The final that everyone was expecting is on the cards, though the way the semifinals went were exactly the opposite of how I thought they would. Federer had a much tougher time dealing with a first-timer (Monfils) than Nadal had with the world No. 3 and Australian Open champ Djokovic.
Roger barely won it in 4 set (easily could’ve been 5), but Nadal was never really in danger and utterly dominated Djokovic until late third set. But where does this leave us?
With a predictable final! For the first time, Federer will be the underdog to even take a set off Nadal. Federer has lost to Nadal decisively this year (2 times), and he has played the worse tennis of the two during this tournament. People are having trouble taking games off Nadal, so it seems highly unlikely that Federer can pull a win out unless he plays 100% for the whole match (which we all know won’t happen). Wonder who Nadal will win? Pound Roger’s backhand in submission and crush the forehand. Same story in their last 9 meetings on clay. Federer won in Hamburg last year but Hamburg is just a different tournament with a slightly different surface.
One thing that is going for Federer is the weather. He has shown that when it gets hot, he struggles. Now it’s going to be rainy so if he doesn’t win it this year, I don’t think he will unless Nadal gets injured or knocked out by someone else.
Prediction: Nadal d. Federer 6-3, 6-3, 6-7, 6-3