OK time for the 4th part of the 2013 US Open posts and this will cover the remaining men's 4th round matches and the start of the ladies quarter finals matches on Day 9. So let's get started....
Right ladies first, the opening match on Arthur Ashe was between Victoria Azarenka and Ana Ivanovic which turned out to be quite a battle as Ivanovic got off a great start as she hit Vika off the court (which isn't easy to do!) and she went on to take the 1st set. In the 2nd set however Vika started to fight back as she broke the Serb to go on and level a set apiece and in the 3rd there were more breaks, but it was Victoria that moved ahead and closed out a hard fought match to reach the quarter finals in 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. It has to be said that Vika's last two matches haven't yet seen her at her best and she will certainly need to raise her game should she get to the final where she will most likely face Serena Williams. But Vika did beat Serena in their previous two hard court matches this season so just maybe she might be able to pull off another win if she get's to the final.
Moving onto Serena Williams herself who was up against the Spaniard Carla Suaerz Navarro in a match that wasn't one at all as it was more just a warm up for Serena as she destroyed the Spaniard and handed her a creamy double bagel with an emphatic 6-0, 6-0 rout. Well if this match doesn't send a message then nothing much else will as Serena proved to be in as scarily as good a form as we could ever expect, and Navarro did not stand a chance at all. So at this rate it would be impossible to not see Serena reach the final, as time and time again in the majors she has been able to reach the latter stages dropping only a handful of games which shows that she is in totally different league fro anyone else, and that grand slam title number 17 isn't far off.
Li Na on the other hand a very tough match against Ekaterina Makarova in her quarter final match as they fought it out to see who would eventually come through to the semis and it was Li that eventually made it past the Russian after a tight 6-4, 6-7, 6-2 win. This was a great result for Li Na who has made it into her first US Open semi final, although her next opponent will of course be Serena Williams, and I can't quite see Li winning against her. However I do think that Li Na will give Serena her first proper test of the tournament, as she possess quite alot of firepower as well, but ultimately I think the World No.1 will come through in a tight straight set win.
So that's it for now for the ladies matches next up I'll go onto the men's matches on day 9 starting with what turned out to be the match of the day which was between two veterans, former champion Lleyton Hewitt and Mikhail Youzhny, the 2010 semi finalist. The match promised to be a cracker and it turned out to be just that, although it took a while to ignite as Hewitt himself got off to a slow start and it was Youzhny who took the first set. In the 2nd set however Hewitt started to shake off the cobwebs and he got himself going as he broke Youzhny and served out to square the scores at a set all. And from here Hewitt grabbed a two sets to one lead, and even though he was a break up in the 4th, Youzhny fought back and went on to nab the 4th set with another break. In the deciding set we were treated to some thrilling points and Hewitt once again took the initiative and broke Youhzny, but he couldn't maintain the break as the Russian broke back from 5-3 down, he reeled off the next four games to end Hewitt's chances of reaching his first grand slam quarter final in six years, with Youzhny pulling off a remarkable 6-3, 3-6, 6-7, 6-4, 7-5 victory. There's no doubt this was a terrific match and both men displayed some great fighting qualities, however it has to be said that Hewitt did have several chances to close out the match in the 4th and 5th set but he just couldn't take them. On the other hand Youzhny deserves credit for his epic win and he will take hs place in the quarter finals with the winner of the next match....
And the next match was between Novak Djokovic and the Spaniard Marcel Granollers, which itself was no more than a warm up for Djokovic as Granollers didn't threaten Djokovic at all, and in fact he barely scratched him as Djokovic conceded only three games with a 6-3, 6-0, 6-0 drubbing of the Spaniard. As impressive as Djokovic has been so far though he is yet to be tested in the tournament as it has to be said he has had a rather easy draw so far, and with Youzhny next I can't see the Russian giving him a tough time either, which means he will be pretty fresh going into the semis. And it won't really be until the semis before Nole will be given a stern test either in the form of possibly Andy Murray, Tomas Berdych or Stan Wawrinka.
Which brings me onto the match between Tomas Berdych and Stan Wawrinka who have a close rivalry with one another and despite Berdy being the higher ranked player, its actually Wawrinka who leads their head to head 6-5 going into this match. Berdych as expected did get off to a strong start but it wasn't before long that Stan mounted his own fightback as he soon took a two sets to one lead and in the 4th set he broke Berdych twice to close out the match and reach his second US Open quarter final with a 3-6, 6-1, 7-6, 6-2 win. There is no doubt that Stan this year really has re-established his game and improved his form, which started back in January after his incredible five set epic battle against Djokovic in the Australian open, and he has since went on to win to reach the final in the Madrid Masters, the French Open quarter finals and now the US Open quarter final. And in this form it will be mighty tough for the winner of the next match to take him down...
And this match was between Andy Murray and the Uzbekistanian player Denis Istomin, which turned out to be a very entertaining and tricky encounter. In the first set both players traded breaks and Andy even had chances to serve for the match but he blew the lead and let Istomin back and play went on until a tiebreak where Andy served a double fault and let Istomin serve for the set which he took. In the 2nd set however Andy made an impressive comeback as he broke Istomin twice and nabbed the set to level. The 3rd set was a much tighter affair and Istomin at one point even had break points to move ahead in the match, but Andy managed to hold on and took the two sets to one lead, and he went on to break in the 4th to seal his place in the quarter finals after a tough 6-7, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 scrap.
While Andy was not at his best in this match he did produce the goods in the end and he got the win, and the match itself was very entertaining as both men traded some great rallies and points. Two points in particular included a lob that was played by Istomin who did a hotdog lob between his legs which went over Andy's head as he couldn't smash it in time, and Andy also mishit a fluke shot which went high into the air and took an age to come back down but it landed inside the baseline as Andy went on to win the point. And while it wasn't Andy's best performance of the tournament so far both men were playing in very windy conditions and given that they both played a very enjoyable match for the crowd.
So next up for Andy will be Stan Wawrinka who is an unenviable opponent for the defending champion who beat him in their previous match in Monte Carlo, however that was on clay which is Andy's weakest surface But what is more of a concern is that Stan also beat Andy at the US Open three years ago in the 3rd round, so there is the danger he could do it again this time round, but then again Andy isn't the same player he was back then. And what Andy will have in his favour is his big match experience and that he is now a two time slam champion he knows how to win in most situations in the majors. But on the other hand Stan is now a better player as well as he is back in the top 10 and looking very good and if his epic match against Djokovic is anything to go by, Andy will have his hands full on Thursday. And it really has to be said given Stan's form this year that he has a really good chance of upsetting the defending champion here, and if Andy plays a subpar match then he will for sure come out second best. However despite that I still think that Andy will win this one, but it will be very close and I think Andy will hopefully get it done in four very tight sets, or possibly five. But we will just have to wait and see how Andy get's on, but let's hope he wins.
So that's it for now, more to follow on the remaning ladies quarter finals and the men's quarter final matches which are coming up soon.
Until the next one, bye the now!
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