Novak Djokovic Vs Ernests Gulbis
Djokovic’s seeded last four opponent was Roger Federer, but Gulbis knocked the 2009 champion out in the fourth round. That was something of a favor for Djokovic as Federer was the player who stopped Djokovic in the semi-finals in Paris in ’11, Djokovic’s best year. Federer has also beaten Djokovic twice this year and pushed him to a final set tiebreaker in the Indian Wells final.
While Federer might have spoiled the career slam procession Djokovic is in the midst of, Gulbis is unlikely to threaten him. Yes, Gulbis has the weapons to blow anyone off the court, but no one has better defensive skills than Djokovic, and no one is better at turning defense into offense either.
Expect Djokovic to weather the Gulbis storm, when the forehands and backhands are cracking into the open court, and then for the Serb to wreck havoc when the balls start flying long, and early, too. Once Djokovic gets his vice like grip on proceedings, he will then hang with Gulbis in his best moments, frustrate him into error and then close the deal.
Nadal Vs Murray
These two meet at odd stages in their career. Nadal is having one of his weakest clay court seasons, and Murray’s best form after a poor season has come on the dirt. In their recent meeting in Rome, Murray played the most aggressive tennis you are likely to see from him to take a set of Nadal and push the match to 7-5 in the third.
Can Murray go one better in this semi? He would need to go three better to take three sets of the eight time champion. He would also need to sustain that aggressive game. not his natural one. Murray may be able to do it for a set or two but just as Nadal did against Ferrer, he would soon figure out how to deal with the problem and then impose his own aggressive game and all his clay court wiles.
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