Top 4 Dominate Cincy Field

The dream semifinals are set in Cincinnati as the top four players are still alive and set to fight for that finals berth. Just last week in Toronto, the top eight players all made it to the quarterfinals, a first at any tournament during the Open Era. Last time the top four players met each other in the semifinals was last year at Monte Carlo.


Two-time Cincinnati champion and world no. 1 Roger Federer will face defending champion and new world no. 2 Andy Murray in the first semifinals. Murray leads their H2H 6-2 winning the last four times they have met. Federer last beat Murray at last year's US Open finals. Murray has been the in-form player of the year especially on hard courts. The last five North American hardcourt tournaments he played, he has reached the finals or better. Murray won last week's tournament in Toronto while Federer was booted in the quarterfinals. I predict three sets with Murray as the victor.

The second semifinal will be fought between a resurging world no. 3 Rafael Nadal and world no. 4 former finalist Novak Djokovic. Nadal leads their H2H 14-4 winning the last five times (four times on clay). However, the last time Djokovic defeated Nadal was in this very tournament last year at the exact same place. While Djokovic has the second most match wins this year, he hasn't capitalized on the big tournaments with the bulk of those going to Federer, Murray, and Nadal. Nadal in the meantime has been using these past two weeks to get match tough after being away from tour for 10 weeks. It will be a test for both of them when they play under the lights. My prediction will be Nadal in three sets.

This will be the last tournament the top four players will participate in before the US Open which begins Monday August 31st. Roger Federer is the 5-time (!!!) defending champion. He has defeated Djokovic and Murray in the finals the past two years. Nadal reached the semifinals last year for the first time losing to Murray.