Soooo on we go with the third part of my posts on the US Open, the final grand slam of the season, and this post will cover the 3rd and 4th round matches that will see the top players fight their way through.
Right so in the usual tradition starting with the lasses (or ladies) on Day 7 we had first up Serena Williams take on her fellow American, Sloane Stephens in a lipsmacking encounter. However despite the hype the match itself was a bit of a letdown, and despite a tight first set with some impressive rallies from both players, Stephens serve eventually folded under pressure and she lost the set to Serena. And in the 2nd set, Serena seized full control of the match and she broke Stephens with great ease and race to a double break and victory over her young American rival in 6-4, 6-1. As far as anticipated matches go this one certainly did fall short of the expectations and Sloane despite a strong start was unable to keep up with the pace and relentless power from the world No.1. Despite that Sloane's progress this year has shown she is more than good enough to compete with the very best and no doubt with age she will get even better.
In other day 7 matches we had Li Na who took revenge on Jelena Jankovic for previous losses as she swept past the Serbian with a 6-3, 6-0 win. Agnieszka Radwanska, the 3rd seed faced Ekaterina Makarova of Russia in a match in which Radwanska was the clear favourite to win. However it was the Russian who pulled off the biggest upset of the ladies tournament so far as she defeated Aga in a tight straight set match with a 6-4, 6-4 to reach her first US Open quarter final. It is somewhat puzzling in a way that Radwanska has never made it past the 4th round at the US Open but at the same time perhaps its no surprise that she got the same result as before, and maybe as a slam its the one which she is yet to excel in, and I'm sure Aga will bounce back soon.
And now for the match of the day and one of the best ladies matches of the tournament so far which was between Angelique Kerber and Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain. The match was a terrific battle between two incredible athletes and virtually every point was an intense rally which was drawn out to almost breaking point for both of them. And after levelling at a set all, in the decider the momentum swung one way then another between Kerber and Navarro with Kerber even serving for the match at 6-5, before Navarro broke back yet again, pushing play into a tiebreak, which Navarro took control of and she fell on her back in delight as she reached her first US Open quarter final after an incredible 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 epic win. This was a tremendous match to watch which had the enthusiastic as ever American crowd whooping and hollering (quite rightly so!) and both players played some lungbursting rallies, which were a testament just how good both players are. It was a pity for Kerber who couldn't quite close it out as she gave it her all, but Navarro deserves nothing but credit for her gutsy fight and to win from a set down, it shows she really is a player to watch out for.
Now for Day 8 with the lasses, starting with Daniella Huntachova, who actually to my surprise was still in the tournament as she seemed to slip under the radar in reaching the 4th round as she played the American qualifier, Alison Riske. Hantuchova however did not have things easy as the plucky young American after dropping the first set, fought back to win the 2nd, but in the 3rd Daniella wrestled back control of the match and she went on to win in 6-3, 5-7, 6-2. Flavia Pannetta took on the in form Simona Halep who so far has won four titles this year and is the only female player this year to have won a title on all surfaces. Despite that though it was Pannetta who got off to a great start as she broke the young Romaina twice to nab the first set. In the 2nd set however there was a momentum shift as Halep grab the initiative and upper her game to break Pannetta. However despite having two set points, Halep was halted in her tracks by the rain which suddenly came on and delayed play for almost five hours. And on play resuming Halep failed to serve it out and Panetta broke back with play going into a tiebreak Panetta made her move and shut down the young Romanian and won the match in 6-2, 7-6. And lastly Roberta Vinci played against her fellow-ess compatriot, Camille Ciorgi whom Vinci sped past with a commanding straight set win of 6-4, 6-2.
So this brings us onto the men starting with Day 7 we had Andy Murray, the defending champ who was up against the tricky German player Florian Mayer for a place in the 4th round. However the conditions on court were brutally humid and amid the intense heat, Andy struggled to get much going on his serve as it hit woeful lows of 38% and he was reduced to a hangdog weary expression as Andy's energy was sapped by the weather. However it didn't stop Andy from taking the first set on a tiebreak, and in the 2nd set, after a comfort break, Andy came out more energised and proceeded to play some wonderful tennis for the crowd as he broke Mayer twice in sets two and three to close out the match with a straight set 7-6, 6-2, 6-2 win. Despite an understandably slow start due to the humidity, Andy put in a very impressive performance in this match and he did really well in closing it out in straight sets, especially as Mayer proved to be a tricky and entertaining player to watch. So hopefully in the 2nd week Andy can build on that as he is set to take on Denis Istomin of Uzbekhistan in the 4th round, but hopefully Andy will pull off another win in hopefully 3 or 4 sets.
Up next we had what turned out to be the match of the day which was a terrific encounter between Stanislas Wawrinka, the Swiss No.2 and Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus. This match had plenty of highly entertaining points and great rallies and as the match progressed in built up in atmosphere especially as after Baghdatis fought back to grab the 3rd set, in the 4th play went to a thrilling tiebreak, which eventually saw Wawrinka shut down Baghdatis's gutsy fighting spirit with a four set 6-3, 6-2, 6-7, 7-6 scoreline. This was a great result for Wawrinka who continues to show his great form in 2013, which was ignited after that amazing 4th round match against Novak Djokovic which he narrowly lost in 5 sets at the Australian open earlier this year. So this form will improve important in his 4th round match which will be the winner of the next match I'll talk about which was between Tomas Berdych and Julienne Benneteau. And throughout this match Berdych ruthlessly asserted his authority all over the Frenchman as he pounded him into the ground in 6-0, 6-3, 6-2. So this sets a potential classic clash between two big rivals Berdych and Wawrink and their head to head is very close and Stan leads it 6-5, so there is no real favourite here and it will be one to watch I'm sure.
Novak Djokovic, the world numero 1, was also in action against the qualifier Joao Sousa in what was actually an entertaining match despite the massively one-sided scoreline, Sousa fought hard and produced some fine points for the crowd. But Djokovic proved to be just too good in the end for Sousa and he easily shut him down, conceding only four games as he sped to a 6-0, 6-2, 6-2 win. This continues to show Nole's great form in the tournament, however the only slightly alarming thing is that he still hasn't been tested yet and that is what we are waiting to see in how will he respond to the players at the very top. However next up for Djokovic will a potentially easy opponent as he will take on Marcel Granollers of Spain, who has shown good form lately and he overcame Tim Smyczek in 5 sets to reach the 4th round, but I can't see the Spaniard push Nole that far and the Serb will come through in straight sets. And lastly for day 7, Lleyton Hewitt fought his way past the Russian qualifier Evgney Donskoy in a 4 set scrap winnning in 6-3, 7-6, 3-6, 6-1 to reach the last 16.
Which brings me onto day 8 for the men's starting with what turned out to be the biggest upset of the men's tournament so far in a match up with Roger Federer and Tommy Robredo. Robredo had never won a single match against Roger in their previous 10 meetings and only 3 sets in all of them, so beating Roger looked to a real daunting task. But Robredo was more than up to it this time round and he played an inspired first set, trading breaks with Roger, he had a chance to serve it out, but Roger broke back, and play went to a tiebreak, where Robredo did the unthinkable in taking the 1st set on the breaker 7-3. And in the 2nd set the unthinkable raised its head again as Federer started to make a rash of unforced errors which saw him hand the break to Robredo yet again who served out for a two sets to love lead. And in the 3rd the unthinkable actually happened as Fed capitulated on serve and Tommy Robredo pulled out one of the biggest wins of his career as he dumped out the five time champion in straight sets, 7-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Despite the fact it was quite a shock result, the match itself had some terrific points, particular the first set which was of the highest quality. However Roger's capitulation on serve and in the match was quite troubling as we never thought we would see him fall so early on in the tournament and to a player ranked in the top 20 it really does show that worrying signs that he is fading fast. Not only that this year has easily been Roger's worst season in well over 10 years and in the last two majors he has failed to even get to the quarter finals, which will no doubt further impact on his ranking. This may also impact on his chances to qualify for the year end championships at the o2 Arena in London and he could be in danger of losing out there for the first time in many a year. So the question has to be asked: is this the end of the road for Federer? Well its hard to say as you can never write him off no matter what he has been through in his career, but I personally think his slam winning days are probably over, and it would difficult for me to see him win another. So the next couple of months are going to be very important for Roger Federer and he has to try and work hard and hope that he can improve again in time for the year end championships and also keep himself in the top 10. So for now its all up in the air for the Swiss maestro but from here it looks very much like his best days are behind him.
Next up we had David Ferrer who faced Janko Tipsarevic who had a rematch of their quarter final clash last year, except this time it was in the 4th round and to grab a place in the quarter finals. The match itself turned out to be similar to last year in that it was a close hard fought encounter, except this time Ferrer managed to get it done in four tight sets as he sealed his quarter final win in 7-6, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6. After this we had Richard Gasquet, the Frenchman face off the big serving Canadian, Milos Raonic, and both men were looking for their first US Open quarter final. And after a five set pitch battle (or court battle even) it was Gasquet that eventually emerged victorious winning a very hard fought epic in 6-7, 7-6, 2-6, 7-6, 7-5.
And lastly Rafa Nadal played the German, Philippe Kohlschreiber in the 4th round for a place in the last eight, and up until now the invincible Spaniard has remained unfettered at the US open, having not even dropped a set. But Kohlschreiber changed all that as he pushed the 1st to a tiebreak and he won it 7-4, which saw Rafa's impeccable campaign take its first hit. However from here though Rafa cranked up the gears and remained unbreakable on serve as he grabbed the next three sets to seal his place in the last eight after a hard fought 6-7, 6-4, 6-3, 6-1 win.
This match continues to show Rafa's indomitable form and to say he remains to be the top man to win the title is something of an understatement, as despite dropping the first set, he still remains unbroken on serve, which is incredible in itself. Next up though Rafa will take on Tommy Robredo who denied us a potential Roger vs Rafa clash in beating Federer, so Rafa will need to be stay on top of his game to ensure his safe passage into the semis, but no doubt I'm sure he will.
Right so that's me up to date with the tennis from the US Open. More to follow on the remaning 4th round matches including Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Berdych and Wawrinka.
Until the next un that's it!
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