Let’s face the facts: I’m overly interested in the quality of the competition of Semi-final Saturday since I will be there in person. This means I’m most disappointed in Djokovic’s loss not for his sake, but for mine. 😀

Are we surprised by the upset of Novak? Sure we are. Yet we’ve been high on Kohlschreiber for years, love the vet, the class, the match savvy (and love my line when previewing briefly the Kyrgios match that Philipp “probably [wouldn’t be] too keen on the idea of getting run-over by a tool like Nick.” Ha ha. Nailed that one. At the same time, Kyrgios is a tank, which is why tanking is so unacceptable; undermines the integrity of even TALKING about a player or match. Fuck Kyrgios).

But Bravo, Philipp!

This doesn’t really affect Novak that much. He’ll be fine, might even win IW doubles with Foghat. But the critical issue here is that Mcshow is denied an opportunity to see Novak play live!

I’ll get over it and so will Novak. One of those things. Have a beer or a gluten free cracker and carry-on.

By the way, this approach to going to one day of the BNP Paribas Open has generally worked for me in the past. Without going into much detail, I saw the 2012 Fedal SF, in windy conditions, where Federer routined Nadal 3 and 4, the ’12 Final in which Federer beat Isner, securing his 4th IW, and more recently the 2015 SFs, and the 2017-2018 SFs. Always a great time.

In a perfect world, I’d have this on my tennis plate this Saturday: Novak, Roger and Rafa along with a wild card like Felix. That was my dream.

With Novak and Felix out, I still might get the Fedal SF.

As we turn to the top-half implosion (that I saw materializing days ago), we hope Thiem gets through. Likely Thiem v Monfils QF will give us that potential for a real player from the top making it to Saturday, along with a Raonic or one of the other top-half trolls (I mean that affectionately).

Nadal has a potentially tough couple of matches with Krajinovic and then either Isner or Khachanov. The Serb is simply solid and the other two can give Nadal a little trouble because of their power.

Some names for you:
Novak Djokovic (31 y/o)
Laslo Djere (23)
Miomir Kecmanovic (19)
Dusan Lajovic (28)
Filip Krajinovic (27)

How about this cadre of Serbian tennis players. Djere and Lajovic are out though we have to remind you that Djere just had a great run on Brazilian clay, snagging a 500 title in Rio, and losing in the SF in Sao Paulo. Look for him, along with Novak, to lead the Serbian invasion of clay which starts in only a few weeks.

Meanwhile, Kecmanovic and Krajinovic are still alive here in IW, obviously with the latter taking-on Nadal today and the former, the LL who grabbed Anderson’s spot, has a nice shot, we have to think, against Nishioka. Good for you, Novak and the rest of that Serbian tennis establishment. Instead of us constantly distracted by the demise of culture, let’s take a moment to relish in the health and growth of a (tennis) culture.

Some more names for you:
Kohlschreiber
Thiem
Shapovalov
Federer

Hats-off to the one-handers. With Tsitsipas and Wawrinka out but certainly hungry for more, we are pleased to say that there is plenty of hope on this often soul-forsaken tour. Hell, 1/4 of the R16 wields a more technically difficult and aesthetically classic (sophisticated) style of tennis.

I looked good in my leans yesterday: I had Shapo, did not have much faith at all in Medvedev, and felt confident in Federer. How about that form from the Maestro. Certainly a match-up problem for Stan for a few reasons, but the all-court tennis of Federer looks pretty strong, for sure.

Enjoy the tennis!