TENNIS NEWS – RICKY DIMON’S PICKS FOR THE CINCINNATI SEMIFINALS: ANDY MURRAY VS. MILOS RAONIC AND MARIN CILIC VS. GRIGOR DIMITROV

Written by: Staff on 20th August 2016

Western and Southern Open tennis tournament

TENNIS NEWS - RICKY DIMON'S PICKS FOR THE CINCINNATI SEMIFINALS: ANDY MURRAY VS. MILOS RAONIC AND MARIN CILIC VS. GRIGOR DIMITROV

epa05499403 Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria in action against Steve Johnson of the USA during their quarter final match at the Western & Southern Open tennis championships at the Linder Family Tennis Center in Mason, near Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, 19 August 2016. EPA/TANNEN MAURY |

Is Andy Murray’s hot streak about to run out? We will find out on Saturday at the Western & Southern Open, where the world No. 1 is going up against Milos Raonic in the semifinals. The winner will battle either Marin Cilic or Grigor Dimitrov for the title. Cilic and Dimitrov are going head-to-head in a half of the draw that was vacated early by Stan Wawrinka and Rafael Nadal.

(1) Andy Murray vs. (4) Milos Raonic

Andy Murray of Britain hits a return shot to Bernard Tomic of Australia during their guarterfinal match in the Western & Southern Open tennis championships at the Linder Family Tennis Center in Mason, near Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, 19 August 2016. EPA/TANNEN MAURY

It will be a rematch of the Wimbledon championship when Murray and Raonic collide in the Cincinnati semis on Saturday. Not only does Murray own a current 21-match winning streak overall, but he has also won six in a row against Raoni dating back to the fall of 2014 after beating the Canadian 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-6(2) to lift the trophy at the All-England Club for a second time. What was once a 3-1 edge in the head-to-head series in Raonic’s favor is now a 7-3 deficit.

There is, however, sufficient reason to think Murray’s streaks may come to an end. He is making a quick turnaround following another gold medal-winning run at the Olympics, where he outlasted Juan Martin Del Potro in a four-hour title match just last Sunday. This week’s No. 1 seed has advanced with wins over Juan Monaco, Kevin Anderson, and Bernard Tomic. While Murray was toiling away in Rio, Raonic rested up for this week. That move has paid off in the form of convincing wins over John Isner, Yuichi Sugita (surrendered a set but took the others 6-1, 6-1), and Dominic Thiem. The fast conditions in Cincinnati should help Raonic dictate play with his serve and forehand while running Murray just enough for the tour’s most in-form player to finally run out of gas.

Pick: Raonic in 3

(12) Marin Cilic vs. Grigor Dimitrov

Marin Cilic of Croatia hits a return to Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic during their match in the Western & Southern Open tennis championships at the Linder Family Tennis Center in Mason, near Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, 18 August 2016. EPA/TANNEN MAURY

Cilic and Dimitrov will be meeting in a second consecutive event when they clash again on Saturday. Their third career showdown came just last week at the Rio Olympics, where Cilic coasted through a first-round contest 6-1, 6-4. He is a perfect 2-0 against Dimitrov on outdoor hard courts, but the Bulgarian scored a 7-6(3), 7-6(2) indoor win last fall at the Paris Masters. Although Dimitrov got off to a slow start this year, he appears to be turning things around just in time for the U.S. Open. After reaching the quarters of the Rogers Cup, the world No. 34 has gone one step further in Cincinnati thanks to victories over Gilles Simon, Feliciano Lopez, Stan Wawrinka, and Steve Johnson.

Aside from squandering a two-set lead to Jack Sock in a Davis Cup quarterfinal rubber, Cilic does not have any bad losses since early June. The 12th-seeded Croat was a semifinalist at Queen’s Club, a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon, and he is coming off a third-round showing in Rio (fell to an in-form Gael Monfils). Cilic, who recently split from coach Goran Ivanisevic, is through to the semis this week with defeats of Viktor Troicki, Fernando Verdasco, Tomas Berdych (in three sets), and Borna Coric (via retirement). Although Dimitrov is starting to build confidence, there is no reason to think he will totally turn the tide from what happened against Cilic at the Olympics.

Pick: Cilic in 2