US Open Tennis 2015: Men's Semifinals Bracket Predictions, Live Stream Info
An epic confrontation looms in the U.S. Open Championship as long as form holds in the semifinal round.
Top-seeded Novak Djokovic has moved through five rounds of competition, and he will be able to play for the title if he can defeat defending champion Marin Cilic at Arthur Ashe Stadium at 5 p.m. ET.
Shortly after that match concludes, second-seeded and crowd-favorite Roger Federer will take on countryman and fifth-seeded Stan Wawrinka in the other semifinal.
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Djokovic defeated Federer in July's Wimbledon Final, but Federer came back to register a straight-set victory over Djokovic in the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati last month.
| Novak Djokovic (1) | Marin Cilic (9) | Arthur Ashe | 5 p.m. | ESPN3 | Djokovic |
| Roger Federer (2) | Stan Wawrinka (5) | Arthur Ashe | 7 p.m. | ESPN3 | Federer |
Those two are the highest-ranked players on the men's tour, and the New York crowd wants to see these two high-profile players compete for the title.
Djokovic is considered the most athletic and innovative shotmaker in the game, but Federer appears to be playing his best tennis right now. He trounced Richard Gasquet 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 in the quarterfinal round, and the Frenchman was never able to get into the match.
“He’s playing his best level now—he won 17 Grand Slams when he played like that, like tonight,” Gasquet told S.L. Price of Sports Illustrated. “I needed to play better to disturb him more and I couldn’t do it. He served incredible today and I tried to do my best, but I didn’t find a solution. I was slow and I couldn’t keep up this rhythm. For sure, he’s playing great.”
"In the Year of Serena, Roger Federer makes a stealthy #usopen run: http://t.co/sdQglgmLLH by @JasonGay
— Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) September 11, 2015"
Federer is 16-3 lifetime against Wawrinka, and all three of the Wawrinka victories took place on clay-court surfaces. As a result, Federer is a minus-300 favorite in the All-Swiss match, according to OddsShark, while those backing Wawrinka will get a plus-270 return.
Djokovic is a minus-755 favorite over Cilic (plus-605), but don't discount the defending champion. Cilic has played well through five matches and has displayed the same confidence that he showed during last year's run.
Cilic defeated 27th-seeded Jeremy Chardy in four sets in the fourth round before beating 19th-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in five grueling sets in the quarterfinal. Tsonga's huge serve was a devastating weapon, but Cilic found a way to overcome it in the final set.
Djokovic beat Roberto Bautista Agut in four sets in the fourth round and then beat 18th-seeded Feliciano Lopez in four sets in the quarterfinal.
Djokovic dropped the second set against Lopez and was quite upset with himself, and he demonstrated his anger by stripping off his shirt and hitting his bag with his racket. But he quickly put that behind him and focused on the task at hand to win the final two sets.
"Why so serious? Despite his sour mood, Novak Djokovic is where he wants to be at the #USOpen. http://t.co/e9JcfNomxu pic.twitter.com/UOqvfwpFWC
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) September 11, 2015"
“He’s one of the few players who actually serves and volleys after his first and second serve,” Djokovic said of Lopez during his on-court interview (h/t New York Post). “I’m just glad to get through in four [sets]. … It was frustrating obviously at times, but this is [the] quarterfinals of [a] grand slam. This is what you expect.”
At the start of the tournament, the hope was that Djokovic and Federer would meet in the championship just as they did two months ago at the All England Tennis Club.
That hope could soon be reality, and both should be successful in their semifinal round matches.
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