Rightttt well its time for the fifth part in my entries on the US Open, the 4th and final grand slam of the season, which sees the players getting down to the final 8 on either side of the sex net (i.e. men and ladies), so let's have a look at the quarter final matches.
OK to kick off with the ladies, Maria Sharapova was up first against Marion Bartoli, and their match was held up by rain on Day 9, which suspended play, so on Day 10, play was resumed, and Bartoli, who was 4-0 up in the 1st set prior to the rain delay, went on to take the first set 6-3. In the 2nd set however, Sharapova inevitably fought back and took the 2nd set, to force a decider, where there were breaks of serve aplenty, but it was Sharapova that made the final breakthrough in breaking Bartoli at 5-4, to close out her win to secure a semi final place in 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. While I didn't see the match from the scoreline and the stats I'm sure it was quite a match, and its great to see some terrific ladies matches put on Arthur Ashe stadium.
And the day before Victoria Azarenka played her quarter final match against Sam Stosur, the defending champion. Stosur had previously never taken a set against the Belarusian in their six prior meetings, but this time, after dropping the first set, mounted a fightback to take the 2nd set, and in the 3rd set, there were breaks all over the place, which pushed the match to a deciding tiebreak, which Azarenka eventually won to reach the semi finals of the US Open for the first time with a 6-1, 4-6, 7-6(5) scoreline. This match was one of the highlights of the tournament and I'm sure the crowd on Arthur Ashe stadium were exstatic at the play that both players put on. It was a pity that Sam didn't make it into the last four, as I would like to have seen her won. Nevertheless it was a great effort from both players, and it will see another showdown between Azarenka and Sharapova. However I can't say I'm too thrilled about this match, as every time Vika and Maria have played on hard court, Vika has always thrashed Sharapova, and their Australian Open final this year was one-way traffic from Azarenka. So I won't expect too much from it, as we can expect Sharapova make alot of errors and double faults will creep no doubt, however I could be wrong and it might turn out to be a terrific battle, but I kind of doubt it, but we'll see.
So quickly onto the other ladies quarter finals, first off we had the Italian players, Sara Errani and Robert Vinci play each other for a spot in the last four. Unfortunately the match itself was a bit of a bore, and due to the rain there was hardly a crowd there to support the players. So overall it was pretty flat, however Errani looked the more impressive of the two as she broke twice in the first set and once in the 2nd, which saw her win in 6-2, 6-4. And so Errani will next play the winner of the next match I'll talk about, which was between Serena Williams and Ana Ivanovic. Serena has been in great form throughout the tournament so far and Ana did nothing to stop her in her path, and she ended winning in a very convincing 6-1, 6-3 scoreline. So Serena will play Errani in the semis, although I have to say I think it will be another cakewalk for Serena as I can't really see Errani hurting her much out on the court, but regardless of that it will be an interesting match.
Right so onto the men's matches, starting with the 4th round match between two former US Open champions, Andy Roddick and Juan Martin Del Potro, which if Roddick were to lose, this would be the last match of his career. And the match itself was quite an entertaining and tight encounter, as both players played tautly in the first two sets, with Roddick winning the opener on a tiebreak and Delpo on the 2nd. However after the 2nd set, Delpo soon took control of the match, and went on to break Roddick twice in the 3rd set, and in the 4th Deplo broke again, although Roddick managed to keep it to the single break. However in the end Del Potro proved to be that bit too good for Roddick, as he served it out for a place in the quarter finals and also being the man who ended Andy Roddick's career with a 6-7, 7-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory.
This was a really good match for Roddick to bow out on, and he had the whole Arthur Ashe stadium right behind him throughout. But I just knew that Roddick wouldn't be able to defeat Del Potro, but it was inevitable that he would get beat sooner or later. And after the match Del Potro was very gracious to Andy as they both hugged at the net, and Delpo pointed his hand toward Roddick to direct the audience's applause. Roddick himself afterward gave an emotional speech to the 20,000 strong crowd, and said he will never forget the US Open and his memories there. So that's that for Andy Roddick, its a pity that he chose to retire, but I guess given that he is now 30, that physically he felt his body wasn't up to another full season of tennis, and no doubt it will take its toll. But I'm sure Andy will be proud of the very impressive career he has made for himself over the last 13 years or so, and I wish him the very best for the future in whatever he choses to do in his life after tennis.
Which brings me onto the other Andy, that is Murray, who played his quarter final match against the big Croat player, Marin Cilic. Cilic has only beaten Andy once, and that was at the US Open, three years ago, and from the start of the match you could swear it would have gone the same way, as Andy struggled on the Louis Armstrong court, with its speed and flight that the balls go at. Suffice to say Andy was broken in his first game, and he continued to hold serve, desite breaking back to make it 3-4, and level at 4-4, he double faulted to let Cilic break again, who took the opening set. In the 2nd things got steadily worse as Andy struggled to maintain any rhythym or even find a first serve, and he let Cilic break him twice, with things looking pretty grim for Andy. However at 5-2, Andy broke back and from there he pretty much didn't look back, as he dominated Cilic in the rallies and levelled the set to a tiebreak, which Andy won. And in the 3rd set, at 2-2, Andy went on to break again, which ultimately left Cilic in a perplexed state, wondering just how he went from playing so well to so bad. In the 4th set, Andy continued his rout on Cilic, who by then had given up the ghost, making all sorts of errors and double faulting, and he finally capitulated, with Andy handing Cilic a bagel set to finish off things, with Andy sealing his spot in the semis after a very sea-saw 3-6, 7-6, 6-2, 6-0 win.
It has to be said, just when I thought Andy was starting to look pretty convincing for the title, in this match he seemed to undo the good work he had done, to begin with anyway. But what was so impressive about Andy again in the match, was how he dealt with mental adversity, as he hung in there till he had his opportunities, and once he took them, Cilic was nowhere in the match. So it was a strong finish after a very erratic start for Andy, and it sees him into the semi final, although I think the Louis Armstrong stadium played its part in Andy's poor play early on, as its a court he has never been keen on, and it always takes time to adjust to the fast pace and conditions on it.
Anyway so quickly onto Roger Federer who played against the Czeck player, Tomas Berdych. Roger looked to be the easy favourite for this match, as he is now back at No.1, you would imagine while it would habve been a tough match, it would be one that he could win. However it proved to be quite the opposite, as he at times struggled against Berdych's incredible form, having lost the 1st set on a tiebreak, and the 2nd set with a break. Roger however seemed to manage to turn things around in the 3rd set as he broke Berdych to take it, but in th 4th set, Berdych refound his form and went on to break Roger and close the match with a 7-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory.
This was a bit of shock result, as you would expect that Roger would have come out top on this one, but I guess it just wasn't to be, as Berdych really brought his A game to the match, and when the big guy is on form, there is hardly anyone he can't beat. And this could set off serious alarm bells for Andy Murray, as he is set to face Berdych next in the semi finals. So far Berdych leads their head to head 4-2, although in Andy's favour his 2nd win over Berdych did come earlier this year in Dubai, so its not like he hasn't a chance. But Berdych will be a big big threat for Andy in the semi finals, and there is every chance that he could defeat him, as he beat Andy in their previous grand slam encounter at the French Open two years ago, and he most recently beat Andy in Monte Carlo back in April there. And if there is one man that can deny Andy his chance of reaching his 2nd US Open final, its Tomas Berdych, and if Berdych goes out there and plays a great match on Saturday, then there will be no doubt that Andy will be leaving the tournament.
However Andy will have his chances too, and fortunately for him, Berdych can be a bit erratic in his play, and has a tendancy to get a bit tight when playing the big points, so mentally Andy could have the edge over him, as this is something Andy has learned to deal with thanks to Ivan Lendl. However if Andy is to have any chance against Berdych he will need to play a really good high level match to do it, and as he said himself he can't afford a poor start like he did against Cilic. And another good thing is that the semi final matches will be played on Arthur Ashe stadium, where Andy has played consistently well on over his campaign this year, so hopefully he can use the stadium to his advantage. And if Andy can beat Berdych to reach the final then I would have to say that he could possibly go on to win the title, although that will depend on the guy at the other side of the net, and who that might be, but we can worry about that some other time. Anyway Muzza and Berdy's match will be on Saturday and it promises to be a real belter, and hopefully Andy will win it, but we will just have to wait and see, personally I think both players have a 50/50 chance as either of them could win, it just depends how it will go, but fingers crossed!
Right so a quick update on the remaining quarter final matches, as David Ferrer and Janko Tipsarevic have finished doing battle on Arthur Ashe stadium as they played an epic 5 set match, which saw Ferrer eventually prevail in the 5th set tiebreak, which sees Ferrer into the semi finals of the US Open for the second time. I didn't catch much of the match but little I did see it looked mighty impressive with some incredible exchanges from both players. But it was Ferrer's sheer determination and grit that saw him through after a brutally exhaustive 6-3, 6-7, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 victory.
Which brings me onto the men's last quarter final match, which was between Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin Del Potro. Both of these men are US Open champions, with Delpo having won it back in 2009, so this promised to be quite a match. And for the most part it was exactly that, as after a one-sided first set, Delpo got into the match as he did battle with Djokovic in the 2nd set, as he went up a break, until 5-4, serving for the set, Djokovic broke back and went on to 6-5. With Delpo serving to take it into the tiebreaker he was forced to play a lenghty duece game, as he battled with the Serb for 17 minutes before holding serve, but in the tiebreaker, it was all Djokovic, as he took a two sets to love lead. In the 3rd set, Djoko broke Delpo's feeble serve and from there never looked back, but the big fella continued his brave fight till the last point. And this saw Djokovic close out the match after a hard fought three hours and five minutes to emerge with a 6-2, 7-6(3), 6-4 win.
The scoreline certainly betrays what the two men had on court, as they two of them really did battle hard out there for the thrilled crowd who lapped it all up, and they were all rooting for Del Potro, since he was the underdog. There were some terrific points as well, especially during the tiebreak where Delpo tried to make a return after an amazing rally only to give Djokovic 3 set points, and there was a near miraculous passing shot from Del Potro in the last game of the 3rd set, which saw him run on top of the stands with his arms held aloft in front of the cheering crowd. So he may not have won the match, but the big Argentine sure won over the crowd. Djokovic however most certainly did win the match and he looked mighty convincing for the most part throughout it, and it proved that his form leading into the quarter finals was just as good as it appeared to be, regardless of the lower ranked players he was facing. Nole did however have one or two lapses during the match but overall he was very impressive and played the big points very well when he needed to which made all the difference.
And next up for Nole will be David Ferrer, whom he has a fairly good head to head over 8-5, but it won't be an easy one, as Ferrer, while he doesn't have any big weapons to defeat Novak, he does have the speed and the return game to give him a big headache. But Ferrer also played a big epic match against Tipsarevic, which lasted 4 hours and 30 minutes, so it will also come down to how much he has left in the tank against the Serb. However my prediction will be that Djokovic will win this one in 3 sets, the first two might be tight and the 3rd possibly being over pretty quickly, but we'll see.
So that is the men's semis all good to go for Saturday, as its Murray vs Berdych, and Djokovic vs Ferrer, and they promise to be very good. So I will report back with them, and more on the ladies semi final matches too.
OK so after all that I will leave it there.
Bye!!!
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