ATP Basel Quarterfinals: Wawrinka vs. Djokovic

Basel, Switzerland – The quarterfinal clash between Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka, the sixth seed, and Serbian Novak Djokovic, the second seed, is the most anticipated quarterfinal billing on Friday’s roster at the Davidoff Swiss Indoors Basel.

Djokovic’s draw goes without saying. He is the world No.3 player, perhaps even a future world No.1. He is considered one of the best hard courters in the game. And he has been one of the most in-form players on the ATP Tour since losing in the third round of the French Open to Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Stanislas Wawrinka’s draw is purely nationalistic. The Swiss No.2 currently weighs in at No.21 in the world. His measure in terms of season doesn’t even come close to Djokovic. His problem has been poor play and the rest of it might as well remain unsaid. Yet in spite of the significant “on paper” disadvantage, the Swiss crowd will be firmly behind one of their own, hoping to cheer him on to a victory over Djokovic – what would be a huge upset in Basel.

Match Time: 08:00 AM Eastern Time Friday November 6, 2009

Tennis Betting Verdict: Stanislas Wawrinka and Novak Djokovic will be going head-to-head for the eighth time in their careers when they collide in the Basel quarterfinals. Djokovic takes the significant 6-2 edge over Wawrinka, which includes a 2-0 edge on 2009 and a run of 5 consecutive victories since Vienna 2007.

Djokovic will be looking to continue that positive trend against Wawrinka before a crowd that will be surely hostile towards him. And as you would expect, Djokovic should be a huge favourite in the market to do so. That Djokovic just dismantled Jan Hernych 6-0, 6-0 in just under an hour in Thursday’s second round action will be a huge confidence boost for the Serbian and sets up a rather intimidating prospect for Wawrinka.

Wawrinka will be looking to snap the negative trend against Djokovic.  Encouraging for Wawrinka is the fact that he has opened good accounts against Djokovic in the past, especially in their last four encounters spanning two years. He even managed to lead twice against Djokovic when he went up a set before capitulating in three. Therefore, the key for Wawrinka against Djokovic will be to start and finish strong. He can’t allow Djokovic a whiff of the match if he hopes to mastermind the upset.

However, Wawrinka is after an underwhelming season by his standards. Poor play has plagued him throughout the season and pushed him 12 spots off his career high ranking at No. 9 (June, 2008). There is nothing on the season proper or recently that would suggest Wawrinka is gearing up to play the match of his life. For only “lights out”, tennis will derail Djokovic. Anything short of it and you can bet Djokovic will be snuffing the light out of Wawrinka.

Tennis Free Picks: Djokovic in straight sets