Cincinnati Semi-Final Preview / Predictions: Isner-Del Potro, Serena-Li

This will be my last post for Cincinnati because I am going to Paris for the weekend with some friends :-)  My next posts will be on Monday with my wrap-up blog for Cincy and previews for New Haven and Winston Salem.

1. John Isner v Juan Martin del Potro (ATP Cincy, SF)

John Isner

A repeat of the ATP 500 final from Washington two weeks ago will see John Isner take on Juan Martin del Potro in the semi-finals of Cincy.  Isner played his best match of the year to beat Novak Djokovic for the second time in his career, 7-5 3-6 7-5.   Isner has played really well these past few weeks and it is encouraging to see him come through so many matches without playing tiebreaks.  Djokovic was once again on the end of a tight loss; since winning Monte-Carlo in April his season has been rather average by his insane standards.  

Isner now takes on Del Potro was pushed to a third set for his second consecutive match as he came past Dmitry Tursunov, 6-4 3-6 6-1.  There have been a few utterings that Del Potro is struggling a wrist injury again but there were no ill signs of that in his quarter.  Del Potro won that Washington final two weeks ago in an odd scoreline, 3-6 6-1 6-2.  Both have played a lot of tennis lately, but I think it is having more of an impact on DelPo.  I am going for a shock and Isner's first win over DelPo in five attempts.

Prediction - Isner to beat Del Potro in 3 sets

2. Serena Williams v Li Na (WTA Cincy, SF)

After two shaky matches against Eugenie Bouchard and Mona Barthel, Serena Williams hit top form as she dismissed the in-form Simona Halep in crushing fashion, 6-0 6-4.  Her next match should be tighter as she takes on Li Na, who advanced with a walkover after Agnieszka Radwanska pulled out citing personal reasons.  It is believed Aga, who played some great matches this week and last, is going to her Grandfather's funeral this weekend.  Serena and Li have met on 8 occasions and although Serena leads the head-to-head by 7 wins to 1, all their matches have been relatively close.  Li has the game, when she's on the money to rock the Serena boat, but it is unlikely she'll be able to hit that spot enough to even trouble Serena.

Prediction -Serena to beat Li in 2 tight sets

I will post the predictions for the remaining two semi-finals on my Twitter account, @MooTennisBlog tomorrow morning.