The 2012 French Open Men’s Semifinals features three of the top four players in the world, and the first match, which is scheduled for an 11:00am ET start time on Friday, June 8th, pits No.1 Novak Djokovic against No. 3 Roger Federer. The pair met in the French Open semifinals last year with Federer winning 7-6 (5), 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5), but the latest French Open Odds and Picks are calling for a different result this time around. Djokovic is a 14-25 favorite ($180 to win $100) to knock off Federer and move on to Sunday’s final.
Novak Djokovic had won 44 consecutive matches heading into last year’s French Open semifinal against Roger Fededer, but his streak came to an end against the Swiss native. Federer thwarted Djokovic in four sets, ending the latter’s opportunity to appear in his first Final at Roland Garros.
Despite that result, Djokovic has owned Federer of late. While Fed does sport a 14-11 career record against Djokovic, he has lost five of his last six meetings with the Serbian. Djokovic last defeated Federer at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 at Rome, Italy in May; he won the clay court match in straight sets 6-2, 7-6 (4).
Djokovic, who comes into tomorrow’s semifinal with a 30-5 record, has earned two titles this season. He won his third Australian Open (hard) in January, defeating Rafael Nadal in an epic five set final, and he took out Andy Murray in the championship match at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 at Miami (hard) in late March.
Federer, who owns a record 16 Grand Slam titles, is 31-4 this season; he has captured titles at Rotterdam (hard), Dubai (hard), Indian Wells (hard), and Madrid (clay).
French Open Picks: While Djokovic has not played as well this season as he did last, he is still performing at a tremendously high level. However, Federer is as well, looking better this season than he has over the last two. I can certainly see Federer getting the job done, and he represents good value at +150 odds. That said, Djokovic is the play. Djokovic has needed five sets in his last two matches, but he cruised into the fourth round, defeating his first three opponents in straight sets. The 30 year old Federer, who owns a 3-2 record against Djokovic on clay, needed four sets in rounds two, three, and four, and he used five to get past Juan Martin Del Potro in the quarters.
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