The semi-finals are here. It’s the big four minus Federer, with 12th seeded Tsonga taking his place.
Rafael Nadal -205 vs Andy Murray +173
Rafa Nadal has not looked his absolute best, while making this years semi-finals at Wimbledon, but that has not stopped the Spaniard from getting the job done. Nadal easily won his first 3 matches of the tournament before injuring his foot in the early stages of his match against Del Potro, who we all know is much better than his ranking suggests. Nadal looked in danger of losing the match and after Nadal lost the second set 6-3 the live betting started to sway in favour of the Argentine. But then it all went wrong for Del Potro when he fell awkwardly hurting his hip. Nadal put the pain of his foot aside and controlled the remainder of the match winning in 4. Nadal then played Mardy Fish in the semi-finals and looked better, but still not in his top form while winning in 4 sets.
Murray on the other hand has looked in top form throughout the tournament. He has dropped 2 sets (1st and 3rd rounds), but he still looked dominant in those matches and easily skated through his last two matches against Lopez and Gasquet. The one knock on Murray this tournament is he has not had to face any strong competition. The highest seeded player he faced was Gasquet (17th).
Nadal’s foot seems to be working alright for him and his last two matches against fairly strong opponents should have him ready to take on this newest test. Murray has been playing well, but he has not really been tested and playing the number 1 player in the world will be an entirely different story. Nadal’s court coverage and attacking play should win him this match, but it won’t be easy.
My Pick: Rafa Nadal -205
Novak Djokovic -210 vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga +175
Novak, without a doubt, has had the best year on tour thusfar. In this tournament he has dropped a couple of sets, but has never looked in danger. His foot speed around the court is second to none and his minimal amount of errors and ability to always make that next shot begins to wear on his opponents.
The last player to beat Djokovic was Federer and the last player to beat Federer was Tsonga, just yesterday in the Wimbledon quarterfinals. Tsonga found himself down 2-0 against the legend of tennis himself, but was able to find a way to become the first player to come back from 2-0 down to defeat Federer at a major tournament. Tsonga struck the ball aggressively and made his shots not even surrendering a break point opportunity to Federer in the final 3 sets.
Tsonga is playing some of the best tennis of the tournament, but Djokovic is still Djokovic. He is my favourite to win this tournament and he hasn’t only lost once this year for a reason. Tsonga played a tough 5 setter and was on an emotional high after beating Federer from 2-0 down. This should take a toll in this match. The reason the Djokovic line is so short is because Tsonga holds a 5-2 head to head lead, but the two haven’t played in over a year and have never played on grass.
My Pick: Novak Djokovic -210
The odds listed in this article are from 5Dimes.com, but you should always be in the habit of comparing with other bookies to make sure you are getting the best odds. It’s also smart to take advantage of sportsbook bonuses by clearing bonuses at a variety of online bookies. It’s hard to find an edge in sports betting and bonus clearing is one of the best ways to gain that small extra edge to win money betting on sports.
Men's Singles • Picks • predictions • Semi-Finals • Wimbledon