Right so now onto Part 4 of my US Open posts which coves the ladies and men's 4th round matches from Flushing Meadows as the final grand slam of the season begins its second week.
So let's get to it, and to start with the ladies, we had Laura Robson take on the defending US Open champion, Sam Stosur, and Laura was looking to become the first British ladies singles player to reach the quarter final of a grand slam since Jo Durie over 20 years ago. As for the match itself, well Laura got off to a strong start in the first set, going up a break early, however it wasn't long before Stosur broke back, and at 5-4, with Laura serving to make it 5-5, she double faulted to hand the 1st set to Stosur. In the 2nd set, Laura went a break down, however she fought bravely and even broke back to make it 4-5, and after saving seven match points, Laura finally succumb to Stosur's professionalism and experience, as Sam closed it out after a hard fought 6-4, 6-4 win. This match saw Laura show great determination and guts as well as that she still had the chops to take on a top player and push her hard throughout the match. The US Open has also showed that Laura really has the makings of a great player, and that she has built on her success with Andy Murray at the Olympics, which I'm sure has fuelled her belief. And I think it won't be long before Laura makes that breakthrough on the WTA tour and starts winning titles, so for her I think this is just the beginning of what could be a great career.
Anyway onto other matches I was pleased to see that Marion Bartoli who took on Petra Kvitova in the 4th round, managed to fight her way past the Czeck from a set down, she stormed back to take the match in 1-6, 6-2, 6-0. This marks the first time Marion reached the US Open quarter finals in her career, and after a poor slam season so far, this more than makes up for it. Angelique Kerber, the world no.6 in her 4th round match faced the the World No.10, Sara Errani, whom both recently clashed at the French Open, with Errani coming out on top. This match proved to be a very entertaining one, with both players sharing breaks in the 1st set, which eventually went to a tiebreak, where Errani gained the upper hand and took it. In the 2nd set, Kerber got off a bad start dropping serve straight away, but she soon broke back to level at 3-3, however that's as far as Kerber got as her game fell apart and it left Errani to serve it out with no problem to secure her first US Open quarter final with a 7-6, 6-3 win. And her Italian counterpart and doubles partner, Roberta Vinci also followed suit as she reached her first ever grand slam quarter final by defeating an out of sorts looking Agnieszka Radwanska in 6-1, 6-4. So this means both Errani and Vinci will face each other for a place in the semis, now that will be interesting!
And in other matches, Serena Williams had zero problems getting past her opponent in the 4th round, Andrea Hlavackova with a golden match, handing her a double bagel 6-0, 6-0, ouch, setting up her quarter final match with Ana Ivanovic, who also coasted past Tsvetana Pironkova in 6-0 6-4. This could well be a potentially very good match between Ana and Serena, but I'm sure its one that should see Serena prevail in straight sets. And finally Maria Sharapova battled her way past her fellow Russian player, Nadia Petrova, who after winning the first set, rain interrupted play, with Nadia breaking in the 2nd to take the set, but Maria came through to win in the 3rd with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 victory. This will set her quarter final meeting with Marion Bartoli, whom she has a very good head to head record against, well she has never lost to her, so you can't fairer than that with a 5-0 lead. But the match promises to be hopefully be a good one.
As for the men's matches, well so far the 4th round matches have seen Roger Federer, who actually received a walkover into the quarter finals due to Mardy Fish, having to retire due to a recurring heart problem, as he had previously had surgery for, which saw his heartbeat really fast. This is quite worrying news and I hope Mardy recovers soon from his condition, which may require more surgery, so all the best to him for the future. Tomas Berdych however in the meantime managed to get past Nicolas Almagro with relative ease, as he beat the Spaniard in 7-6, 6-4, 6-1 to reach his first US Open quarter final, which sets up a mouth watering match with Roger Federer for a place in the semis, now that should be a good one!
So now we get onto Andy Murray who had his showdown with the big Canadian, Milos Raonic, which promised to be a real battle of the wits (and serves). However Andy came well prepared for Raonic's massive serve, and he was able to neutralise big youngster with some brilliant defensive play, as he played a variety of drop shots, passing shots and lobs to befuddle Raonic, and he broke the Canadian missile once in the first two sets. In the 3rd set, Andy broke again early on and after that made another decisive break and went on to serve out for the match which he had little trouble in doing so, and closed it out for a place in the quarter finals with a self assured 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 win. This was a terrific result for Andy as he allayed any fears of a possible upset against Raonic, who looked to be a real threat going into this match. However Andy pretty much from the get go was in control of the proceedings and he did what needed being done, and he did it with style, as well as beating the rain just in time, as it rained down on the court just minutes after they walked off court!
So this sets up a quarter final clash for Andy with Marin Cilic, the 12th seed and Croatian player, and personally I can't really see Cilic upsetting Andy here, and he beat the Croat convincingly at Wimbledon during the summer this year. However you can't understimate anyone and Cilic could prove to be a dangerous opponent but I can see Andy coming through this one in either 3 or 4 sets, to set up a potential encounter with Roger Federer (or Tomas Berdych) but we shall leave that one for another day. However if Andy and Roger should meet on Friday or Saturday (weather permitting that is!) it will make for one mouth watering encounter, but we can get into that one should it arise.
So quickly onto the remaining men's 4th round matches, starting with David Ferrer who took on Richard Gasquet, the talented French player. And for the first two sets we had some very competitive and entertaining tennis from the two men, but it was Ferrer that played the crucial points better, and took a 2 sets to love lead. Play was halted briefly in the 3rd set by rain, but when play resumed at 4-3 going by serve, Ferrer broke again to close out the match, reaching his first US Open quarter final with a 7-5, 7-6, 6-3 win. This completes some very impressive results for Ferrer in terms of reaching grand slam stages, as he has now reached the quarter finals of all four majors, which is no mean feat. Next up for Ferrer will be Janko Tipsarevic, who defeated the German player, Philipp Kohlschreibber in 7-6, 6-3, 6-2 to reach his second US Open quarter final, so this promises to be a good match. Andy Roddick's match is still in play at the mo, which I will update later on once its done, as he takes on Juan Martin Del Potro, and it stands at a set all, with Delpo currently a break up, but we all know that in tennis things can change fast. But this could however be Roddick's last ever match, so we will see how he does.
And finally Novak Djokovic took on the Swiss No.2, Stan Wawrinka, in what promised to be quite an entertaining encounter. And for the first set it was just that, as both men traded breaks, but Djokovic ultimately closed it out in 6-4. In the 2nd set however, Wawrinka started misfiring badly, making all sorts of unforced errors, which saw Djokovic break twice to take the set. And in the 3rd we saw that Wawrinka was clearly struggling physically as he appeared to be dizzy, and called on the doctor at the break after 2-1, and at 3-1, Stan retired from the match to hand Djokovic his place in the quarter finals, with a scoreline of 6-4, 6-1, 3-1 ret.
It was a pity that Stan was forced to retire from the match, as it had shown good potential in the 1st set, but I guess it wasn't long before he started to feel poorly on the court, so he couldn't continue. As for Djokovic, well I have to say that while he played pretty well, I'm still not fully convinced he will defend his title, as he made a series of unforced errors especially in the 1st set, and with Stan's level dropping off in the 2nd and the start of the 3rd, its hard to guage just where Djokovic's tennis is at right now. I say that because so far he has beaten some fairly easy opponents, and Stan was his first potential test but he wasn't playing his best and was forced to retire. So a question mark remains over Djokovic's head as to whether he can go on to win the title again. And next up for Nole will most possibly be Del Potro, who had beaten Djokovic at the Olympics, and Delpo has hit his stride at the US Open really well this year, and being a former champion that will also make him dangerous, so we shall see how it goes for Nole.
So till then, byee!
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