Tennis: Abrams picks the men’s quarterfinals at Indian Wells
Indian Wells
Mens Quarters
Rafa Nadal over Karen Khachanov
Karen Khachanov has finally won some matches in 2019. After ending last year on the verge of entering the Top Ten, Khachanov has been a great disappointment this year, losing in four first rounds in a row as a high seed. Just because he took victories over Feliciano Lopez, Andrey Rublev and John Isner doesn’t mean that he’s back, it just means that he had a good draw (he held a 3-0 record against Isner going into that match). Nadal has been totally dominant here, not losing a set yet, and only giving up 13 games in three matches, total. Rafa looks eager, and that spells bad news for his opponents. Rafa will roll, but Khachanov might hold his serve a few times.
Roger Federer over Hubert Hurkacz
Hurkacz has had the tournament of his life, after beating Donald Young, Lucas Pouile, Kei Nishikori and Denis Shapovalov in succession. Those last three wins were particularly impressive, as each presented entirely different problems for Hurkacz. But none of those guys possess the game, the aura, or the record of Roger Federer. Federer should win this clash and set up an intriguing semi-final collision with his great rival, Rafael Nadal.
Milos Raonic over Miomir Kecmanovic
Kecmanovic is another player who is having the tournament of his life, and in his case, after having been lucky enough to have gotten into the main draw as a lucky loser when Kevin Anderson pulled out right before the tournament began. In all honesty, Kecmanovic has had a really fortunate draw. After going down to UCLA’s former NCAA champion, homeboy Marcos Giron, in the qualies, Kecmanovic took advantage of sticking around the tournament and was placed in the draw in Anderson’s No. 5 seeded position. He, therefore, received Anderson’s bye, and then took out Max Marterer, Laslo Djere, and Yoshihito Nishioka, none of whom is a household name. Interestingly, Kecmanovic hasn’t dropped a set in the main draw. That should end here, as Raonic will bring his cannon of a serve into this matchup, and should emerge victorious. Just for the record, it was Raonic who took out Giron in the main draw, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Gael Monfils over Dominic Thiem
This match could go either way. I’m picking Monfils because he is playing and competing so well that I think it will take one of the Big Three to beat him here. Since The Joker is out and Federer and Nadal are in the other half, that means that Monfils stands to get to the finals. Thiem is finally showing the game that got him to last year’s French Open finals after taking out 6’11” Dr. Ivo in straight sets in the Round of 16. Monfils, on the other hand, is in love, and it’s showing in his game. His girlfriend, WTA Tour pro 6th seeded Elina Svitolina, roared into the women’s semis by besting Czech teenager Marketa Vondrousova last night. After a press conference, an ice bath, and a little post-match TV interview, Svitolina got to the court just in time to see Monfils finish off Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-0, 6-2 to move his career record against the German to 14-2. Thiem is 4-0 lifetime with two more wins by walkover against Monfils, and it won’t matter. Love doesn’t mean zero here.