Well so far the US Open has very much lived up to its expectations of being a terrific tournament with plenty of exciting matches and it has to be said the yank crowds really have aided in lifting the atmos for the players as they are easily the loudest most reactive audiences you will get.
So there is a lot to cover so I've split this post over two entries since its been a few days since my last blog on the fourth grand slam of the year. So to start with the ladies match on Saturday just there, Day 6, which saw some terrific stuff particularly the match between Francesca Schiavone who played the South African wildcard Chanelle Scheepers. After dropping the first set, Fran looked pretty drained and fatigued from the word go, however she dredged as much energy as she could manage to level the match by taking the 2nd in a tense tiebreak, and after that she secured a break in the third set winning in 5-7, 7-6, 6-3. Later on that night we were also treated to a really good match up between Serena Williams and the world no.4 Victoria Azarenka, on paper this match promised to be a belter and for the most part it did live up to its expectations. After a one-way demolition job in the first set where Serena blasted off the young Belarusian off the court, Azarenka fought back and saved match point on Serena's serve and made it 5-5. Azarenka then battled onto to take the set to a tiebreaker but ultimately Serena closed out the match in the breaker winning 6-1, 7-6(5). Victoria Azarenka definitely deserves credit for her fightback in the match and it also promised to deliver a very interesting future rivalry between these two players, as Azarenka given time could prove to be one of the few players that can really threaten Serena. So I look forward to their future matches together.
On Day 7, there were some more excellent ladies matches, the main being a gusty battle from Flavia Pennetta who faced the talented Chinese player Peng Shuai who gave the 26th seed a tough test. Pennetta came out confidently like she did against Sharapova, but she soon faced a fightback from Peng Shuai and Flavia had to really battle in order to close out the first set. In the 2nd set it was even more of a battle, as the two players shared breaks of serve and Flavia showed signs of fatigue and at one point she even wretched on court. She also faced dropping the 2nd set in the tiebreaker as she was 5-0 down at one point, but Pennetta held her nerve and managed to fight her way back in to win the match in 6-4, 7-6(6). I was really pleased to see Flavia get through, as this is her 3rd US Open quarter final so it will be great to see how she does in the quarter finals where she will face Angelique Kerber from Germany.
In another day 7 match on the men's side we saw the giant Juan Martin Del Potro take on the talented Frenchman Gilles Simon. This is their 2nd meeting this year and Del Potro lead the head to head 3-1 going into the match. Delpo from the first set definitely appeared to be in control as he broke the Frenchman at 4-4 all to make it 5-4, however in the 2nd Simon held serve to take it to a tiebreak which Simon won. In the 3rd set, Del Potro seemed to suffer from fatigue and a foot injury, so he lost the momentum which saw Simon win the set. However in the 4th set, it was back to an even pegged battle to a tiebreak, but again Delpo just couldn't deliver which saw Gilles Simon win the match in 4-6, 7-6, 6-2, 7-6, which marked the first time the Frenchman has made the 4th round. In another evening match between the yanks John Isner, and Alex Bogomolov Jr, Isner got off to a slow start but soon got going and won the match in straight sets 7-6, 6-4, 6-4. So John Isner will go onto face Gilles Simon, I quite like to see Isner get through to the quarter finals as it will be the first time he will have reached a grand slam quarter final match.
And in another day 7 match the young American upcomer David Young took on Juan Ignaio Chela and performed another upset as he took out the 25th seed in straight sets in 7-5, 6-4,6-3. Young certainly has had a good US Open tournament so far, as he has already upset Stan Wawrinka also and next up is a certain fella who he defeated earlier in the year back in Indian Wells.
Which brings us onto the final match of the post between the Muzza and the Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, which after Andy's poor form in the 2nd match might have proved a bit worrying. However Andy had no such trouble as against as he gave a performance that was night and day from his Friday near fiasco, as he dispatched Lopez easily in straight sets 6-1, 6-4, 6-2. This definitely was a big improvement from his last match, and saw Andy get right back on track, in fact his performance was so impressive that his 1st serve percentage was rated at 76%!! Now this is a stark contrast to what he has been serving at before, however the problem with Andy's serve and game in general is that its inconsistent and when he plays in the slams he needs to ensure he will play his best on the day, but that hasn't as we know always been the case. So next up Andy will face his past nemesis Donald Young in the 4th round and I hope this time Andy will beat him, hopefully he should. Back in March at Indian Wells, Andy was in a bad place and his mind just wasn't on his game, but things have since changed, so I'm hoping we will see the Muzza give Young a good what for and secure his place in the quarter finals, however with American crowd behind Young and his current form, this might wel prove to be a tough match. But I'm fairly sure the Muzza will prevail this time, well he better!!
Anyway more to follow in Part 3.2.......
No comments:
Post a Comment