Sony Ericsson Semifinals — Nadal/Berdych, Roddick/Davydenko

Wow…what a performance last night from Andy Roddick, eh? Tip of the cap to Andy for finally getting that monkey off his back…or rather, more like a hairy, alpha-male silverback gorilla.

The Miami semis are shaping up to be another fine set, featuring world No. 2 Rafael Nadal and No. 10 and noted Nadal-killer Tomas Berdych in one semifinal, and the aforementioned sixth-ranked Roddick facing world No. 5 Nikolay (Say It Ain’t) Davydenko. Since this is a Federer-centric blog I shall keep the predictions to a minimum:

(2) Rafael Nadal v. (10) Tomas Berdych

This is a fantastic matchup between two baseliners of contrasting styles. Nadal is a retriever without peer but with enough power to create outrageous points; Berdych is a classic powerhouse in the Safin mold who has been absolutely on fire this tournament. Berdych holds a dominant head-to-head against Nadal, in part due to Nadal’s game dovetailing sweetly into Berdych’s strengths, and he has been serving particularly well in Miami as well. Nadal has in recent back-to-back tournaments knocked off another boogeyman of his, James Blake, but Berdych is playing unconscious and Nadal’s heavy cross-court sidewinders into the backhand wing do not have the same effect against the 6-foot-6 Berdych as they do against almost everyone else on tour. The match is likely to be razor-close, and smart money is probably going with Berdych here, but I’m picking Nadal here to make the necessary adjustments. Berdych has yet to face a test here, and he’ll definitely have one on his hands today. Verdict: Nadal, two close, possibly three sets

(5) Nikolay Davydenko v. (6) Andy Roddick

Roddick owns Davydenko. Let’s just get that out of the way. On paper it’s No. 5 v. No. 6, but Roddick is just coming off the biggest win of his career (save his 2003 US Open run) and will be buoyed by his strong play in recent weeks. Consider that Roddick has now knocked off Federer, Nadal, AND Djokovic this season, and there’s little reason to think Davydenko will stand in his way to a finals berth. Verdict: Roddick, straight sets

That’s all for now, folks