently prevailing 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the Monte-Carlo semifinals.

Spanish tennis player Rafa Nadal returns the ball to Brazilian Joao Souza during their Mutua Madrid Open quarter final match played at Caja Magica tennis complex in Madrid, Spain, on 06 May 2016. EPA/JUANJO MARTIN

It is safe to say this is not the Nadal whom Murray defeated last year’s final. The Spaniard dug himself out of a prolonged slump by restoring order to his old stomping grounds in Monte-Carlo and Barcelona. Nadal followed up his recent victory over Murray by beating Gael Monfils for the Monte-Carlo title and he came back out the next week to steamroll through Barcelona without surrendering a single set. So far in Madrid he has fought past Andrey Kuznetsov, Sam Querrey, and Joao Sousa, donating one set to Sousa in the process.

Murray’s title defense got off to a bit of a rocky start when he surrendered a set to Radek Stepanek in round two, but the second seed promptly destroyed both Gilles Simon and Tomas Berdych. He is now 16-4 for the season and in confident form on clay after struggling in both Indian Wells and Miami.

“Andy played the semifinals in Monte-Carlo, winning good matches, and was close to beating me,” Nadal said. “Last year he won [this title], so he knows how to play very well here. That’s a great level that he’s playing. He’s a player that can win against everybody.”

Unless the roof is closed (unlikely based on the forecast), Murray will have trouble picking up another clay-court win against Nadal.

Pick: Nadal in 3