The 2015 Roland Garros Men’s Semifinals are upon us finally as top seed Novak Djokovic will face off with Andy Murray, who is undefeated on clay in 2015, and home favorite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will face off with Stan Wawrinka, both of those players gunning to reach their second career Grand Slam finals. Only Djokovic has made the finals of the French Open before, and no matter what we are guaranteed a new champion of the tournament. Our panel of tennis editor Steen Kirby, and LWOS contributor Stefano Berlincioni make their picks.
(1)Novak Djokovic vs. (3)Andy Murray
Steen:
This is the semifinal we were expecting, and it should be a great one, though Djokovic is a heavy favorite for obvious reasons. Both players are in excellent form, and come off of decisive wins over Rafael Nadal, and David Ferrer respectively, as they both showed clutch tennis and killer instinct to beat their veteran rivals in the quarters. Murray has been quite poor against Djokovic since back surgery, and on clay, though he’s playing to his peak abilities on the surface right now, he’s at a further disadvantage, as the Serbian is playing like a machine right now. I’d actually expect the level of both players to be quite high, and Murray shouldn’t be lacking in belief, even with his poor recent h2h record, but Djokovic hasn’t dropped a set this tournament, and thus I see him reaching the final, though I think Murray will be the first, and perhaps only player to claim a set against him this year at Roland Garros. Djokovic in 4 sets
Stefano:
How can you not predict the win for Novak Djokovic? He is on 7-0 winning streak against Murray, and he has the biggest chance of his career to win Roland Garros. Murray has high confidence right now but Nole has not only a technical/athletic edge but also a mental one. I don’t see an easy straight sets win and maybe this can be a long match but Murray lacks the weapons to defeat Djokovic at this moment in their careers. Djokovic in 4 sets
(14)Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. (8)Stan Wawrinka
Steen:
I had to deliberate on my prediction in this one, as these guys have met five times on clay, and Wawrinka only leads the h2h 3-2, though he’s a pretty heavy favorite if you go by the bookmakers odds. Both are playing some great tennis now, Wawrinka showing a surprise classic flashback to his AO 14 title, as he dominated proceedings against Roger Federer in the quarters, and Tsonga inspired and playing his best in years as he was physically imposing and forced his will against Kei Nishikori in his last match. The French crowd loves Jo, and he loves them back, his positive, happy tennis translating well at this slam, that said, Wawrinka is likely technically superior at the moment. Tsonga has always had the ability, and I’m going to go with an upset in this one as I feel home soil will inspire him, rather than put undue pressure on him, Tsonga in 5 sets is my pick, as I see Wawrinka failing down the stretch. Either player winning would not surprise me at all, but Tsonga has been a great story this tournament, and I hope he can continue his run.
Stefano:
These two guys have often played long and close matches. It will not be the first time for Wawrinka against French crowd and he already beat Tsonga best of 5 at Roland Garros and in Davis Cup. Both showed great form in these days but I think Wawrinka has a good edge on the backhand side. This will be a long match and despite the support from the stands I think the Swiss will prevail. Wawrinka in 5 sets
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