Western & Southern Open 2012: Analyzing Best Potential Semfinal Matchups

The 2012 Western & Southern Open from Cincinnati, Ohio has offered up some superb hard-court tennis over the past week, and will ultimately bring us two sensational semifinal matchups this weekend. 

If the top dogs can maintain their stride at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament, then fans will be in store for some of the best tennis this season in the lead-up to this summer's 2012 U.S. Open from Flushing Meadows in New York.

Here, we analyze two of the most anticipated potential semifinal matchups of this weekend's tournament on the men's side. 

Roger Federer vs. Tomas Berdych

The legend and the powerful Czech would certainly make for an entertaining semifinal on the men's side. Roger Federer, the world No. 1 and 17-time Grand Slam champion, will be aiming for a win in Cincinnati to get the bitter taste of Olympic defeat out of his mouth and to propel him to success at the 2012 U.S. Open.

Federer is the No. 1-seeded player at the Western & Southern Open this week, while Berdych is No. 5. The 26-year-old Berdych has a strong game and is very capable of upending Fed in Ohio.

The ball slows down somewhat on the hard court, and will give Berdych a real chance at the upset. Not to mention he is five years younger than Fed and hasn't had the number of deep tourney runs that the Swiss star has had as of late.

I would have to take Berdych in this matchup. Fed is much more concerned with winning the big tournaments, meaning the majors. When you've won 17 Grand Slams, you are ultimately judged by your success in major tournaments.

Meanwhile, Berdych is coming off a disappointing outing at the Rogers Cup last week and a poor performance at the London Games. I like him to bounce back with a trip to the final in Cincinnati this weekend. 

Novak Djokovic vs. Andy Murray

This potential semifinal showdown will be magnified by the two players' meeting in the Olympic semifinals at Wimbledon earlier this summer. Murray defeated Djokovic to advance to the gold-medal match, while Djokovic lost to Juan Martin del Potro in the bronze-medal match to leave London without a piece of hardware. 

With news of world No. 3 Rafael Nadal's recent knee struggles and withdrawal from the 2012 U.S. Open, though, Murray has a great shot at replacing Nadal in the rankings and becoming the third challenger of the Big Three.

Now that he has Olympic gold, Murray has a world of confidence and a surge of momentum to lead him past Djokovic, who has struggled since winning the Australian Open in January.

Since early 2012, the Djoker has lost at the French Open, Wimbledon and the London Games. He'll need to conquer Murray before the U.S. Open if he hopes to repeat as champion there in 2012. For that reason I like Djokovic to get past Murray. Novak won easily at the Rogers Cup last weekend, and can make it two tournaments in a row this weekend.

Murray will have his shot at Flushing Meadows this September, but Djokovic should own the Cincinnati hard court.

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