ATP Tennis Betting – Federer and Nadal look to set up semi final clash in Miami

With Novak Djokovic and Mardy Fish taking their places in the semi finals against each other, the possibility of a Roger Federer v Rafael Nadal tennis betting encounter in the semi’s is still on the cards. Former world number one Roger Federer meets Gilles Simon today, a player who has given Federer many problems before in the past, and who actually holds a 2-1 head to head record over the Swiss superstar. It is true! However, when looking at your tennis betting on this quarter final match, you will of course go straight to Roger Federer. Here is something interesting about the Fed-Express. Although many are questioning whether or not he still has what it takes, as the rise and rise of Novak Djokovic has pushed Federer down to number three in the world, Federer record this season is still impressive. Some of the spotlight has been taken away from him, but Federer has won just as many matches on the season as Australian Open winner Djokovic has, and Federer’s only defeats for the season (three of them) have come again, guess…yes, Novak Djokovic. Federer just won in Doha at the beginning of March, getting himself primed for this one, and so there is a lot of life left in Federer at the moment, so don’t be too quick to count him out of all of your outright betting here at the Sony Ericsson Open. This does look to be a harder match for Federer than many would expect and you only have to look back at this year’s Australian Open, when the two battled out a three hour, five set epic which Federer won in the end. They have always gone the distance in their three meetings, but Federer here is looking at his best. He hasn’t dropped a set yet on his march to the quarter finals, so would get behind him to set up a clash against Nadal in the semi’s. Federer is a two times winner at the Sony Ericsson Open.

Roger Federer to win: 1/6 at Victor Chandler
Gilles Simon to win: 23/5 at Unibet

Rafael Nadal plays later in the day in his quarter final match against Tomas Berdych. Nadal suffered a shock exit in Doha, losing in the semi final against Nikolay Davydenko. That sort of came from nowhere, but it means that he hasn’t won a title this year. The world number one lost in the final of Indian Wells to Novak Djokovic, while leaving the Australian Open early in the quarter finals due to injury. So, can we expect a semi final set up against Federer? Yes, most likely. Nadal has a firm grip over Berdych, winning the last eight encounters between the two players (with an over all head to head record of 9-3). Impressively, Nadal hasn’t dropped his serve on his run to the quarter finals here, and you really would expect the Spaniard to get through this one. He has won the last 19 sets straight against Berdych, so the young Czech doesn’t look to be in with much of a shout. Berdych though has been playing well by his own right this year, pretty solid in reaching six quarter finals out of seven tournaments this year. The ability to go on and lift titles though is a completely different thing, and with the ATP as it is at the moment, seeing the top three in the world occupy three of the four semi final places is nothing out of the ordinary. You pretty much are looking at a three in one chance of picking a winner, even when the tournament starts and there are 128 players battling for the title. Federer, Nadal and Djokovic, who is on a 22 match winning streak and just too much for the rest of the ATP to handle, so you are choosing between them.

Rafael Nadal to win: 1/7 at Boylesports
Tomas Berdych to win: 13/2 at Victor Chandler

Who is going to prevail here? Well, you’d would expect Djokovic to reach the final against Fish, so that will most likely leave a Federer v Nadal semi final. Both are looking strong in the tournament at the moment, but Nadal has a 14-8 head to head record over Federer. They haven’t met each other yet this year, but last year there were two encounters with them winning one each. Here though, would swing slightly towards Federer, simply because of the hard court and a few important stats. Federer is serving better than Nadal, firing 118 aces this year to Nadal’s 51, and winning 78% of his first serve points compared to 72% on Nadal’s side. Federer has played a little bit more, but his percentages are pretty much just edging Nadal’s in most categories in the year to date. That may sway your tennis betting a little bit, but really, on the day, it would be a clash between two of the best players in the world. Can either of them beat the red hot Djokovic though? That’s the big question. Would picture Nadal having more of a chance than Federer against Djokovic, simply because the Spaniard is more aggressive and could wear down Djokovic’s impressive defence quicker than Federer. Stick with the man in form right now, Djokovic. He is on a red hot streak and doesn’t look like losing his grip on things at the moment. 2011 really could be a remarkable year for him.