I’m excited.  Sunday will see an all-Swiss final between Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka in the conclusion of the 2014 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters.  The winner of this sure-to-be absorbing finale will take the Swiss number one spot.  The polls for the semi-final matches saw 65% correctly go for Wawrinka to beat Ferrer and a third 50-50 vote in 2014 for the Djokovic v Federer match.  As always, congrats to those who called it correctly.

Stan Wawrinka

Roger Federer defeated Novak Djokovic, 7-5 6-2 to reach his fourth final in Monte-Carlo.  The difference with this one is that it won’t be Rafael Nadal staring him down on the other side of the net.  The first set of the Federer-Djokovic match was tremendous.  Federer won the big points as he saved two set points with some CLUTCH play and then broke Djokovic in the next game from 40-0 up.  Unfortunately a wrist injury for Djokovic was clearly bothering him in the second set.  Djokovic has been remarkably lucky with injuries in the last couple of years, but I really hope this won’t be a problem because the 2014 clay court season is shaping up to be one of the most exciting for years.  Wrist injuries are playing havoc with tennis players in 2014.  DelPo and Laura know only too well.

In the first semi-final, Stanislas Wawrinka delivered another fine performance in beating David Ferrer, 6-1 7-6(3).  He rolled through the first set playing some majestic tennis before encountering much stiffer resistance from Nadal’s conqueror in the second.  Not only will the winner of this match be the Swiss number one and world number three, but they will break the incredible dominance that Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have held in the Masters 1000 events.  Currently the pair share all the titles, but Federer or Wawrinka will muscle in on their parade come Sunday evening.

This match-up is particularly thrilling because Federer and Wawrinka haven’t played since Indian Wells last year.  Federer leads the head-to-head by 13 wins to 1 with Stan’s only win coming all the way back in 2009 at Monte-Carlo.  What’s different from their last match is that Wawrinka is now a Grand Slam champion and the higher ranked player.  It would be fair to say they haven’t played each other since Wawrinka became a relevant threat at the top of the ATP rankings.

The head-to-head doesn’t lie though and I have always got the sense that Wawrinka, understandably, has a huge amount of respect for Federer and has always shown that respect too much into their matches.  For that reason, I am siding with Federer to win this one.  Wawrinka has played superbly this week and I am very intrigued to see how he deals with this match.  It is worth noting that Wawrinka has never won a Masters 1000 event.

I can’t wait for this one and I am sure it’s the same feeling amongst the entire tennis community.  Please vote in the poll below and let’s hear any thoughts you have about this match.  Don’t be shy 🙂

Prediction: Federer d. Wawrinka in 3 sets