A pair of thirtysomething men pros from Spain (no.1Rafael Nadal) and South Africa (no.28 Kevin Anderson) meet for the men's singlea
Nadal has 16 grand slam titles and Anderson seeks his first.
Chattanooga Connection .. Clive Kileff and three Lookout Mountain natives - Roscoe Tanner, Zan Guerry and Cindy Kemp Battle
Roscoe Tanner .. 15 times played at the Open including.reaching the semis twice ... NCAA doubles champion at Stanford ... Australian Open and Davis Cup champ
Zan Guerry .. 6-time participant at The Open ... won two rounds in 1977 before losing to Jimmy Connors ... seven halls of fame ... 31 national titles
Cindy Kemp Battle .. 3 - time U.S. Open participant including winning two matches in the mother-daughter tourney ... member of national Wightman Cup team with Billie Jean King and Rosie Casal ...won Southern 13s singles, 16s and 18s doubles and Southern Women's at age 16 ... three halls of fame
Clive Kileff . played doubles at The Open in 1962 and 1963 ... he and Darrel McDonald were national runner-up in the 55s
Predictions
Meg Bandy:Winner - Rafael Nadal ...this is a heart pick not a head pick. ..actually he is on fire right now
Claire Bartlett: Winner- Rafael Nadal ...because he's on top of his game right now ...he goes for bigger shots and will do whatever it takes to win
Cindy Kemp Battle: Winner - Kevin Anderson ... Nadal looks a little rough to me right now ... I think he might fold under the pressuree
B.B. Branton: Winner - Kevin Anderson ... Rafael has all the weapons, but I'll go with Anderson in a big upset ... needs to win in less than five sets and have a high percentage of service aces and service weapons and win points at the net
Chris Brown: Winner - Rafael Nadal ... he has better ground strokes, is a better volleyer and has excellent court coverage. .. Anderson has a better service game but Nadal is the easy pick
Wesley Cash: Winner - Rafael Nadal ... he has the experience of being there so many times .. he has a deep well of reserve
Ned Caswell:Winner - Rafael Nadal ... the men's final will be much closer than the women's match because Kevin Anderson ' s serve is huge which will help him to keep it close ...Nadal can play average and still win .. Anderson can only win if he plays the match of his life ...trying to win 3 if 5 sets against Nadal is too tough in my opinion
Jeff Clark: Winner - Rafael Nadal ... I give the edge to Rafael abd predict a 4-set victory ...his experience and skill will be too much for Anderson who is making his grand slam debut ...Anderson 's serve and power might give Nadal trouble for a bit but eventually he will find a rhythm and gain momentum in the match ...Rafael has shown in his career that he plays his best tennis in the biggest momentum .. today will be no different
Kevin Donovan: Winner -Rafal Nadal ... I would not vote against Rafael in a grand slam final
Zan Guerry: Winner - Rafael Nadal ... he hits a lot of winners so a slight favorite to Nadal
Pem Guerry: Winner - Rafael Nadal ... he is too experienced, hungry and physical
Jack Webb: Winner - Rafael Nadal ... he is the clear favorite for two reasons ...he's playing great and is on a roll and he is also a first class guy on and off the court
Sue Webb: Winner- Rafael Nadal ... I'd love to see Kevin Anderson win, but I think Nadal is just playing too well ... Anderson may have to play at the net and make Rafael hit winners as I don't think Anderson will win from the baseline
contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net