Yesterdays matches in the Abu Dhabi Exhibition almost went as planned. The poorer odds match of the two didn't come in for me. Anderson took three sets to finish off Chung but his odds were ridiculously low so I went for the straight sets victory instead (1.61). He dominated in the second and third set but in the first having been 5-3 up on serve Chung remarkably broke back and then went on to win that first set in a tie break. Anderson came roaring back though breaking Chun twice in the second and three times in the third with the match ending 6-7, 6-2, 6-1. Anderson won't have it so easy in the Semi Final today though.

The second match prediction did go completely as planned, I went for the more attractive odds on Karen Khachanov to overcome Dominic Thiem in straight sets (2.50), that ended 7-6, 6-3 to Khachanov. That was an excellent start to the new season for Khachanov, Thiem is a quality player so for the Russian to back up his previous win against Thiem in Paris with another straight sets victory here was impressive. Surprisingly after going 3-5 down in the first set Khachanov managed to claw it back and surpass Thiem in a tie break to take the first set.

In the second set Thiem gave Khachanov a single break point in his opening service game and Khachanov was happy to see Thiem put his forehand wide doing the work for him. There was only one conclusion to the game after that.

Today's Matches

Today has two mouth watering affairs for tennis fans I'm glad to say. Nadal will take on Anderson in his first match back since the US Open where he pulled out with a knee injury against Del Potro (with attractive odds on Nadal) and it's deja vu for Djokovic as he looks to over turn his final defeat in the Paris Masters to Khachanov back in November. We all want to see a Nadal vs Djokovic final play out in Abu Dhabi - it's one of my favourite match ups to watch, these two guys can produce some seriously lung busting rallies. I've embedded a video below of some of my favourite points between them - you won't believe how long some of their rallies go on for!

Nadal vs Anderson (1st Semi Final)

Nadal has won all 5 head to heads vs Anderson and you may think that Anderson would be a bit of a nightmarish match for him to face on his return from injury considering Anderson's serving power. But the fact that Anderson is a very tall player standing at 6ft 8inches means Nadal doesn't need to worry so much about rallies going on forever and putting pressure on his knee. Anderson showed frailty vs Chung yesterday when going 3-5 down in the first set so his serve today may not be as potent as in previous tournaments. He does wobble on serve throughout some tournaments and this could well be one of those days as it was in the ATP finals.

Anderson has only managed to win one set out of a possible 12 available vs Nadal. I have to say Anderson odds are too low (2.22) considering the history between the two players and the fact we are talking about a Nadal. Other than the Spaniard's stumble in the US Open with his knee he has managed to win 3 Masters titles and a Grand Slam this year. Even in those competitions he failed to win outright, he has gone deep such as at Wimbledon where he made the semi finals. His odds are obviously higher to win (1.64) because of his return from injury and Anderson's capability on serve. Even so I think this is Nadal's to loose.

Prediction: I am going for a straight sets win for Nadal at 2.60. I just feel even though it's his first match back he's got too much psychological history over the South African plus the fact that Anderson has only claimed one set off Nadal and in his last match back in 2017 at the US Open he was dominated by the Spanish Bull 6-3, 6-3, 6-4. One of those two sets today could well go to a tie break but the other I can see Nadal winning with a clear break of serve.

Djokovic vs Khachanov

I am having trouble calling this match due to the odds on Khachanov going lower than before vs Djokovic where he was at 5.00 to win in Paris. Especially given Khachanov showed some weakness vs Thiem in the first set. Having said that Djokovic did loose to Zverev in his last match at the London finals 2-1 too so he has been showing some weakness of late and Khachanov can take comfort in his great victory over him in Paris in straight sets. No doubt although Khachanov will treat Djokovic with the respect he deserves, he will be confident he can pull off another upset here and I think his odds are still attractive at 3.50 and generous enough.

This will be another tightly contested affair as Paris was but if Khachanov can get off to a good start and hold serve well he has a chance of upsetting the world number one here, especially if he takes the first set. By going for Khachanov I am going against the match I would ideally want to see in the final but then again if I loose my prediction it will be decent consolation prize! Expect these two guys to dig deep from the back of the court with forecourt play being a rarity. Khachanov will look to bully Djokovic with the hard hitting that saw the Serb exhausted in their last affair. It's really two guys on the opposite sides of their careers here. Djokovic now in his 30's has almost 10 years on Khachanov and has won countless grand slams including 2 last year. Khachanov is just getting started with Paris being his first Masters 1000 victory.

There's no doubt Djokovic has improved his serve this year but it's not immune to being broken, he like Federer relies on placement rather than power (though the Swiss is far more prolific) so Khachanov has a good chance of getting plenty of returns back. Khachanov himself has a far more powerful serve but he is known to wobble too - so there's no doubt there is going to be more than a few swings in momentum in this cagey affair.

Prediction: Khachanov can take Djokovic for a second time here, I give him a 40% chance of beating the Serb so with odds of 3.50, he's worth taking.