BNP Paribas Masters 2013: Previewing Saturday's Semifinal Action

And then there were four.

The BNP Paribas Masters is already down to the semifinals, and it's a tennis fan's dream. In one match, you've got Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic facing off, and in the other, it's the battle of Spain—David Ferrer vs. Rafael Nadal.

Before the tournament started, most fans would have told you that they hoped these four would be the last men standing. It's the three best players in the world and Federer.

Some can lament how predictable the sport has become, but when you're given such high-quality tennis, who's really going to complain?

It may well turn out to be another boring Djokovic/Nadal final. But isn't that what we all want?

No. 2 Novak Djokovic vs. No. 5 Roger Federer

Federer is stuck in his own kind of purgatory. He's still better than many of the players on tour, but he's also below the likes of Nadal, Djokovic and even Andy Murray. He can make these runs to the semifinal or even a final, but sooner or later he runs into one of Djokovic or Nadal, and that's that.

Against the Djoker, Federer has a career record of 16-13. That's a bit deceiving, as most of those wins came between 2006-10, when Fed was still the best player in the world, and Djokovic wasn't at his peak. Eight of the past 11 meetings between the two have gone to the world's No. 2.

Ever since losing to Nadal in the U.S. Open final, Djokovic has been rolling. He's won the China Open and Shanghai Masters. The Djoker has been going on the offensive more, and beating Nadal in Beijing has given him a boatload of confidence.

This match is going to be back and forth, with neither player giving his opponent much of an opening.

The difference will be Djokovic's scary consistency. You know he's not going to tire out, and toward the end of the match, he'll start to take control.

Should he get a service break on Federer, that set is over and done with. That's how small the margin for error will be for Fed.

No. 1 Rafael Nadal vs. No. 3 David Ferrer

Out of context, Ferrer's seven-match losing streak to Nadal looks awful going into this semifinal. It's important to point out that all seven of those losses have come on clay, and that the past two times Ferrer and Nadal have played on hard court, it's been Ferrer who's come out on top.

You could just go for the low-hanging fruit and predict another Nadal/Djokovic final. However, there looks to be an upset on the horizon.

It's no secret Nadal isn't the same player on hard court that he is on clay. His groundstrokes don't bounce the same, and the opponent isn't at a disadvantage resulting from Nadal's innate ability to run on clay.

Ferrer has the energy and stamina to go all the way against his Spanish counterpart.

With Nadal's loss to Djokovic in Beijing and then a semifinal loss to Juan Martin del Potro at the Shanghai Masters, perhaps fatigue is becoming an issue. He withdrew from the Swiss Indoors earlier in the month following that loss to del Potro.

Sure he's had that extra time off, but going up against somebody like Ferrer, Nadal may not have enough left in the tank to go the distance.