Murray gets the first semi final

According to the website:

http://www.usopen.org/en_US/scores/schedule/schedule19.html

So Novak gets the easier draw overall but the worst scheduling.

Bad news from scheduling point of view and bad news for me as will probably miss the Murray semi now as will be at football match.

Bad news for Murray. A match in cooler conditions would have been better and taken the pace off Berdych's ground strokes and serve.

Danny_1982 wrote:Bad news for Murray. A match in cooler conditions would have been better and taken the pace off Berdych's ground strokes and serve.

No, he needs to be fresh for the final.

Danny_1982 wrote:Bad news for Murray. A match in cooler conditions would have been better and taken the pace off Berdych's ground strokes and serve.

Good point. Maybe both Andy AND Novak will be disappointed with the schedule!

It Must Be Love wrote:

Danny_1982 wrote:Bad news for Murray. A match in cooler conditions would have been better and taken the pace off Berdych's ground strokes and serve.

No, he needs to be fresh for the final.

totally agree, novak has showed he can recover better and quicker from very long and physical matches.
I haven't seen this nearly as much or as well from murray.

What time is the final?

Website says 12pm is women's doubles and then the men's final. But that could mean having the men on as early as 1:30 - 2.

It wouldn't be that early would it? It's been so long since a final went to schedule, I've forgotten what's normal!

I bet if it were up to Novak and Andy they'd happily swap. Berdych and Ferrer wouldn't though.

That's excellent: that should "even up the match" come Sunday -- given Djokovic's legendary recovery powers and the liklihood that his semi-final match will be less of a struggle than the first semi-final match.

Danny_1982 wrote:Bad news for Murray. A match in cooler conditions would have been better and taken the pace off Berdych's ground strokes and serve.

That's a fair point but I don't think the second semi-final would be played late enough to make a huge difference in the heat.

Danny_1982 wrote:Bad news for Murray. A match in cooler conditions would have been better and taken the pace off Berdych's ground strokes and serve.

Don't think in the record books it will say so and so won due to playing in warmer conditions. Getting the excuses in for murray before he plays, lol.

Josiah Maiestas wrote:

Danny_1982 wrote:Bad news for Murray. A match in cooler conditions would have been better and taken the pace off Berdych's ground strokes and serve.

Don't think in the record books it will say so and so won due to playing in warmer conditions. Getting the excuses in for murray before he plays, lol.

Good grief. Welcome to the playground.

Weather forecast for New York tomorrow is hot (28 degrees), and "mostly cloudy" until 16:00 and then isolated thunderstorms and wind.

So Novak may end up getting weather delays too.

Darn it!

Nore Staat wrote:

Danny_1982 wrote:Bad news for Murray. A match in cooler conditions would have been better and taken the pace off Berdych's ground strokes and serve.

That's a fair point but I don't think the second semi-final would be played late enough to make a huge difference in the heat.

That's true. I suppose even a long first match would still mean a 3pm start, 4pm at most... So not that much difference.

Danny you might have a point if there was evidence that Berdych is better in day than night. He's better at night I feel.

He's said he likes night matches. He also plays well in hot conditions...and dont underestimate Berdych's fitness, he's as fit as the proverbial butcher's dog. This is a tough challenge for Murray...Berdy is like Cilic but just about better in all depts. and doesnt choke as much (although isnt quite without that quality).

Well its great news for the two guys playing first. I have heard that this is the last year they are going to do stupid saturday or that it is going to be negotiated out of the next tv deal whenever that is. So this may be hopefull the last or one of the last stupid saturdays that we have to deal with.

First is best however I feel Murray first was probably the right choice:

---Harder, more evenly-matched semi, winner more likely to have tough match before final. (You want the longer match to be first to even out the disadvantage of less rest after the second match.)

---Murray had been playing first throughout the tournament, so makes for more even spacing overall.

Brilliant news.

Perfect for Murray - he has longer to recover. Djoko will be playing in just as hot conditions whilst Murray (should he win.....) will be having his ice bath and contemplating a bit more recovery time.

I'd love to know what makes them decide that the guy with 2 matches to play in 4 days gets an earlier SF than the guy with 3 matches in 4 days.

Would they take the view that Nole v Ferrer would be the better match so want it to go on later, so more people would be able to see it in the USA? Or would the later match lose viewers due to college football?

"Murray v Berdych is 4pm tomorrow UK time followed by Djokovic v Ferrer. Brought forward by 1 hour due to dodgy forecast. "

Unlucky Novak!!

HM Murdoch wrote:Weather forecast for New York tomorrow is hot (28 degrees), and "mostly cloudy" until 16:00 and then isolated thunderstorms and wind.

So Novak may end up getting weather delays too.

Darn it!

Well the BBC Weather Forecast for New York forecasts showers from 11am so quite possibly it could be a wash-out.

Bugger!

lydian wrote:Bugger!

Well if it is to rain tomorrow then for fairness sake I'd sooner play was washed-out rather than one semi getting finished and the other not.

HM Murdoch wrote:Weather forecast for New York tomorrow is hot (28 degrees), and "mostly cloudy" until 16:00 and then isolated thunderstorms and wind.

Wow! What great bowling conditions, win the toss, put them in and have them 50 for 5 at lunch.

Oops sorry, still excited about Warwickshire’s County Title.

It seems that what Andy will lose on the roundabouts he’ll gain on the swings. I honestly don’t want to annoy the very many Roger and Rafa fans but it’s beginning to feel a little fresher around here

True enough...as happened in 2008.

I'm scared about tomorrow. If they play it's perfect conditions for Berdy to hit through Murray.

I understand your nerves Juan. Berdych looked very good against Federer but Roger was fill of unforced errors. When he knuckled down and cut those down in the third set he won that but then when they came back into his game in the fourth set the match was lost. Obviously, the conditions will suit Berdych massive serve but Andy just has to remember how he returned V Raonic and keep his unforced errors down and he should be fine. Fingers crossed.

CaledonianCraig wrote:I understand your nerves Juan. Berdych looked very good against Federer but Roger was fill of unforced errors. When he knuckled down and cut those down in the third set he won that but then when they came back into his game in the fourth set the match was lost. Obviously, the conditions will suit Berdych massive serve but Andy just has to remember how he returned V Raonic and keep his unforced errors down and he should be fine. Fingers crossed.

So if Andy keeps the UE's down he should be ok. They played in Dubai this year too and Murray won, and surely Dubai is pretty warm too. Hopefully Murray can grind him down and then look to turn defence into attack.


indeed

If Andy starts reading his serve as well as he did with Raonic then he'll win. The worry is that the serve will shoot through a lot more today than the cooler night conditions the Raonic match was played in.

Andy also needs to move his feet well at the start. I always feel you can tell in the first fifteen minutes what kind of performance you will get, and we he moves well at the start it's usually good news.

Murray in 4 tight sets, Djokovic in 3 sets.

The Special Juan wrote:I'm scared about tomorrow. If they play it's perfect conditions for Berdy to hit through Murray.

There's no need to be scared about tomorrow - unless you have heard there is a large asteroid heading our way If not then even if Murray loses he will pick up a handy $475,000 in prize money plus all the sponsorship money he receives for remaining in the news.

I view each round as an opportunity to make it through to the next round - not as a right to make it through to the next round. It will be an interesting "man on man" tennis battle - a test for both. We shall see who passes that "test". On my part I believe that Murray is the favorite, although he is behind on the head to head stats four to two. The head to head stats are weighted towards best of three set matches, and the one match it was a best of five was at Roland Garros two years ago.

Nore Staat wrote:

The Special Juan wrote:I'm scared about tomorrow. If they play it's perfect conditions for Berdy to hit through Murray.

There's no need to be scared about tomorrow - unless you have heard there is a large asteroid heading our way If not then even if Murray loses he will pick up a handy $475,000 in prize money plus all the sponsorship money he receives for remaining in the news.

I view each round as an opportunity to make it through to the next round - not as a right to make it through to the next round. It will be an interesting "man on man" tennis battle - a test for both. We shall see who passes that "test". On my part I believe that Murray is the favorite, although he is behind on the head to head stats four to two. The head to head stats are weighted towards best of three set matches, and the one match it was a best of five was at Roland Garros two years ago.

Good point. Surely the most pressure is on Ferrer as time must be starting to run out for him. And I think some people forget that Berdych is older than Andy - so who has the most pressure.

After The Olympics, I said that I'd settle for a SF here and so as long he plays well, I'm cool about the outcome

BanBrotam. I admire your coolness. This is, surely, a great chance for Murray. There's no Rafa or Roger and he has only one top 10 guy to play before the final. There's definitely pressure.

The H2H is a pretty strange one.

On HC, it is 2-1 (Murray - Dubai '12, Berdych - Paris '11, Adelaide '06).

http://www.atpworldtour.com/Players/Head-To-Head.aspx?pId=MC10&oId=BA47

Murray, if he starts as he did in the match against Cilic, would be toast.

Lendl.. Please ensure Murray wakes up without those weird dreams.

I am expecting a match smilar to AO 2012 in the finals, if Murray can beat Berdych.

Think it's fair to say that if Berdych is given the kind of head start afforded to Cilic then, unlike Maric, he won't hand the initiative back so meekly.

It will be interesting what the pundits will make of this one since Murray has a losing head to head and interestingly they've never played a hard court slam match against each other before and difficult to say whether Thomas's straight sets victory in Paris on the clay has any relevance.

For what it's worth I'd be inclined to slightly favour Thomas slightly given the fact that Murray's style of play suits his game but this one might just be too close to call. The fact that he's not either Roger or Rafa might just give Andy the extra incentive (if he needs it) to go all the way to the final.