Weekend Crisis Center 8.11

Morning, everyone. As you probably know, Pete is on vacation until the 20th. In his absence, I'm providing daily Crisis Center posts. This one is for the Tribe to discuss today's matches in Montreal and elsewhere, and also other tennis-related matters.

Here in the UK, only the men's Masters Series event is getting TV coverage this week, so along with many of the rest of you, I'll be watching the semifinal action between Federer and Stepanek, and Nadal versus Djokovic.

If Novak Djokovic comes through his match against Rafael Nadal today (and if he does, I personally wouldn't consider it all that much of an upset), it would certainly be added proof of his progress this year. He may have the opportunity of beating the current world number three (Andy Roddick, yesterday), followed by the number two - with the possibility that, if Federer comes through his semifinal against Stepanek, he could then find himself facing off against the world number one. He has never beaten Federer, but in Dubai he took him to three sets, and self-confidence is one thing that Novak does not appear to be lacking in - it could be an interesting final, if it happens.

Of the current Top 10, Djokovic has never yet faced Nikolay Davydenko, James Blake or Tomas Berdych. He had never played Andy Roddick until yesterday. His record against the current top 10 is 8 wins to 12 losses - nine of those coming at the hands of Federer and Nadal, against whom he is 0-4 and 1-5, respectively. Of the Top 10, he has winning head to head records only against Richard Gasquet (2-0) and Tommy Robredo (2-1). So, Djokovic still has plenty to prove. I can't wait for the tennis to start!

-- Rosangel