Right OK so now its time to look at days 7 and 8 of the men's event at the 2014 US Open, which will cover the men's 3rd and 4th round matches. So let's get started then....
So day 7 began with Gilles Simon, the Frenchman taking on the dogged Spaniard, David Ferrer who never gives up on any point and Ferrer went into this match as the heavy favourite given his positive head to head record over Simon. However Simon had other ideas in the match as he played some spellbinding points and amazing tennis which left Ferrer flat footed as he took the 1st set with ease. Ferrer fought back to level taking the 2nd but Simon struck again to nab the 3rd and take the advantage and Ferrer also showed signs of struggling physically as his back appeared to be troubling him. And in the 4th set, Simon pulled off the biggest upset so far on the men's event as he toppled the Spaniard winning the match after a thrilling last game in 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3. Next up Tomas Berdych took on the Russian player, Teymuraz Gabashvilli for a place in the last 16 and in the end he made light work of the Russian as he beat him comfortably in straight sets in 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. Gael Monfils also made good progress in all French clash as he faced off against Richard Gasquet and breezed past him with a straight set 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 scoreline.
And last of all Roger Federer took on the Spaniard, Marcel Granollers in what promised to be a straight forward win for Roger. However Rog didn't have it all his way as he was broken in the first set and against the odds, Granollers took the first set. But it didn't last long as after a weather delay, play resumed and Roger got down to business and proved that it was nothing more than a blip and he proceeded to crush Granollers in sets two, three and four with an emphatic turnaround and a 4-6, 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 result. Well it was a slightly strange dip from Federer in the first set but in the end he was just too good for the Spaniard and he showed his class and Rog is sure to find his way into the last eight as he continues to make light work of a cushy draw so far. But that will all soon change as Federer could potentially face Grigor Dimitrov and later Tomas Berdych before he reaches the final so we will see what is in store for the Swiss fella.
Right now we get onto day 8 which started with Novak Djokovic who was up against the tricky German player, Philipp Kohlschreiber for a place in the last eight. The match itself however proved to be not much of a test in the end as Djokovic quickly got the measure of the German and landed a double break to nab the first set. The 2nd set was tighter however and Kohlschreiber even had a set point at one point in the game but it was soon snuffed out by the Serb who went on to hold and then grabbed a break of his own to take the two set lead. And in the 3rd Nole took an early break and put the match to bed as the plucky Kohlschreiber finally succumbed to the World No.1's brilliance who came through to the final eight with a 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 result. This match continued to see Novak dominate the rest of the field and he remains firmly on course as the favourite to win the title in New York although he still has some very tough customers in his way before he can.
In other matches Stan Wawrinka had a much tougher prospect on his hands as he battled it out against the plucky Spaniard, Tommy Robredo and he had to fight off Robredo who was in danger of taking a two sets to one lead over Stan. However Stan in the end pulled it back and he grabbed the lead on the breaker in the 3rd set and went on to seal the match with a double break in the 4th to seal his place in his second consecutive quarter final with a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6, 6-2 result. Kei Nishikori also had one of the biggest battles of the tournament so far in his match against Milos Raonic, the 6ft 5inch missile server as the two of them slugged it out on Arthur Ashe and the match finished with the latest finish of any match at the US Open at 2:26am and it saw Nishikori emerge victorious winning a gruelling contest in 4-6, 7-6, 6-7, 7-5, 6-4. This was quite an encounter and quite a win for Nishikori who had struggled with a back injury over the last few months and its good to see him back into the latter stages of a slam again, denying the big Raonic another shot at reaching the final eight of the last major of the year. It also shows Raonic can struggle against quality opponents such as Nishikori or Dimitrov and especially the big three, who all have variety to their game which Raonic sorely lacks in his and once again he cannot rely on his big serve alone, he needs more dimensions to his game, which is why he might never win a major, but time will tell.
And now we come to the last match (well technically it isn't but I'm saving it for last anyway!) which saw Andy Murray taking on the World No.10, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in what promised to be quite an epic battle. The outcome of this match had alot resting on it for Andy as he previously lost to Tsonga in their last match together in Toronto where the Frenchman went on to win the match recovering from a break down in the final set. Not only that Andy went into this match having not beaten a single player in the top 10 since his Wimbledon triumph last year so there definitely was an air of uncertainty around it. But in the end it turned out Andy was more than up to the task as he played a terrific match for the most part and Tsonga did well to keep in the first set, until 6-5 when Tsonga served to take it into a tiebreak, Andy seized the initiative and broke Tsonga to win the set. In the 2nd set Andy went a break down early on but he eventually clawed it back to go 4-4 and he went on to seal yet another break at 6-5 to grab the two set lead. And in the 3rd set Andy went down a break again early on and nearly a double break but he managed to hold on and he defied the odds yet again to break Tsonga with his ferocious returning. And finally at 5-4 with Tsonga serving to make it 5-5, the Frenchman finally succumbed to the pressure from the other end of the court as he struggled with the hot, humid and windy conditions as well as Andy's blistering form and he surrendered his serve to secure Andy's place in the quarter finals of the US Open with an impressive 7-5, 7-5, 6-4 victory.
Well this match could be prove to be one of the most important of Andy's year so far and it is also the single biggest win of his year so far as well, as by defeating Tsonga, he has finally beaten a top 10 player after a 14 month drought, with the last one being Novak Djokovic in last year's Wimbledon final. So it has been quite a long time coming for the British No.1 but it will hopefully give him the confidence to start believing more and competing with the world's elite in the men's game on a more consistent level. And through the match, despite the odd dip on serve, Andy played some of the best tennis he has played since that Wimbledon final last year. And when Andy was down in the 2nd and 3rd sets he stayed aggressive and took it to Tsonga to break back and from there never looked back once he got the lead in the 3rd. So this was a big psychological victory for Andy as well as he really has struggled in closing out matches against top 10 opponents this year and with this win it will hopefully give him a real boost for the remainder of the season.
Sooooooo this sets up a real clash of the titans between Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic in the quarter finals and this will be a rematch of their US Open final two years ago when Andy won his maiden grand slam title. So it begs the big question...... who is going to win?????? Well......I have to go with Novak on this one as he really has shown imperious form so far in the tournament and it would be mad to bet against him as he hasn't even dropped a set yet having effortlessly dispatched two tricky opponents in Querrey and Kohlschreiber both in straight sets. However.... Andy Murray is a completely different kettle of fish altogether and their head to head is fairly close 12-8 in Nole's favour and Andy should also have taken much confidence from beating Tsonga in the 4th round to move ahead. Andy has also played some of his very best tennis on Arthur Ashe stadium and the two matches he has played on them this year have both been of a very high standard so if he get's the right conditions (i.e. a blustery windy and cool night akin to his 2012 US Open final!) then it could be his night. But as it stands it hard to predict how this one will go, what we do know is Nole is look mighty good and he himself has said he is feeling very confident just now on the court, whereas Andy feels he is starting to find his best tennis again. Hmmmmmmm.
So I might be wrong but I think we will be in for a real epic contest here similar to their final two years, but the result this time might not necessarily be the same. But I do think Andy is starting to rise to the challenge and he knows this could well be his last grand slam match of the season so he will give it his absolute all out there no doubt win or lose. So I think Nole will win this one in either four very tight sets or even five sets and if Andy is to win it he will have to go all the way to five and I think he is capable of doing it, but it will take a very special performance to do so and I'm not sure if he is ready to do it just yet. So the best we can hope for is a real classic battle out there and just hopefully and maybe it will add up to one of the best matches of the year and just maybe the match of the tournament, or.... it could be just a complete letdown, which could see Andy get thrashed in straight sets, which let's face it could happen given Nole's current form and Andy's inevitable and frustrating tendency to drop serve. And there is the danger that if Andy does get ahead in a set that he will surrender his lead as he has done so many times in previous matches this season, so this time he has to ensure he doesn't do that if he has the opportunity because against Novak they won't come along that often.
But one thing we do know about these two is they tend to bring out the best in each other when they play, and their last match in Miami this year showed glimpses of that, so I do hopefully think that we are in for something special here. Will it live up to expectations??? Wait and see, but the downside though is as its the last night match on Arthur Ashe at approx 9pm New York time then it won't be on TV until 2am in the morning our time! So I think I may have to just give it a miss and try and get some sleep and wake up in the morning in panic and nervously find out the result. But enough of my rambling, in short its a belter in the offing and let's hope it lives up to expectations and just maybe Andy Murray can pull off a massive upset, or maybe I'm just kidding myself????? I mean Stan Wawrinka stunned Djokovic in the quarter finals of the Australian open earlier this year so just maybe Andy can do the same here??? We'll see!!
Soooo that's it for now and I'll be back with more results over the next two days as some more exciting matches are to unravel at the US Open.
Till then bye for now,
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