Glasgow's Emirates arena has been confirmed as the host venue for Great Britain's Davis Cup Semi final with Australia. 

The event will begin on the 18th of September and potentially run until Sunday the 20th. Fans can expect to see the Murray brothers and James Ward. While the Australian team will have to choose from an array of talent including Bernard Tomic, Nick Kyrgios, Thanasi Kokkinakis, Sam Groth and the legend Lleyton Hewitt. 

Check out Beyondthebaize for more tennis info in the upcoming weeks and I will be at the event come September. 

Serena Williams v Garbine Mugaruza

Serena is one match away from the Serena Slam, but it’s not going to be an easy match. Who’s she playing, only one of the exciting new talents in the women’s game Garbine Mugaruza. Originally born in Venezuela, Garbine moved to Spain when she was six years old.. She possesses great power off her serve and the ground and it will be interesting to see if she can keep up the power and more importantly the depth of shot in tomorrow’s final. Serena deals with power of shot very well, exposing Maria Sharapova’s lack of movement yesterday to great effect, she was able to cushion the power and move the ball around the court. I’m sure this will be a tactic in tomorrow’s final as well. 

Garbine got a little nervous in today’s semi final and it resulted in her hitting a lot of shots long. Mugaruza’s was very mature and I sensed from that she won’t get caught in the headlights in tomorrow’s final. In fact I think at around 5/1 she is worth an outside bet and I reckon she will take a set. Overall I still think its Serena’s championship though, her serving in the pressure moments of matches has been outstanding and those quick free points put so much pressure back on to your opponent. 

 Serena in 3

Men’s Semi Final Predictions

Novak Djokovic v Richard Gasquet

The resurgence of Richard Gasquet has been a joy to watch; Richard has come through one of the toughest sections of the draw and is fully deserving of his place in the Semi Finals. A slow burner, his victory over Stan Wawrinka on Wednesday exploded into life in the fifth set when both players found their form and were trying to hit each other off the court with some of the most exquisitely eloquent hitting. The advantage of serving first I believe helped Richard but nothing can be taken away from his 11-9 victory in the final set.

Novak had a much simpler quarter final against US Open Champion Marin Cilic, winning in straight sets; he never looked troubled and made light work of the 9th seed. Novak’s form has been hard to gauge, at this point I think he is just so good he makes the hard look easy and it can hide his true form.

 Kevin Anderson though did have Novak completely rattled and he was almost lucky to get through that match. The bookies aren’t giving Gasquet much hope today but I think if Richard can come out and make his shots he has a chance. The problem he will face against Novak is his ultra attacking game would need to be sustained for hours, which almost everyone on tour struggles with. 

I think Novak will win the physical and mental battle and prevail in four sets and reach his fourth Wimbledon Final.

Andy Murray v Roger Federer

This has been one of the most hyped matches in recent memory and that’s not without reason. These two have been the best two players in the tournament to watch and they both look 100% fit at this stage of the tournament. I picked Andy Murray to win this match pre tournament and I’m going to stick with that decision and here’s why:

Fitness:

Roger Federer is a freak of nature, he still moves amazingly well and is fitter than most of the younger players he’s knocked out, however age has caught up with him a little and he’s not as fit as Andy or Novak who are in prime physical condition at this stage of their careers. The longer this match goes the more it will suit Andy.

Deceiving the Fans:

Federer’s attacking style means he can dispose of lesser opponents in a quicker fashion than Murray. He’s quick between points and he can rattle off service games in 90 seconds. All this means his matches are over very quickly and he can fool us into him looking unbeatable – I’m sure this has an effect on a lot of his opponents as well – while Murray can take a bit longer with his more passive counter puncher style. What I’m saying is I don’t this Federer’s previous matches count for that much, he’s had a very kind draw against players who offer very little of the ingredients required to even slightly challenge him.

So the better evidence is their previous Meetings:

Straight off the bat I’m not counting any of the three meetings in 2014, Murray was still recovering from back surgery which clearly hampered him for the entire year. When the top four faces each other, any slight niggles are intensified as these matches are usually settled on the smallest of margins.

In 2013 they had three huge matches; Australian Open Semi Final, The Wimbledon Final & Olympic Final. Murray won in Australia and at the Olympics while Federer won in the Wimbledon final.

Murray’s attacking game frustrated Federer and pushed him back in his two previous victories. He will need to continue this today; he cannot let Roger get forward and dictate. Roger will be looking to make the points as short as possible, quick one-two hits off the serve and deep aggressive ground strokes into Murray’s forehand side.

Federer is pretty consistent in what he does; it’s going to come down to Murray serving well but more importantly being very aggressive on his forehand and not being afraid to go up the line with it.

I think Murray will win but it won’t be easy, I can see a couple of long tie break decided sets and Murray eventually winning in 4.

The two week period of the year when the majority of the country becomes tennis experts is upon us. Unlike most of the British population I follow the sport 12 months of the year and feel confident I will be able to make a few well informed predictions about this year’s tournament.

Quarter One

Defending two times Wimbledon Champion Novak Djokovic would like nothing more than to put away the heartbreak from Paris by lifting a third title at SW19. However without playing any warm up events he would have been hoping for the usual easy start most of the top seeds get. Not this year, having drawn one of the best players to not be seeded, also one of the best grass court players in Phillip Kohlschreiber. It wouldn’t surprise me if Novak lost a set today but I still expect him to come through this tough opening match, from there he would play either Nieminen or Lleyton Hewitt, both in their final Wimbledon.  I would expect Novak to come through both of these matches and indeed this section, he will probably face big serving Kevin Anderson in the fourth round.
Section two features the stars of the 2014 US Open final in Kei Nishikori and Marin Cilic and like the result back in September its Cilic I have coming through this section to face Novak in the Quarter Finals. I’m not sure Kei is a great grass court player yet and Cilic has proved himself on the grass over the years.

Djokovic d Cilic

Quarter Two

Section three on paper looks rather straight forward for the new defending Roland Garros Champion Stan Wawrinka. It will be interesting to see how he survives the first week of Wimbledon when the ball won’t bounce as high and he won’t have as long to line up his rocket ground strokes. He will be at his more vulnerable in the opening few rounds however I don’t see Sousa, Verdasco or Goffin (his potential opponents) causing him problems. Predicting his quarter final opponent is trickier and section four is potentially the most interesting in the draw with Dimitrov, Gasquet, Kyrgios, Raonic and the legendary Tommy Haas making his first Grand Slam appearance since the 2014 French Open.

Dimitrov v Gasquet in the third round is intriguing and I fancy Richard Gasquet to get to the fourth round, with his long odds he might be worth laying early on in the tournament and trading before his fourth round match. Kyrgios will face Raonic most probably and I expect the big serving Canadian to win this battle and then beat Richard Gasquet. I think his big forehand and serve is perfect for the grass and I expect big things this week from Raonic.

Wawrinka d Raonic

Quarter Three

After David Ferrer pulled out yesterday he ended his fifth longest Grand Slam appearance streak at 50. It’s a shame but it does help his Spanish compatriot Rafael Nadal who is famously weak in the opening few rounds at the All England Club. I actually think Victor Troicki will defeat Nadal and face Andy Murray in the Quarter finals. Seppi in round three might provide some resistance for the Scot and Tsonga or Karlovic are potential fourth round opponents but I can’t see anything other than Murray victories.

Murray d Troicki

Quarter Four

I don’t see too many shocks in this section, the four best players Federer, Berdych, Simon and Lopez I can see all reaching the fourth round and facing each other. It’s the most boring of the four sections on paper and I expect Roger to face and defeat Tomas Berdych in the quarters.

Federer d Berdych

Semi Final Predictions

Djokovic d Wawrinka

Murray d Federer

Final Prediction

Murray d Djokovic