Baby Daddy

"I never got the chance to play him; I'm sad already." -Grigor Dimitrov upon hearing the false news that Roger Federer is retiring.

Like father, like son

TURN THAT FROWN UPSIDE DOWN, GRIGOR.

Guys, it's happening. Papa Fed vs. Baby Fed. Today. In Basel. When I saw the draw for the Swiss Indoors, I nearly wet myself. Could their inaugural encounter have been set up any better?

That being said, it's really tough evaluating this match because each have major points going both for and against them. Dimitrov is coming off his first-ever ATP title in Stockholm (aww) and has played remarkably well in his first two rounds, beating Stepanek and Dolgopolov in easy straights. However, when will exhaustion start to creep in? After winning Stockholm on Sunday, Grigor played his first round on Wednesday evening and will have to play for the third night in a row. Federer, who hadn't played since flaming out in Shanghai, began play on Monday and has had a rest day after each of his tournament matches thus far. There really is no place like home.

Other things going right for Roger: the crowd will have his (increasingly creaky) back 100%. To the extent that the twelfth man phenomenon exists in tennis, Basel might only be second to Wimbledon when it comes to the fans cheering on their guy. You saw how much the crowd got into Fed's match versus Istomin in the previous round when Roger found himself down a set and multiple break points down in the third. Still, how much can hometown support help when you face a guy you've never played before, who's style is foreign to you (when you look outside of the mirror), and when he's on a bit of a win streak? Roger has much to think about, especially since he's not playing his best, although he did well to come back against Istomin.

Who knows how they will come out. I'm sure Roger will be feeling the pressure and will try his darnedest to postpone any torch passing from happening today. Grigor has absolutely nothing to lose when he takes the court against one of his idols and should be able to play quite freely. I believe Federer will tighten up if this becomes a closely contested match, and I think it will be nail-biter. I'm picking Dimitrov in three very tough sets.

So...who ya got? Agree or disagree with my pick? Leave a comment and tell me why I'm dead wrong! This match is going to be glorious.