It was a well anticipated match the Federer vs Soderling French Open quarterfinal rematch. Would Federer be able to deal with the pace of the Soderling shots this time to clinch sweet revenge? Would Soderling forget about the 12-1 record in head to head? Everybody thought it would be a tight and exciting match and for the first time in the Open the stadium was packed.

It was not too be. Federer was in fantastic form despite really bad and windy conditions and was serving Soderling off the court. The big Swede always had problems in windy conditions, especially with the serve and the high ball-toss he uses, but also with his giant windmill strokes. Not so with Federer. He took the opportunity to play an impressive match that should put the chills up Djokovic’s spine.

But Djokovic put in a quite impressive performance himself against Monfils, beating the explosive Frenchman 7-6 6-2 6-1. His score agains Federer is pretty good considering the nature of his opponent (5-10) and I think he has a slight chance. Although you have to remember that when it comes to the slams Federer is quite a different player than in the lower rated ATP tournaments. My pick is Federer in four sets.

Who will then play Federer in the final if we allow ourselves to think that far? Today we have a not so exciting match in Wavrinka vs Youzhny. Both players are in good form of course, but lack the charisma to make the match into something special. I think Wavrinka will be stronger this time.

If Wavrinka wins he will play the winner of Nadal vs Verdasco in the other semifinal. The all-Spanish clash has the potential to be a thriller (despite Nadal having won all their ten competitive matches!), but it could also be over in three sets with Nadal as the winner. The problem for Verdasco is that he played a crushing five set match against Ferrer in the previous round and although he had one day to rest that is going to show somehow. I hope for a great match, but doubt that Verdasco can do it. So, Nadal in three.

I think we are very, very close to another Fedal!