OK well....... its getting close to the end of my US Open posts, which sees the tournament getting closer to the end as I get to the nitty gritty of the semi final matches on both the mens and ladies. So let's get to it!
Right the first ladies match was between Victoria Azarenka, the current World No.1, and Maria Sharapova, and going on their previous hard court matches, it looked potentially like it could be one-way traffic for Azarenka, who thrashed Maria at the start of the year in Melbourne. However the match itself couldn't have been more different, as it turned into a real battle between the two players, with Maria coming out the stronger of the two, breaking Azarenka twice in the first set, although Vika broke back once, before Maria closed it out. In the 2nd set, Vika fought back to break Maria and went on to take the set to level the match, and in the 3rd set, the two did battle on serve, with Vika holding more convincingly while Maria had to struggle on her service games, until 5-4, with Maria serving to make it 5-5, Vika finally pushed through to reach her first US Open final after an exhaustive 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory. This was a great encounter between the two rivals, who have had their lop-sided matches in the past, but this time it was great to see the two of them go at it, right at the same time, and it stands as one of the highlights of the ladies tournament.
So onto the second ladies semi final match which was between Serena Williams, the former champion and the 10th seed, Sara Errani, the talented Italian player. On paper this match sounded like a breeze for Serena, and not surprisingly it turned out to be just that, as Errani had no answer whatsoever for Serena's mighty powerful serves and returns. It also wasn't helped that Errani's first serve isn't even 100mph, which let Serena crunch many winners off it, and with her 2nd serve being as low as 60mph, it would be like a kid in a candy for Serena. And suffice to say the 14 time slam champion blasted her way past Errani in just over an hour to reach another US Open final, with a crushing 6-1, 6-2 win. This match was no contest at all for Serena, and I have to say I don't like watching her matches when they are so one-sided as it becomes boring very quickly, which I'm sure this one did, because I didn't watch it.
And this sets up a very intruiging ladies final between Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka, who's match has been put back till Sunday afternoon. In their previous meeting at the Olympics, Serena destroyed Azarenka, conceding only 3 games in the match, so will it be the same this time???? Well it could be, as Serena has been in similar form throughout this tournament, as she has barely dropped more than 5 games per match! However Azarenka has got some fair amount of firepower to throw at Serena, but to have any chance she will have to serve well, and she has been known to serve badly in her previous matches with Serena, which cost her. Their US Open 3rd round match was very entertaining last year, and I hope this one is of a similar vein, but the last thing I want to see is another easy drubbing from Serena, so hopefully we will get a good fight from them both.
OK so now onto the men's semi finals, which were disrupted by the severe weather conditions on Saturday, and first up we had Andy Murray who took on Tomas Berdych, the 6th seed. Berdych came into this match on form, having defeated Roger Federer in the quarter finals, and he looked to be set to defeat Andy, given his 4-2 record against the Scot. However the match itself turned out to be anything but easy, as the two players had to not just battle each other, but the extremely windy conditions on court, which saw chairs being knocked over, and even Andy's cap flew off at one point, which caused a bit of a strop with Berdych, since Andy was awarded the point for it, but they replayed it anyway.
So in summary Berdych broke at 6-5 to take the first set, however in the 2nd set, Andy fought back and battled brilliantly in the windy conditions, and broke Berdy twice to take the set. In the 3rd Andy kept up his brilliant passage of play and gave the big Czeck a real thrashing, again breaking twice to clinch a 2 sets to 1 lead. In the 4th set, it looked to go the same way as Andy went 3-0 up, but after playing a sloppy service game, he lost his lead and let Berdych back in, who pushed the set to a tiebreak. And despite Berdych being 5-2 in the tiebreak, Andy fought back to level the score before getting a break point to make 8-7, and Berdych finally drew a final error as he fired a forehand long, which saw the British No.1 jump for joy having clinched victory and a place in his 2nd US Open final, after a very tough and windy 5-7, 6-2, 6-1, 7-6(7) victory.
This was nothing but a remarkable match from both players as they had to play through such tough, tricky conditions, and at times the two men had to roll in their first serves because the wind was so severe. And thankfully as I thought when it came to playing the important points it was Andy that came up with the goods, as Berdych floundered badly in the 2nd and 3rd sets. But Berdych does deserve some credit for fighting his way back into the 4th set, as Andy played a poor service game that let his rival back in the door.
However this match really showed just what an incredible competitor Andy Murray really is, that he even in extreme weather conditions can fight through to win a very big match. And for that reason, if for no other I really do believe that Andy can win the title, as he looks confident, poised and ready. He will have to face either Djokovic or Ferrer, but I think that is something he is well prepared for. I also think after reaching the Wimbledon final, and fighting as well as he did against Federer in the final despite the loss, that was the turning point in his career, and everything since has been a stepping stone in the right direction. And since then he has learned through Ivan Lendl how to cope with the pressure in the big matches, and if he wins in the US Open final on Monday then their relationship will truly have paid off. But anyway we will just have to wait and see how Andy get's on this Monday coming, as the bad weather has postponed the final till then.
As for the other semi final, we had Novak Djokovic and David Ferrer who went at it on Sunday in order to reach the US Open final, with Novak looking to reach his fourth and Ferrer looking to reach his first ever grand slam final. The match itself promised to be a cracker, and it started off for Ferrer on the Saturday evening being 5-2 up, and when played resumed on Sunday he took the opening set. However from the 2nd set onward, Ferrer's game disappeared as he failed to hold serve, with Djokovic dominating and Ferrer making a whole load of errors, which saw him broken twice for Nole to level the set. In the 3rd Ferrer went down a break, but broke back to get back on serve, however he struggled to hold on as Djokovic broke again to go 4-3 up, and after that he closed out the 3rd. And by the 4th Ferrer started looking for excuses for his game falling apart, blaming it on his racquets, which he switched at one point, but it did no good as he was simply outclassed by Djokovic's superior defensive skills, and eventually fell to the defending champion after a 4 set victory for Nole, reaching his 4th US Open final, with a 2-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 win.
Overall this match was a bit disappointing and it had some real potential, especially after Ferrer won the first set, but after that he just couldn't keep up with Djokovic, who had all the answers, and the day's rest made all the difference, as the court conditions were much better, and it was a clear sunny day on court. And it just shows that in the big matches that Ferrer unfortunately just doesn't have the ability to come up with the goods against the top four players, and he may have great speed, agility and return game, but he also has now weapons in his game, which costs him, and on the day he just made too many unforced errors. As for Djokovic well it showed he really is in great form just now and he will make for quite an intimidating opponent in the final.
Whichhhhhh brings me to the final, which will be held on Monday afternoon 4pm, New York time (9pm our time) and its the final that we all want to see between Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. And if its anything like their Australian Open semi final match, then we are in for a real treat and with the world's most electric crowd behind them, its going to be quite an atmosphere out there on that Arthur Ashe stadium. And it also sees both players going into the final on top form, and hopefully it will be a very competitive battle between the two men, as it sure promises to be. Andy also in a way has the edge as he beat Djokovic at the Olympics, however that was on grass, and this is hard court, which prefers Djokovic much more, but at the same time Andy has the game to beat Djokovic on any surface. But this will be a tough tough match no doubt, and they are both similar players, with aggressive baseline play and they are also the two best defenders in the game, so they know each others games very well.
But who will come out on top????? Well to be honest I have to say it will be 50/50 as there is no overall favourite here. I would love to see Andy win but it will incredibly tough to put away Djokovic, especially on his best surface, however if he maintains the best of his form at the tournament so far and the Olympics then he will give himself a good chance. However Andy cannot afford to make too many errors, and he has been a bit erratic at times throughout the tournament, and if he does that against Djokovic, then he could be in alot of trouble, so he has to play the best match he can to win. And Djokovic has been very consistent on hard courts, and he has not lost a hard court grand slam match since the US Open 2010 final against Rafa, so he clearly remains the favourite to win.
And can Djokovic beat Andy???? Absolutely, and given his form throughout the championships, he will be dangerous for sure, although it has to be said he has had the easier draw by far, despite his Del Potro match, Djokovic hasn't really been tested yet, but in the final that might all be about to change. So as for my prediction I think if Andy wins it will be in 4 or 5 sets, and if Djokovic wins it will be in 4 sets, or maybe it could be just a straight set blowout for Andy, or you never know maybe even for Djokovic! But I would hate to see Andy lose a 5th major final, and you really do think he has to do it this time around, but we shall see how it goes, only time will tell.
But what tells me that Andy could win it is the way he has coped with mental adversity throughout the tournament, as there have been several times where he looked in trouble but he got himself out of it. And just last year because of that, he probably would never have even reached the final, and that's the difference in him this year as a player, he's maturing and learning to deal with things a whole lot better than before. But whichever way it goes it promises to be a real cracking final, and as its on the biggest tennis stadium in the world, with over 24,000 screaming fans, its going to be one hell of an atmosphere for both guys, and no doubt they will both feed off the energy of the crowd as well. So let's hope its a classic final to round off the last major of the year.
So that's the men's final set up, its potentially a great match, and one to look forward to for sure, in the meantime I will report back once the ladies final is over.
Until then that's it for now.
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