Day 4: Olympic Tennis Matches to Watch

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. Milos Raonic
GO CANADA!!! I feel like this match is either going to be a blow-out match with Tsonga winning in straight sets, or a hard-fought three-setter with Milos winning. I wish I believed that Milos could take Tsonga out and keep Canada in the running for a singles medal, but I think the Frenchman will prevail.

Andy Roddick vs. Novak Djokovic
Brutal second round match for Andy. Just brutal. Novak is probably not loving this draw either, but you've got to think that he's going to be able to take Andy out. But who knows. Andy's had a lot of success on the Wimbledon courts in the past (not that Novak hasn't as well), so perhaps we'll see an upset. Here's hoping.

Feliciano Lopez vs. Juan Monaco
If you need to ask why this is a must-see match to watch, then clearly you haven't seen these photos before. Or these. And I guess, you know, it will also be an exciting match because Juan Monaco is on a roll and will want to continue his winning ways, and Feliciano is a pretty good grass court player and will want to make the most of his last minute Olympic entry. It will be a delightfully pretty match to watch, and I'll go with Pico winning in three sets. 

Other potentially interesting matches of the day include Gasquet vs. Baghdatis, Venus Williams vs. Aleksandra Woziak, and obviously the tag team of Federer and Wawrinka against Erlic and Ram.

US Open Matches to Watch: Day 9

Stan Wawrinka vs. Sam Querrey
Wawrinka knocked out Andy Murray, one of the favourites for the title, so he's going to feel confident that he can beat Querrey today. But Querrey will be the crowd favourite, and we know that when he's playing well he can beat a lot of the top guys. I really don't know who'll win this one. I'm going to go with Wawrinka in 4 sets. But I'm really not confident about this. 

Francesca Schiavone vs. Venus Williams
This should be an entertaining match. You've got the fiesty Italian who was the surprise French Open champion this year, against crowd favourite and multiple grand slam winner Venus Williams. The clear favourite for this match should be Venus, but I'm going to say Schiavone wins in three sets. And I'm fully basing this prediction on the fact that Francesca hit a tweener the other day and I liked it. And I like her.

Sam Stosur vs. Kim Clijsters
I think a lot of people are excited for this match. It's too bad that either of them will have to lose in this round, but I think Kim will take this fairly easily. She's just so comfortable on this court and she's had more experience in big situations. I'm going to go with Kim winning in two sets.

Rafa Nadal vs. Feli Lopez
This match of the Spaniard lefties should be good. Feli beat Rafa this year at Queen's, but Rafa is clearly the favourite tonight. Lopez never seems to be as intimidated of Rafa as a lot of the other players, so we might get an exciting match. I still think Nadal will win, but I hope it's close. I also hope it goes on for a long time so I can stare at Feli's pretty face for as long as possible. 

David Ferrer vs. Fernando Verdasco
And here we have another Spain vs. Spain match. I guess I'll go with Verdasco winning, although these two are really close in ability and I won't be surprised to see either one go through to the next round. It's just too bad that all of the Spaniards have to knock each other out in this round. 

Andy Murray's US Open Dreams End...Again

Wow. Pretty shocked that this happened. Even while watching the match I figured Murray would find a way to come back, but obviously that did not happen. And it was a pretty decisive win, with Wawrinka defeating Murray 6-7, 7-6, 6-3, 6-3. I'm happy for Stan—this is a huge win for him, but I'm sad for Andy, as you know the media is going to go crazy with the whole "Will Murray Ever Win a Slam?" thing.

Rafa must be pretty happy about this...all of a sudden his draw just got a hell of a lot easier, especially because Berdych was knocked out early as well. It will be interesting to see how far Stan can go now. I don't think he can beat Nadal, but I also didn't think he'd have a chance against Murray.

US Open Matches to Watch: Day 7

Ana Ivanovic vs. Kim Clijsters
This one is going to be a heart breaker. How can you want either of these two women to lose? I think Kim will win the match, but Ana is finally playing better again and I at least hope that they both play well.

Rafa Nadal vs. Gilles Simon
Gilles became a father this week when his wife gave birth to their son four weeks early. Unfortunately, as it was so unexpected, he was unable to get back to France on time and he will have to wait until after the US Open to meet his baby. Obviously Rafa is the favourite in this match, but maybe Simon's excitement about becoming a dad will help him play better, or maybe he just wants to get the hell out of New York City and fly home to see his wife and child. I'm going to go with Rafa winning this one.

Sam Stosur vs. Elena Dementieva
I really don't know who I think will win this match. I'm hoping that Sam can make it through to the next round, but obviously Dementieva is a tough opponent. I think this match could go either way, but I'm going to pick Sam to win in three sets. Mostly because I feel that me predicting Sam to win will help her actually do it.

Andy Murray vs. Stan Wawrinka
Murray is the clear favourite for this match, but we all know that Wawrinka is capable of playing really good tennis. Plus, he's Swiss...which clearly means he has superior tennis genes. I'll go with Murray winning in four sets.

David Nalbandian vs. Fernando Verdasco
This will probably (hopefully) be the most exciting match of the day. Verdasco is the higher ranked player, but we all know Nalbandian has been playing well beyond his ranking all summer. I was going to write that both players have an equal chance of winning this match, but honestly I'd be surprised if Verdasco won this one. He just hasn't looked that great recently, so I'm going to have to go with Nalbandian moving on to the next round.

John Isner vs. Mikhail Youzhny
Everyone was afraid Isner would have to pull out of the US Open due to injury, but he's playing and he seems to be doing fine for now. I'm not sure there's a favourite for this match, but Isner will have the crowd support behind him and that might make all the difference. I think Isner will win in 4 sets.

More Photos from the Rogers Cup!

Novak Djokovic on the practice courts

Victor Hanescu posing with fans

Canadian Milos Raonic practicing on Aug. 11

Jeremy Chardy in match against Fernando Verdasco

Rafa Nadal serving in match against Stan Wawrinka

Davydenko practicing on Aug. 10

Soderling taking a drink break during practice

Michael Llodra practicing on Aug. 10

Shirtless Robredo practicing with a shirtless Almagro

Roger Federer on the practice courts on Aug. 10

Canadian Peter Polansky practicing with Federer

Stan Wawrinka on the practice courts