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This is my tennis blog, Lefty Advantage. Tennis is my biggest passion in life and I started this site to discuss the great game. I mainly follow the career of Roger Federer, but I truly love watching all tennis, whether it be the final of a Grand Slam
or a junior tournament on the other side of the world.

I have played tennis for 13 years. If you ever met me, I could talk your head off about all things tennis for hours on end if you would let me. Welcome, and enjoy the writing!

Thursday, August 02, 2012

Federer Into Olympic Semifinals

17-time major champion Roger Federer made it to his second Olympic semifinal with a strong win over American John Isner 6-4, 7-6(5).  Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, and Juan Martin del Potro also all won in straight sets.

As with many matches that feature John Isner, it was very close.  Both men held serve until the ninth game of the set when Federer broke to take the lead.  He held to take the first set - vitally important if he wanted to win.  The second followed much of the same pattern, and they headed to a tiebreak, almost predictably (can't be a John Isner match with a tiebreak, right?).  Fed got the first mini-break but then gave it right back, and they both held their serve until match point came, when, on Isner's serve, Federer laid across a smooth backhand slice return that just caught the net and went over, giving him the match.

Sweet forehand form

Murray, Djokovic, and del Potro all won without much trouble over Nicolas Almagro, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and Kei Nishikori respectively.  All three are playing very well right now.  Delpo should give Roger a massive test in the semis even though Fed has won all 5 meetings this year with a 12-2 lead in sets.  They have only met once before, in the 2nd round of Wimbledon in 2007 when JMDP was just a kid.  Knowing both their games, Roger should still have the edge on grass with his use of the slice against big players.

Murray vs Djokovic is really a toss-up.  They have not met on grass before while Djokovic holds an 8-5 head-to-head record.  Andy will have the weight of a nation behind him as he did at Wimbledon, but Djokovic is also great playing for his country.  All I can surely say is that it will be a tight, physical match.  I pick Murray to win because I predicted he would make the final.

Whatever happens, we are going to have an amazing few days of tennis.  We know we will see one of Murray or Djokovic in the bronze medal match, and either of them against Delpo would be fun to watch.  Of course, Fed could also be in the bronze medal match against Murray or Djokovic, but I really don`t think Roger loses to Juan Martin.  Not now, and not on grass.

 Go for the gold Fed!  Two more matches!

PS - this was Roger's 50th match win of the year.

1 comment:

  1. Roger is gonna feel great if he beats Del Potro. He'll be in Murray's head if he wins and if Novak wins, Federer knows he will be guaranteed of a metal!

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