US Open - Semi Final Time

As the end draws near to the final Slam of the year. We are left with the big 4 in the last 4 spots for the second time in the Slams this year. Credit to Murray and Djokovic for reaching the Semi Finals of all the Slams this year. So where will today's matches be won and lost?

Murray v Nadal. This will be the 3rd time this year that they have met in the Semi's of the Slams. Nadal has gotten the better of Murray on the 2 other encounters. But what does this tell us? Nadal has beaten Murray on the Grass and Clay, but on the Hard stuff it is a far different tale. Nadal has not been on top form since his French Open success. Murray however has gone on from strength to strength since the Clay season. If we take Monte Carlo and Wimbledon, Murray had Nadal in his grasp and not for a missed forehand or injury niggle, Murray may have seen Nadal off. These however are the little differences between the champion Nadal is and the champion in waiting that is Murray. Let's take their routes to the Semi's. Nadal started a tad unconvincingly, but didn't concede a set. A champion's form is to win ugly and playing badly. This is what Nadal has done. Murray has played probably his poorest match when he met Haase and should've been dispatched in 3 sets had Haase not run out of gas and started to let Murray back in. In the quarter finals there where causes for hope and also despair. Murray showed in the 4th set TB that he had what it took to up his game when it mattered. The crowd on Isner's side and he looking like he wouldn't drop his serve. 9 out of 9 TB won, one mistake let Murray in and he saw the match out. Murray gave nothing away in the TB. However, Nadal. He looked frighteningly good in his Quarter Final against Roddick. Yes Roddick wasn't at the office, but Nadal had the FH working. His BH was near it's best since 2010. Both cross court and down the line which is vintage Nadal. Roddick gave him all the time and space to execute his shots. Murray if he is to win needs to hurry Nadal on his BH. Murray will need to execute his BH to perfection if he is to attack the Nadal FH. If Nadal's BH is on form like it was against Roddick, then Murray's FH will not be able to hold up against it. Nadal will attack the Murray 2nd serve and get as many freebies he can. Cannot wait to see this battle. The best FH against the best BH. I think Murray will sneak home in 4.

Djokovic v Federer. This is close. Both have met in 2 Semi's of the Slams this year and it stands 1-1. Djokovic has been the man this year. Australian Open Champion, Wimbledon Champion. Superb streak. Literally dismantled Nadal's game and form this year. Has been utterly dominant. Diets, Chambers and Davis Cup have all been linked to his formidable form this year. However back on the Hard Courts of North America has left Djokovic struggling to maintain his form. Yes there is no doubt he has struggled and hasn't looked the attacking brute force he was at the first part of this year, but he has played a lot of tennis with all the titles he has won. Yet he is in the Semis of another Slam despite not showing his best form. This is truly his time to leave a mark on the tennis world and stake his claim for future dominance. Federer. 16 time Grand Slam champion. 5 time US Open champion. Can you write this man off? Fans feared for his place at the US Open when Tsonga his Wimbledon and Cincinatti conquerer was lurking and yet Federer proved all too strong. Djokovic however struggled against Tipsarevic, but his persistance wore his fellow countryman down. Federer showed glimpses of brilliance with his convincing win over Monaco. Djokovic will need to have his FH working if he is to defeat the great man. Try and break his BH down and not allow Federer to utilise the slice. A few drop shots maybe to wear Federer down. If Federer can re-capture that performance against Djokovic at the French Open this year, then Djokovic stands no chance. Federer needs to make sure his serve holds up and that also his FH does not go stray. A real close one. I fancy Federer in 4.

What do you guys see as the key points in these match ups?

Novak's ability to handle Roger's short angled slice. An effective combo for Roger will be short slice to Novak's two hander drawing him up in the court, then run around the forehand and crank it up the line or cross court flat and early. This will be an effective combo for Roger and Novak has to find a way to deal with. Novak as LK says has to dictate with his forehand, something that he was unable to do against tipsy, his forehand looked off in that match. He couldn't penetrate with the forehand like he has been all year. Novak's serve and forehand will be crucial because they haven't been clicking for him quite to the level it was at spring.

I can see this going two ways:

a) Fed bringing in his A game, playing in similar fashion like he did in previous two occasions with Monaco and Tsonga.

In this case the match could well be a strightforward three setter with not much epic attached to it.

b) Fed displaying patchy game charaterized with lots of highs lows, lapses in concentration etc.

Outcome in this case might be an extenuating five setter, with Djokovich clear favourite in the fifth.

Well Murray has beaten Nadal in their last 2 hard court slam meetings so can still beat him but the match is in the balance depending on who plays well. On this USO surface, his forehand should hold better to Nadal's cross court but the serve will be crucial to both players. Nadal has beeb serving well so far and Murray not that well so he will need to improve on his serve today. Murray infact has one of the better records against Nadal in slams.

Well for the other semi finals, Djokovic to win it rather easily. Can't see any other outcome. I just hope he doesn't have to save a match point this time. Not like it's any difficult saving match points against Federer but a more confortable Djokovic win will be applauded.

Yeah, Djoko to win so he can crush Nadal in another one sided final.

4 slams for Djokovic then. Duly welcomed for such a dominant year of tennis where his best at times has never been seen in the history of the sport.

Like i said, he shouldn't play with his food today by tossing it over again and giving it match points

And to end the domination of not so worthy champion.

Who is the first semi by the way, this is going to be a big factor?

Fed v Djoko. How is it going to be a big factor?

Socal, the first semi is Roger-Novak.

I think this is a very difficult one to predict. A lot depends on whether Federer can play a clean game. I'm leaning towards Novak.

Nadal-Murray. I think Nadal will win this one. He seems to have found his groove. Murray has been very patchy. He should have dismissed Isner in str8 sets, but he didn't, and the extra hour and a half of play will wear him out if this goes to 4 or 5 sets. Nadal in 4.

If Roger beats Novak, Rafa will come out feeling very confident. If Novak wins, then this may help Murray, as I'm pretty sure Rafa is not relishing a meeting with Novak.

Anyway, Kudos to Nadal. I may not be a fan of his game but I definitely admire his resilience and work ethic - an inspiration to youngsters.

Good points emancipator, it doesn't matter as much since it seems that they are giving a day between the final and the semis. Interesting about how the winner of the first semi could psychologically impact Nadal. Novak and Roger is always tough to call. Roger has that ace in the whole so to speak of being able to win a lot of free points on serve, Novak though has been pretty much breaking anyone this year. So again there is alot uncertainty that makes this an intriguing matchup. I like it more than Fedal matchups which in recent years seem to have a set pattern both in terms of result and in the strategic approach of both players.

socal1976 wrote:Good points emancipator, it doesn't matter as much since it seems that they are giving a day between the final and the semis. Interesting about how the winner of the first semi could psychologically impact Nadal. Novak and Roger is always tough to call. Roger has that ace in the whole so to speak of being able to win a lot of free points on serve, Novak though has been pretty much breaking anyone this year. So again there is alot uncertainty that makes this an intriguing matchup. I like it more than Fedal matchups which in recent years seem to have a set pattern both in terms of result and in the strategic approach of both players.

Agreed.

With regards to Murray being more tired, I was referring to the semi against Rafa rather than a potential final against the other half. Murray played 3.5 hrs yesterday whereas Rafa played less than 2. Murray should have finished Isner off in 3, especially knowing that he was likely to play Rafa the next day. You can be pretty sure that the other top 3 players would have finished off Isner clinically in 3; it's gonna be tough for Murray if this match goes beyond 3 sets because we know it's gonna be a war of attrition from the baseline and he may run out of steam.

Yes, Murray really should have ruthlessly dispatched isner in that third set and he may pay the price in his semi against Nadal. If Andy comes out and tries to out grind the grinder then he will probably not make it past 3 or 4 sets. He has to be aggressive to win. Playing rafael Nadal in that manner is like playing russian roulette with six bullets in the gun, you know what is going to happen beforehand. I like Andy's chances though, if he is to upset Nadal this is the slam to do it as Nadal never looks quite as strong at the USO as he does at wimby or obviously at RG. Andy has the perfect court conditions for what he has to do.

Fed v Djoko - very tough to call. If Fed serves like he did in the French semi, I think we may see the same result. Novak has not been playing badly but that extra spark he had during the first half of the year seems to have deserted him. I think he still has enough to beat anything less than A-game Fed. If Fed produces his best though, I would give him the slight edge. I will caveat all this by saying that I thought Novak had run out of steam before the Wimbledon final but then he produced a stunning performance, so who knows?!

Nadal v Murray - Another tough call as both players have been patchy and have both been broken more than you would expect. If this were a best of three, I would perhaps give Murray the edge. In best of five though, I don't really feel confident that Murray can produce enough good tennis to take three sets off Nadal without self-destructing.

The only outcome I really don't want is a Fed v Nadal final. I think that will be painfully predictable and I wouldn't get much pleasure from seeing Nadal beat up an ageing Fed in an arena where he used to be so dominant.

But then I don't think enough credit was given to the improvement of the Isner serve as the match wore on. I mean this was a guy who took Rafa to the limit at the French Open. I am sure everyone was favouring a 5 setter when the 4th set went to TB, even I did. It was the first time in a pressure moment that Murray really asserted himself and controlled the situation.

Nice post murdoch hard to argue with your reasoning. Roger is always going to have that punchers chance with his serve and his ability to get the free points. Plus Roger seems to keep his focus better against Novak maybe it has to do with the bit of animosity that exists in the rivalry.

I to don't want a fedal final, it is too predictable at this stage. Although to play devil's advocate I think a final at the USO is Roger's best shot at beating Rafa in a grandslam at this stage in his career.

Socal, I agree, if Fed is going to beat Rafa in a final again, then this is his best chance. If that were to happen, I have sneaky feeling that this may be the last slam Fed plays. Winning his 17th slam against his main rival would be such a perfect bookend to an incredible career. It would be a chance to burn out brightly rather than to slowly fizzle out.
On the other hand, maybe it will convince him he can go on to win even more slams!

In the final Monday.
Federer will beat Murray but lose to Nadal.
Djokovic will lose to Murray but will beat Nadal.

Murray would probably prefer Fed to Novak, but not by much.
Nadal would much prefer Fed
Djokovic not sure... Murray has given him more problems this year than Nadal
Federer will be desperate for Murray as Nadal seems to won him in finals

Danny_1982 wrote:Murray would probably prefer Fed to Novak, but not by much.
Nadal would much prefer Fed
Djokovic not sure... Murray has given him more problems this year than Nadal
Federer will be desperate for Murray as Nadal seems to won him in finals

I meant "own" rather than "won".

You are able to edit your own posts Danny (next to the quote button)

Oh yeah, thanks Y I MAN.

Murray says he would have preferred a Sunday final.USTA announced that
they moved the final to Monday after consulting "the players".Murray says
nobody spoke to him.It seems that the president of the player council Federer is "the players". Shrewd move!After Qatar in January he never won a minor tournament when he had to play back to back.He never won a major either but
that day in between helps his 30 year old to recover somewhat.The Monday final increases his chances significantly.

Murray is a fool if he thinks he could've beaten Nadal and then Fed/Novak on consecutive days after the latter 2 have a days rest.

If indeed Federer was the only one consulted, which I doubt very much since Nadal is the vice president and has been more vocal about this issue, then he made the right and fair suggestion for all players, not least Murray.

Djokovic said he would have preferred a Sunday final also.
Nadal did not give a press conference.If he agreed he is fool.
Hewitt and Safin would have never beat the 10 year older Sampras in a Monday
final in 2000 and 2001. In fact is funny that Sampras beat both of them
in the semifinals (Hewitt in 2000 and Safin in 2001) in straight sets.It is only normal that a five years younger body recovers faster.Federer knows that.

it's raining

Faust wrote:Djokovic said he would have preferred a Sunday final also.
Nadal did not give a press conference.If he agreed he is fool.
Hewitt and Safin would have never beat the 10 year older Sampras in a Monday
final in 2000 and 2001. In fact is funny that Sampras beat both of them
in the semifinals (Hewitt in 2000 and Safin in 2001) in straight sets.It is only normal that a five years younger body recovers faster.Federer knows that.

A days rest ensures that the playing field is level.

Or would you prefer that one player wins the tournament purely on the basis of being younger?

Forcing players to play on consecutive days leads to injuries, burnouts and poor performances. Regardless of Federer's motivation, it sets a good precedent by forcing the USTA to condede to an extra days rest between the semi's and the final. It will only benefit the players in the future.

Emancipator,
The US Open is the GS of the fittest.The Saturday Sunday semi & final
test endurance.That is how it was set up. Would they play better on Monday.
Yes they will. But would Borg Lendl and Sampras would have added to their GS
totals if they had a day extra?!Federer cares very much about history.He takes
advantage of everyting to take care of the GOAT question.

Besides they could have taken the day rest today to
level the field
and keeping the spirit of the USO tradition play
Sunday and Monday.

Faust does raise an interesting question though. This wouldn't have been the first time rain has disrupted a Grand slam tournament so why did they have to move the finals from Sunday to Monday on the grounds of players playing in consecutive days? If that's the case, semi finals that finish very late due to rain interuptions etc must also make the finals being postponed if the idea is to give the players enough rest. The point made about Sampras in 2000/2001 is right. Also i remembered Nadal having a barely 19 hour rest at the AO in 2009 before playing in the finals.

Faust wrote:Emancipator,
The US Open is the GS of the fittest.The Saturday Sunday semi & final
test endurance.That is how it was set up. Would they play better on Monday.
Yes they will. But would Borg Lendl and Sampras would have added to their GS
totals if they had a day extra?!Federer cares very much about history.He takes
advantage of everyting to take care of the GOAT question.

And this is the precise reason why people with common sense call it 'stupid saturday' and not 'super saturday'.

Besides, I doubt very much that the reason for playing the semi's and final on consecutive days is because the ethos of the competiton is 'survival of the fittest'. I'm pretty sure the main reason is commercial interests and the power of the broadcasting networks to dictate the schedule. There's also a reason why the USO is referred to as the 'CBS' open.

The US Open is the GS of the fittest.The Saturday Sunday semi & final
test endurance.That is how it was set up.

Actually not. It' the grand slam of the luckiest! When (first or second macth) and who you play is going to have a major influence on the final.

If it was same for all fine but the schedule coupled with the draw makes it a stupid lottery.

CBS and financial interest play a major
role unfortunately.

Faust wrote:CBS and financial interest play a major
role unfortunately.

Yep, I heard

Djoko just said Federer is the best player ever. A few months ago he said Nadal is the best ever. All he knows for sure is that he is not it their league.

Jahu wrote:Djoko just said Federer is the best player ever. A few months ago he said Nadal is the best ever. All he knows for sure is that he is not it their league.

Sensible thing to say. Federer will now give Djokovic an easy win. A trick Nadal uses before their matches is Federer is best ever. Makes Federer happy and he gives out the win with a smile

But whatever trick Nadal uses against Djoko the result have been same all this year . Only reason I want djoko to win is that he can stuff Nadal.