We are now deep into the second week of the french open, and today is one of my favourite days of the tournament. The mens semi-finals.
Here are my predictions
Marco Cecchinato vs. Dominic Thiem [7]
First up on Philippe-Chatrier is Marco Cecchinato against 7th seed; Dominic Thiem.
Marco Cecchinato has been the talk of the mens draw. He won his first ATP title earlier this year. In the first two rounds, he had a relatively nice draw, but in the third round he took out 10th seed; Carreno-Busta, in the fourth round, knocked out 8th seed; David Goffin and continued his great run against former world number 1; Novak Djokovic.
Having won his first ATP title earlier this year, it would seem as though at 25 years old, Cecchinato has finally found form. He is a great, well-rounded player. He’s already made history making it to the semi-finals, but can he take it one step further?
Cecchinato will face 7th seed; Dominic Thiem. Dominic Thiem is an Austrian professional tennis player who has a career-high ATP ranking of world No. 4, which he first achieved on 6 November 2017. He has won ten singles titles on the ATP Tour. In the quarter-finals he took out Alexander Zverev in straight sets and will come into this match as the clear favourite.
My prediction: Cecchinato is on an incredible run, and I honestly think he can beat Thiem. I hope it’s a long match, full of great tennis. I’m going for a Cecchinato win in five sets.
Rafael Nadal [1] vs. Juan Martin Del Potro [5]
Nadal has won 16 Grand Slam singles titles, a record 32 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles, a record 20 ATP World Tour 500 tournaments, and the 2008 Olympic gold medal in singles. In majors, Nadal has won 10 French Open titles, 3 US Open titles, 2 Wimbledon titles, and one Australian Open title.
Del Potro’s biggest achievement has been winning the 2009 US Open, defeating Rafael Nadal in the semifinal and 5-time defending champion Roger Federer in the final. He was the first to defeat both Federer and Nadal during the same major and was the only man outside the Big Four to win a major between the 2005 French Open and the 2013 US Open, a span of 35 tournaments. He is also the second Argentine and the fifth-youngest man to win the US Open in the Open Era.
Both are extremely impressive players, but I’m not one to bet against Nadal on clay. Even if he did play yesterday.
My prediction: Rafael Nadal in five sets. I think this will be the first match of the tournament where he will have to play more than four sets.