Right ok now we go onto the next part of my posts on the 2013 US Open from Flushing Meadows Billie Jean King tennis complex in New York city. This post will cover the men's quarter final matches and the ladies remaining quarter finals also, so let's get started.
Right starting with Day 10 for the ladies quarter finals we had an all Italian clash first up between Flavia Pannetta, who has recently got back in form and Roberta Vinci. Despite Vinci being higher ranked player it was actually Flavia that took control of the match by breaking in the first set to take it and in the 2nd set she broke Vinci twice to win the match and seal her place in her first ever US Open semi final. Given that Pannetta had been out of the game for quite a while with a wrist injury she has come back strong and is now inside the top 40 and with her progress here she will go even higher before long. Next up we had Victoria Azarenka who had to come through two previous tough rounds to make it to the quarters, but in this match she was up against Daniella Hantuchova, and it proved to be a much easier encounter. And Vika found the form that has been missing so far in the latter stages as she broke Daniella twice in the first set and once in the second to close out an impressive win in 6-2, 6-3.
So this completes the ladies semi finals set up as we will have Victoria Azarenka take on Flavia Pennetta, which could promise to be quite a tough encounter given Pennett's form, but I can't quite see the Italian overcoming the former World No.1 and I think Vika will ultimately take this one in two tight sets to reach her 2nd consecutive US Open final. Next there will be a clash between Serena Williams and Li Na, which promises to be another tight match as despite Serena's emphatic lead in their head to head of 8-1, they still have had some tough scraps in the past, so I think this could be a possible three setter with Serena emerging victorious once again. This will also amazingly enough be Serena's first test in the tournament as she has steamrolled past everyone in her way so far, so it will make for an interesting one. But I think both matches will results in the match up we will expect of Serena vs Vika once more, although anything is possible so we will wait and see.
Now onto the men's quarter final matches on Day 10 starting with Rafa Nadal who played the night match on Arthur Ashe against Tommy Robredo who stunned Roger Federer in the previous round. However Robredo wasn't so lucky in this one as he has never beaten Rafa and this time he wasn't even close as Rafa dominated play right from the start as he made an amazing start by flattening his Spanish compatriot handing him a bagel set. In the 2nd and 3rd sets, Robredo at least managed to get on the scoreboard but again Rafa overwhelmed Robredo by a double break in both sets to nab his semi final place with great ease in an emphatic 6-0, 6-2, 6-2 thrashing. Well Rafa just goes from strength to strength this season and this match showed him get that bit even better which is a scary thought. Not only that Rafa has improved his serve as well as he still hasn't been broken on serve in the whole tournament (if only Andy Murray able to do that!). So knocking Rafa off will take one hell of an effort and there only probably one or two guys that can do that if at all.
So now we get onto the match of the day which was a very entertaining encounter between David Ferrer and Richard Gasquet, who were embroiled in a real battle on Arthur Ashe for a place in the semi final. And despite Ferrer's big lead in their head to head (i.e. Gasquet has only beaten him once going into this match!) it was Gasquet that made the more impressive start as he played some dazzling tennis for the crowd with his beautiful backhand he he fired off winners left, right and centre, which left Ferrer dazed and confused and two sets down. However Ferrer being who he is wasn't about to surrender as he fought back to level the match at two sets all taking the match into a decider. And despite Ferrer's record against Gasquet, it did nothing to prevent Gasquet from making the crucial break and he went on to hold his nerve and serve out the match to take his first semi final place in the US Open, and his second career semi final in the slams.
There is no doubt this was a very entertaining match and it was great to see Gasquet, who is a very talented player and great shotmaker reach his first grand slam semi final in six years. However Gasquet will his work cut out as next up he will face Rafa, whom he has never beaten in his professional career, and he joked on court after the match how he had only beaten when they were juniors and he was 13! But hopefully when they meet it will make for an entertaining semi final, but ultimately Rafa will win it I think in straight sets, although hopefully it will be tight.
So this brings me onto day 11 for the men's remaining quarter final matches, which in reverse order saw Novak Djokovic take on Mikhail Youzhny to reach the last four. This match was not one I expected to be much of a challenge for Djokovic, but in actual fact it turned out to be his first test of the tournament with Nole dropping his first set of the tournament, after taking a two set lead, the Russian fought back to grab the 3rd set, pushing it to a fourth. However in the fourth, Nole re-asserted himself and shut down the Russian as he sped to victory and handing Youzhny a bagel to finish off a tricky encounter in 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-0. Despite a dip in the 3rd set, Nole never really looked to be in trouble in this match and it sees him firmly on course for potentially winning his 2nd US Open title, but before he can he will need to first face his next opponent, which will be the winner of the next match I will cover.
And this next match maybe last but in its own way is certainly not least, not so much for its quality or intensity but morely because of the tremendous upset it caused. And this match featured the defending champ Andy Murray take on the in form Stanislas Wawrinka, so this promised to be a real mouth watering clash and it was one, which against all odds Andy was expected to win. However Stan had other ideas, as after a tight first set, with Stan constantly putting pressure on Andy's serve, he finally broke Andy at 5-4 after an epic game, which saw Stan seal it with a winner. And from here Stan didn't look back and he played the match of his career against Andy, who had no answers for the Swiss's power, precision who painted the lines with incredible backhand winners and with an impressive display serving put Andy in a world of trouble. And after going two sets to love down, while you think with Andy's impressive record at coming back from the dead in match situations like this, Stan was having none of it and Andy capitulated on serve twice, as he made a series of unforced errors to hand a double break to Stan. So with that Stan had no trouble in serving out the biggest win of his career so far as he beat the defending champion in an emphatic fashion with a huge upset score of 6-4, 6-3, 6-2.
Even though I was aware of Wawrinka's ability to upset Andy in this event I would never have predicted the manner in which it happened and that Stan could beat Andy so convincingly. However it has to be said that in this tournament Andy just hasn't looked sharp and in fact he was quite rusty especially in his previous round against Istomin as well in his 2nd match with Mayer. Andy after the match also admitted that he felt he was still feeling the effects of a comedown from his Wimbledon triumph and that he has found it difficult to fire himself up 100% after working so hard to achieve his dream of winning his home slam. But I was still surprised at how quickly Andy gave up the ghost in this match and as usual his serve proved to be the culprit in letting him down, and if it wasn't for that just maybe it could be him in the semi finals just now.
However such as it is the credit fully deserves to go to Wawrinka for putting in a spectacular performance to sweep aside Andy in order to reach his first grand slam semi final. And next up Stan will face Nole for a place in the final and if the match is anything like their phenomenal match earlier this year in Melbourne, then I think we are in for a real treat. And can Stan pull off an upset? It certainly is possible as Nole hasn't really been tested yet and he hasn't looked as match sharp since the French Open, and Stan is in the form of his life right now. However I still think the outcome will be the same as no matter what Stan will throw at the World No.1, I think Nole will still come through, but I think hopefully it will be another epic match and for me it has to be Nole in five, however I could be wrong, but we'll wait and see.
As for Andy Murray its probably just as well he has lost at this stage as he has been struggling for form since the beginning of the hard court swing and a break from the tour before the Shanghai masters will do him good. However first up he will have the Davis cup GB world group play off with Croatia next week in an away tie as they will fight it out with Croatia to seal a place back in the world group. And hopefully with Andy they can win the tie, although it is on clay, which is Andy's weakest surface and the Croatian team will have home advantage so it won't be easy that's for sure, so we will see what happens next. But I'm sure Andy will soon bounce back from his defeat at the US Open and he will be back on form before long. Oh and another thing that is long overdue is a match with Rafa and Andy, as it has now been two years since they last played! When will it happen????? Who knows?? But I hope it isn't too long and maybe they could meet in the Shanghai or Paris masters, or failing that it will be at the ATP world tour finals but that will depend on what team they are drawn in.
Anyway that's all a way off yet, so in the meantime that's me for now and I will report back with the results of the men's and ladies semi finals and who will reach the final, and I'm sure no doubt they will be an absolute treat.
So I will leave it there.
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