The Crystal Ball: Day 11 Picks

Our crystal ball was kind enough to tell us the exact score of the Serena Williams and Ana Ivanovic quarterfinal yesterday, so today we asked it to pick Thursday's men's quarterfinal action.

By Chris Oddo

Janko Tipsarevic plays Ferrer in the quarters of the 2012 US Open

Our crystal ball guided us to a tidy 3-1 record on Wednesday, which is nothing to be ashamed of. I mean, if you had Berdych taking out Federer, more power to you!

One thing we are very proud of is the fact that we nailed the Serena Williams-Ana Ivanovic 6-1, 6-3 score (go ahead and check it if you don’t believe us).

Here are tomorrow's men's quarterfinal picks:

David Ferrer vs. Janko Tipsarevic

This is a tough one to call on many levels. First, Tipsarevic and Ferrer have not met since 2008, so it’s really difficult to say who will handle the matchup best. Second, both players have an excellent five-set record over the course of their careers, and this match is surely headed to a fifth set (you heard it here first).

Ferrer has turned in a career year, and proved that he can play fantastic tennis on all surfaces (he became only the second Spanish player in the Open Era to reach the quarterfinals of all four Grand Slams in a calendar year), but Tipsarevic has done well to back up his 2011 quarterfinal appearance in New York this year, notching his fifth career comeback from two sets down in the first round, and playing dominating tennis in rounds two, three and four.

As far as what is on the line, Tipsarevic is bidding for his first career Grand Slam semifinal, and if he can make it he will become only the second Serb in history to make the US Open semifinals. For Ferrer, he will be bidding for his second US Open semifinal and fourth career Grand Slam semifinal.

On the court, this should be a fascinating affair, matching Tipsarevic’s creative brand of shotmaking and athleticism against Ferrer’s trademark grit and determination. And it will be nice that these two well-liked tour veterans will get to play on Arthur Ashe and give the crowd a dose of their high energy and supreme fitness, while temporarily out of the shadow of the big four.

Key Matchup: Ferrer’s inside-out forehand against Tipsarevic’s backhand

Crystal Ball says: Tipsarevic d. Ferrer 6-3, 6-4, 2-6, 2-6, 7-6(5)

Novak Djokovic vs. Juan Martin del Potro

Now that Roger Federer has fallen to Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinals, there are only two former US Open champions left in the 2012 US Open draw. Juan Martin del Potro, the 2009 champion and Novak Djokovic, the defending champ will meet for the third time in just over a month on Thursday.

Del Potro scored an emotional win over the Serb in the Olympic bronze medal match in early August at Wimbledon, while Djokovic took out Del Potro in the Cincinnati semifinals.

With Djokovic trying to extend his run of consecutive Grand Slam semifinals to 10 (it would tie him for second-most all-time), the Argentine will have his work cut out for him. Del Potro has won just one of his last nine matches against top three opposition, and he’s spent nearly twice as much time as Djokovic (11:43 to 6:02) on the court over the course of the first four rounds.

For Del Potro to make inroads into the Djokovic game he’ll have to play the type of unbridled, care-free tennis that earned him his first US Open title. Otherwise Djokovic will look to grind him down in the longer rallies until fatigue starts to set in.

Key Matchup: The Del Potro serve against the Djokovic return game

Crystal Ball says: Djokovic d. Del Potro 6-7(4), 7-5, 7-5, 6-2

(Photo Credit: AFP/Patrick Kovarik)