We are down to the last 3 tournaments in the Tennis Galaxy and while the Women wrap up the WTA season this week in Sofia, Bulgaria, the ATP has two more big titles to wrap up the 2013 season. This week all the stars in the Tennis Galaxy descend on Paris fort the ATP’s finals Masters series tournament. The stage is set for some wonderful and exciting clashes this week in the BNP Paribas Masters. We have already had some great tennis matches this week with a 3rd set tie-break ending.
PREVIEW
Rafael Nadal’s Quarter:
Rafael Nadal kicks off his campaign with a match-up against fellow Spanish player Marcel Granollers and should Nadal win that we will have ourselves a mouth-watering clash against defending finalist Jerzy Janowicz. In a tough quarter, Nadal will have to negotiate his way through Marcell Granollers and Janowicz before a possible quarter-final date with Kei Nishikori or Richard Gasquet.
Richard Gasquet has now started hurting players [as opposed to his fans like me] with that divine backhand of his. This gifted athlete from France has everything going for him in his homeland. There is also an unwelcome guest in the form of pressure, but I believe Gasquet is bearing it well these days. [Is it too early or delusional to think of a late French Open title for this guy? Just saying]. I will pick Gasquet to avenge for his country-man Tsonga’s loss [my original pick for the final was Tsonga!]
Prediction: Nadal to make the semis with a heart-breaking [for Gasquet and his loyal fan] 3-set win over Richard Gasquet
David Ferrer’s Quarter:
David Ferrer will start off, very ironically against that player who is not very popular with a lot of Spanish sports fans, Lukas Rosol. On an Indoor court, Rosol could be a nightmare player. I will pick Ferrer to negotiate that match, but I do not like his chances in this “Quarter of Death”. I will do a coin toss and go with a Milos Raonic – David Ferrer quarterfinal match.
Prediction: Raonic to make the semis in a tough 2 set win over David Ferrer
Juan Martin Delpotro’s Quarter:
Has the Roger Federer era officially ended? With his three set win over Federer at Basel, has Juan Martin Delpotro officially put the metaphorical “period” on the Roger Federer era? It does seem like that. Roger Federer, as every resident of the Tennis Galaxy knows, is a 17-slam winner and he did not win those titles without knowing a trick or two. I will go kamikaze here and pick Federer to make the quarter-final here. A brave call these days.
Juan Martin Delpotro is statistically the best Indoor player thus far this season. His win over Federer in the Basel final was an instant classic. Even giants get tired and I think Delpotro must be feeling fatigued after his Federeresque efforts in Tokyo, Shanghai and Basel. I am going to call an upset her by either Marin Cilic or Grigor Dimitrov.
Prediction: Federer to make the semis with a tough 3 set win over Grigor Dimitrov
Novak Djokovic’s Quarter:
Novak Djokovic is in prime form right now. He is the reigning King of the Indoor Hardcourts, a title he earned when he dethroned Roger Federer in the finals of the ATP World Tour Final in London. [While we are at this, ATP : WTF is a marketing OOPS! moment. Please change the title to Tennis Masters or Year End Championships. I beseech the Great Minds at ATP that came up with WTF name]. He looked rusty in his first match in Paris, but he is experienced enough to navigate this tough path which has him playing John Isner, next. I pick the Serbian No.1 to make the quarter-finals.
Stan “Not anymore the other Swiss” Wawrinka is one of the three contenders looking to confirm their passage to London for the ill-named WTF. He has quite the challenge on his hands with a very turbulent path, to put it mildly, in front of him. He has to battle two Spanish players, just to set up a quarterfinal with Novak Djokovic. A Junior French Open Champion, Wawrinka does not deliver his best on faster Indoor Courts. I will stick with Feliciano Lopez to emerge from this quarter.
Prediction: To no one’s suprise, Novak Djokovic to get to the semi-finals with a tough 2 set win over Feliciano Lopez.
Semi-Finals and Finals
Semi-finals: Raonic over Nadal in 3 sets and Novak Djokovic in two tough sets over Roger Federer.
Champion: Novak Djokovic in 2 tough sets. [One Tie-break at least and a minimum of 10 games won for Milos Raonic]
SportzCosmos 
Very conventional picks. It will be interesting to see how Nadal does here.
Ofcourse! Nadal has the best winning % on outdoor courts. Indoors he is 38th all time, if I am not mistaken!
I think Rafa will win it this time
Good to see your semifinal picks are spot on till now…Roger Laver…Where are your articles mann?
Hi Redclaw….
Raonic and Dimitrov, let me down and to some extent Jerzy. I expect these guys to deliver some big things, hopefully soon!
The articles, that is a good question…… we are working on a few, and hope to have them up soon including a nice “juicy” article on surface speeds 🙂
Stick around…. tomorrow’s Federer-Djokovic promises to be an epic. I hope Federer is not exhausted with all the many 3 setters he has played these past 2 weeks. I can count 4 atleast…. Djokovic is the last guy you want to play indoors but then again, Federer has absolutely nothing to lose, no? 🙂
Federer-Djokovic up. Going with my original pick here. Raonic let me down and I am not feeling good about Ferrer, so Rafa in 3.
Novak saves a BP, just the 1st game…. Fed serving 2nd, not good, he has to hold and break Nole early. he doesn’t want to be serving at 4-5 and 5-6!
Roger Laver…awaiting ur creative juices!!!
So, Nole wins thanks to his own ability & a tired Fed in 3rd set. The end result was somewhat expected. But happy to see Fed going into WTF in some kind of rhythm. But to be fair to them, both Fed & Nole are in a tough group. Unless Nadal is playin below his level, he shud be thru to Semis easily.
More surprising was Ferrer’s win over Nadal. Was Raffa playin bad or Ferrer good? Ferrer is always the perennial bunny for Nadal to kick around.
Nole shall not hav it easy in Finals.
RedClaw:
Nothing surprising in Ferrer’s win! He was 4-3 outside of clay against Rafa, going in!
Adjaa Nole!!! Good time to be a Novak fan. Lets hope he continues his form into WTF.
True dat, Red Claw…. Nole is on fire…. It will be a minor miracle if he even loses a match in YEC!
Yup…Hope so!! But one thing a bit worrying is lack of time between Paris & London….everyone seems a bit tired….the one who can hold up his fitness shall hav a great advantage.
Agreed…. but the players voted for it…. and they wanted to finish the season quick, so that they Vaughn have more time to make money from exhibition matches 🙂