OK so now its time to look at the men's remaining quarter finals and the semi final matches from the 2014 US Open. So let's get to it....
Right the first match was between Marin Cilic and Tomas Berdych as both men were looking for a place in the last four of the US Open and the two have a fairly close head to head with Berdych leading it 5-3 but Cilic had won their most recent encounter at Wimbledon. And it looked like this one was heading the same way as Cilic got off to a flyer and broke Berdych who struggled with the windy conditions on court and took the double break to grab the 1st set. In the 2nd set Berdych did a bit better but he was broken early on and kept it to the single break, but in the end Cilic's serving was in mighty impressive form and he soon took the two sets to love lead. In the 3rd set however there was a change of momentum as Cilic played a sloppy service game that let Berdych break and move ahead 4-1 but Berdych's concentration was broken when he failed to try and reach the ball on a point before it bounced twice and he tried to argue this case with the umpire to no avail and as a result he lost his break. Play then went onto a tiebreak where Berdych had an early advantage but he squandered yet again and Cilic went on to serve out the match in fine style to book a place in the last four of the US Open with a convincing 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 win. Well so far Marin Cilic has looked very impressive in this tournament and he continued to here in his match with Berdych as he served superbly for most of it and he played the big points very well and with Goran Ivansevic coaching him the improvements to his game have been immense so he could yet go on to win here.
Next up we had Roger Federer who faced the talented French showman, Gael Monfils in what proved to be an epic battle of an encounter where Roger got more than he bargained for. And it was Monfils who got off to a great start as he looked on course to carve out a major upset as he took a two set lead in just over an hour into the match over the five time champion. However Roger soon fought back and he started to dig in and broke Monfils to move ahead and take the 3rd set and in the 4th set he dug deep as he saved two match points on his own serve and went on to break Monfils to level the match at two sets all. And in the 5th set the momentum was firmly with Roger as Monfils began to make more errors and it saw Rog complete a miracle comebackas he won from two sets down for the 9th time in his career with an incredible 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 result.
This was a very entertaining match as you might expect between Rog and Gael as both men have great variety in their games and there were some great points from both of them throughout. The match also echoed Gael's match with Andy Murray earlier this year at the French Open (also a quarter final), except this time the position was reversed as Gael was two sets up and not two sets down (like he was at the French) but he went on to lose in the final set. But despite his loss Monfils has shown some great promise this year in the majors even though he may never win one he still has proved he is a very worthy competitor. As for Rog well this was quite a turnaround but you would expect nothing less from the former US Open champion but the rounds don't get any easier and Rog will have his hands full against Marin Cilic next in the semis.
So now we get onto the men's semi final matches which took place on Super Saturday (as they call it in New York!) and first up we had Novak Djokovic face Kei Nishikori who had made some very impressive progress in reaching his first major semi final after beating Stan Wawrinka in the previous round. Regardless of all that though Novak was still very much the favourite to win this match as well as the title despite Nishikori's great form in the tournament. However.... the match itself turned out to be quite a surprise as it was Kei that made the strong start as he broke Nole to grab the first set before Djokovic went on to grab the 2nd set with a double break. With things all level in the 3rd it would seem that Nole would have the match well in hand but Kei bested Nole again and broke him to move ahead but Novak then broke back and pushed played into a tiebreak, where Kei regained his momentum and took the breaker 7-4 and a two sets to one lead with it. And in the 4th set it was Nishikori that did the unthinkable and broke a shockingly sloppy Novak Djokovic who all of a sudden looked like he had swapped places with Andy Murray in their quarter final duel and trailed 5-3. And with Nole serving to make it 5-3 he capitulated on serve as Kei gained two match points, Nole saved one and went on to blow the other as he fell to a massive upset against the Japanese No.1 as Nishikori reached his first ever grand slam final with a dramatic 6-4, 1-6, 7-6, 6-3 victory.
Well to say I wasn't expecting this was an understatement as Nole had looked in top form throughout the tournament and wasn't even threatened until he played Andy Murray in their gruelling quarter final match. But it just shows that even the very best can have a bad day out there and that certainly was the case with Nole in this one and it seemed to also echo his defeats to Tsonga and Tommy Robredo during the Masters events in Toronto and Cincinnati where he just looked flat. As for Kei Nishikori well there is no doubt he deserves this victory and I'm sure all of Japan will be going wild over the fact they finally have a Japanese player reach a grand slam final for the first time. And given how Nishikori has played so far in this tournament I'd dare say I would fancy his chances for a shot at the title, but that will all depend on the outcome of the next match...
And this match was between Roger Federer and Marin Cilic and Cilic has been in top form so far in the tournament whereas Roger had a close call against Gael Monfils in the previous round, but the match itself looked to be quite a close one despite Roger's emphatic 5-0 head to head over Cilic. But in the end that head to head meant nothing as Cilic looked determined to rewrite the book as he charged into a two set lead against Roger, just as he did against Berdych in the previous round, with some phenomenal serving and powerful groundstrokes. And if Roger was to win he would now have to dig deep for the second time in the tournament and at the start of the 3rd, it looked like Rog was capable of starting it off as he broke Cilic to move ahead, but in the end he couldn't maintain and let Cilic back in the door. Cilic then went on to secure a break of his own and with expectations of nerves lurking for the Croatian he quickly dismissed them as he served out the biggest game of his career so far with three aces and a backhand winner to reach his first ever grand slam final with a very convincing 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 result.
Well I'm pretty sure most people wouldn't have expected this outcome either as Roger looked pretty subpar throughout the match and Cilic grew with confidence as every point was played. There was a chance that Roger may have been physically or mentally fatigued after having to come back from two sets down against Monfils in the quarter finals but in the end it came down to the simple fact that Cilic was the better player on the day. So this really has seen the balance of the big four violently topple to the wayside as after Andy's ropey run of form this year after coming back from surgery, Rafa's surprise defeat at Wimbledon and his current wrist injury keeping him out of the game and now Nole and Rog's shock defeats here it signals just maybe the big four are starting to slowly come to an end. However I'm sure that they all have plenty of time left at the top of the game but these defeats certainly indicate that they are not the force they once were and also there are plenty of other very talented players on the rise as well threatening to upset their apple cart. But Cilic deserves alot of credit for this win as he played a superb match and served brilliantly yet again and it really does show that the hard work he has put in with his new coach and fellow Croat, Goran Ivanesvic is really starting to pay off. And its also great to finally see some new faces emerge into the finals of the big events and for the first time in so long we will have a new grand slam champion outside the big four both playing in a final of a slam at the same time.
So this sets up the clash between Kei Nishikori and Marin Clic and the question begs to be asked.... did I leave the kettle on??? No, sorry! Who will win???? (and no I didn't leave it on!). Well...... I don't know a great deal about their rivalry together but I'm going to go with Nishikori as I think he really has shown some great fighting spirit in this tournament and he also probably is the faster and more athletic of the two of them. Not only that Kei has a positive head to head record over Cilic as he leads theirs 5-2 but in the grand scheme of things I don't think that will really come into play here and it will boil down to who plays the better tennis on the day. Cilic has of course been playing great and he has served his way out of trouble very well and played the big points superbly in his matches and he too showed great fighting spirit against Gilles Simon in their dramatic 3rd round match. Cilic may have the advantage fitness wise as in his previous two matches he has spent significantly less time on court than Nishikori, but somehow Nishikori still managed to come through those matches and his match with Djokovic may have been a tricky one but overall it wasn't the longest encounter as it clocked in at just under three hours. So my prediction is that I think Nishikori will win this one in five tough sets to claim his first major title, I might be wrong of course as Cilic might comfortably beat Kei if he is heavily fatigued after his efforts to reach the final, but we will see, but it does promise to be quite a match. And while I like both players and both of them deserve to win, I think I would like to see Nishikori win because Japan have never had a Japanese grand slam singles champion and if Kei can pull it off that would be quite a feat in itself.
Sooooo that's it and I will be back soon with the results of who will win the champions trophies in the men's and ladies finals.
Until then bye the now!
No comments:
Post a Comment