Delray Beach Open
Men’s Semi-finals
Mackie McDonald over Rado Albot
Looking at the draw at the beginning of the tournament I never thought that this would be the top half semi-final match. But both are here because they deserve it, and today’s match is going to make one of them a really happy camper. I think it’ll be McDonald. Mackie played a really nice quarterfinal match last night against Delpo, and came up with the goods just when he needed it. Granted, Juan Martin was both injured (right knee) and bothered (some fan heckled the hell out of him), but a win is a win, and when you beat the No. 4 ranked player in the world who, incidentally, is a past U.S. Open Champion, it not only counts in the rankings, but will boost anyone’s confidence immensely. It was obvious that del Potro couldn’t get off the ground on his serves and couldn’t swing through his forehands because of his compromised knee, but he is still a giant presence, and McDonald played really well to move on. Albot, interestingly, did the exact same thing against American Stevie Johnson. The whole match was a tight contest (if a bit see-sawish), but just as I predicted, at 5-all in the third set tiebreaker, Albot chipped to Johnson’s nonexistent backhand and charged net, only to see one Johnson backhand sail 8 feet wide and another plop into the mesh. The Moldavian truly deserved the win for putting forth an effort based on sound strategy, and overcame the weaknesses in his own game to move into the semis. Here, however, Albot is the weaker player, and McDonald’s complete full-court game will prevail. When you watch the match, the guy wearing light blue UCLA colors is, in fact, the UCLA alumnus who won the NCAA tournament. He’ll move on to a likely all-American final.
John Isner over Daniel Evans
Isner has quietly and efficiently moved on here in Delray Beach, seemingly without issues or fanfare. That’s because his matches were over before most fans took their seats. Evans, however, has had a career week, toppling defending champion Tiafoe, South African Lloyd Harris, and Italy’s Andreas Seppi, the last two in easy straight set fashion. Like Albot in the other semis, Evans’ game is flawed, but he has been rewarded for hiding his weaknesses, for the most part, and simply winning more rallies and more points than his opponents. But that stops here. Isner serves way too well for Evans to compete, and if Isner serves the way he has all week, I don’t think Evans, the affable Brit, will even get to sink his teeth into this match. Isner hasn’t been tested all week, and I doubt he will be today. Look for tomorrow’s finals to look like an old UCLA Bruins-Georgia Bulldogs college match. And you can bet on it.