Great Scot

I write this while watching the women's final. It's currently 2-1 in the second set, on serve, with Serena having won the first, and I have to say, that although Serena is winning, I'm really quite impressed with Jankovic. I thought Serena was going to annihilate her, but although I still think Serena will win, Jelena has not disgraced herself by any means. If only Jankovic wasn't injured so often - unlike her Serbian counterpart Djokovic, I do believe she genuinely does get injured - she would really be a force. I mean, she's been to #1 in the world, so she's obviously a force, but she could be... well, forcier.

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She's not normally a player that rips winners, but she just hit a beautiful one there, as I write, to go up 40-30. She's an excellent defensive players, and the thing that has really kept her alive in this match with Serena and stopped Serena blowing her away is her retrieving ability. She obviously went to the same 'I am a wall' school as Novak Djokovic - except I think it might be even more of an integral part of her game. She has terrific movement - though I can see why she gets injured all the time, because she's sliding around on these hardcourts like nobody's business, and keeps doing Kim Clijsters splits.

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What is really letting her down in her second serve, though it's much improved from the last time I saw her play. Still, she's only winning something like 29% on it - she looks a lot more comfortable in Serena's service games than her own, like she's freer to hit out and stuff. She's not shying away from Serena's pace, either - she did let herself get a bit intimidated in the first set for a while when Serena cranked it up, but on the whole, I think she's giving a very good account of herself. She is going for her shots a bit more than she would normally, so her unforced errors are uncharacteristically high, but overall, I don't think it's hurt her that badly - her winners are higher as well.

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However, although Jankovic is still in the match, it's really hanging on Serena's racquet here - and at no point has Jankovic looked like outhitting her. I mean, who could outhit Serena - apart from maybe Venus? Jankovic is much more consistent than Serena, but that's because Jankovic doesn't have gears. Jankovic doesn't really have the ability to switch gears, because her game is so primarily defensive. Serena can just turn up the heat - and that is why, even though she doesn't play that much tennis, she is still such a dominant player, why, if she wins this match, she'll be #1. Serena has just got game, pure and simple. When she first burst on the scene way back when, her tennis was pretty primal - 'hit ball, hit ball hard' sort of tennis - but she has really evolved over the years into a smart sophisticated player. Whether or not you're a Serena fan, she's certainly exciting to watch.

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Over to the men now while Serena and Jelena fight it out. How about Andy Murray? When Rafa went up a break in the fourth after winning the third, I confess that I thought it was pretty much all over. I didn't think Murray had a prayer of getting that break back, especially when it was 3-1, 0-30. But no - Murray got that damn break, and then he got another one and that one clinched the match for him. (And what a lovely point that was when Murray won - both players at net, and Murray hit that cute little pass... how ironic, Rafa getting beaten with a pass!) I haven't been a Murray fan in the past - he sort of strikes me as a Scottish Lleyton Hewitt, personality wise, and I'm certainly not a Lleyton fan - but he has really earned this Slam final. I know Rafa hasn't been playing that well this tournament, but he's Rafa. He didn't get to be #1 in the world, overtaking the greatest player of all time, by being a schlep. And for Murray to come back when Rafa was up in the fourth really is an achievement.

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Actually, Murray's year this year strikes me as being a bit similar to Djokovic's last year. He hasn't quite had the consistency over the year that Djokovic had last year - Djokovic made semis in Paris and Wimbledon before making the final at the US - but Murray has played solidly, and his US summer is very reminiscent of Djokovic's last year. He won a Masters Series title in Cincinatti as well as making the semis - he tied Nadal for the US Open series, and Nadal only won on some sort of whicketty-whack countback system. And that's better than Djokovic did last year.

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So no matter what the result of tomorrow's final - Murray has a shot, but you wouldn't bet against the incredibly hungry Federer right now - the real question is going to be about what Murray will do from here. Win or no win, a Slam final is an incredible result - but there a lot of players that have reached a Slam final (or even won a Slam final) and then never looked like reaching another one. Think about Gaston Gaudio, Guillermo Coria, Arnaud Clement, Thomas Johansson, Marcos Baghdatis, Fernando Gonzalez. Will Andy Murray join their ranks? Or will he do what Djokovic did, and back it up?

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(Meanwhile, Jankovic has gone up a break in the second, and is 5-3, 0-30 up - are we going to a third?)

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I'd like to see Murray back it up. Obviously I don't want to see him win tomorrow - my loyalty is for Federer, 100% - but I don't want him to fade away. He's not a favourite of mine, but he has grown on me a bit, and I do like his game on hard courts. And he loves his mother, which is nice. I'd like someone to shake Djokovic up a bit specifically, and show him he's not as secure as he thinks in that #3 spot. I think Djokovic feels a bit too comfortable as a member of the Big Three - I wouldn't mind seeing Murray overtake him at all. Murray will be #4 after this tournament no matter what happens, and I wouldn't mind seeing Djokovic come back to the field a bit AT ALL. Djokovic's summer hasn't sucked, but he hasn't done what he did last year, and that was when the Djokovic band wagon really began to roll. The Australian Open is going to be a moment of truth for him. He had the good year last year, really starting from the US summer... so can he back that up? That is the real test of character.

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How did I get onto Djokovic? He LOST. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

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Not that I'm rubbing it or anything.

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(Now Serena has break points to get that service break back in the second! What is going to happen? ...and Serena's broken back! 5 all in the second!)

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(...and Serena's done it in straights! She is the new #1!)

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Today's Results

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US Open (Flushing Meadows)

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Men's Draw

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Andy Murray def. Rafael Nadal, 6-2 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 6-4

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Women's Draw

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Serena Williams def. Jelena Jankovic, 6-4 7-5

The Boss Is Back

Excuse me for a moment while I say AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

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Ah, vengeance is very, very sweet. That match felt damn good. I wished Channel Nine here would replay it, though... it was on at one in the morning here, so I only caught a little. And now it's raining, so surely they could show it again? I mean, who wouldn't want to see Roger Federer rubbing Novak Djokovic's nose in 'the king is dead, long live the king'? Oh, that was sweet. Get used to it, Novak - because the king ain't laid up no more. Daddy's home.

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I will say this for Djokovic - he didn't retire, which was a very pleasant surprise. It was nice to see Roger actually win, to have that moment of victory. Oh, how I loved that moment of victory. It was like Christmas. Now all we need is for the Fed to bring it all to the court tomorrow, and I think he's going to walk away with it, no matter who he faces. He's better than Murray, hands down - Murray might take a set, and it might even go to five, but experience will get Roger through in the long run. And if Rafa gets through, he's going to have to play at least two and a half sets of tennis tomorrow before he even begins, on already tired legs. So have fun with that one, Rafa - but even though Rafa has a break in the third, you have to like Murray for this match. I mean, he has a two sets to love lead. That has to count for something.

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But back to Roger, because he played some beautiful, beautiful tennis that I would like to talk about. Let's start with his serve, because that was firing big time, and he really served himself out of trouble when he needed to. He opened with an ace, and that really set the tenor of the match for him. Usually there's a correlation between his serving and his forehand (hardly unusual) and he hit some absolute beauties today. Fifty-one winners in total, to only twenty-eight unforced errors. That is some TENNIS. That is championship-winning tennis.

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And how was that shot he hit past Djokovic so fast that Djokovic didn't even have time to raise his racquet? That was the match for me. Djokovic won a set, sure, but Federer basically just steamrolled him when it got to crunch time. I like this steamroller incarnation of the Mighty Fed. I hope he shows up more often.

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And Federer was coming in to net as well, which is a play I like from him - he didn't come in as often as Djokovic, actually, but he made something of it most of the times he did. And twenty aces to one double fault... nice one, Roger. Gush gush.

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Djokovic clearly did not play his best match ever - he had forty-three winners to forty-seven unforced errors, which is a bad ratio, especially when your opponent's ratio is so good. It may have been one set all at a point, but at no point did Djokovic ever look like winning. And that is the kind of domination I like to see from Roger Federer.

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Sorry, this must really be nauseating. But after Australia, and the horrible semi-final at Melbourne Park, this is just so sweet. Roger showed Novak who the boss really is - and Djokovic can claim as mnay injuries as he likes, but he still got his arse comprehensively kicked. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

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It's going to be interesting to see how that work out the scheduling of all this - are they going to push the men's final back a day? Or will they finish the Nadal/Murray semi and then do the men's final in the same day? And what happens if it keeps raining? I mean, it is a tropical storm, yeah? And they don't just go away overnight. Surely they can't just abandon the tournament - if it becomes clear that there's going to be no outdoor play, is there an indoor venue they can move to? Not that it's the same as playing on Arthur Ashe, but the match has to get played sometime before next year's tournament...

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Today's Results

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US Open (Flushing Meadows)

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Men's Draw

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Roger Federer def. Novak Djokovic, 6-3 5-7 7-5 6-2

Serena Safina Ballerina

...well, maybe not ballerina exactly, but one thing I was quite amazed by when watching this match was the level of movement from these two girls. Neither of them are exactly little, but they're both tremendous athletes. I noticed it from Safina especially - she's what, 6'2"? and she was getting down so low to some of these balls it was quite incredible. She certainly wouldn't have been able to do that a year ago. So kudos to her for working hard on that.

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Though the match didn't go the way I wanted, I still enjoyed watching it a great deal. It wasn't the highest quality match ever, but it was the conditions that really made it so, and it was a real test of who dealt with it better. I think all that experience really helped Serena over the line. She's not always the steadiest player - but compared with the Good Ship Dinara, she was like a rock. It would actually be really interesting to see these two play indoors, where the conditions are pretty much irrelevant. Safina was going for her shots, and if a few more of those had gone in... I would not have bet against her.

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This may not have been Dinara's Slam winning year, but I think she will win the US Open one day - or the Australian, or maybe both. She's just so impressive on hard courts, and she's beginning to get that business-end experience under her belt. This has been her career year - and we have to remember that she's only twenty-two. She's got a bit of tennis left in her yet, does Dinara! I don't think she really did anything wrong today, except for, you know, missing. She went for it. She tried to play her own game and she didn't let Serena dictate to her. Even though she got broken herself a lot, she also broke Serena pretty consistently, and that's not the easiest thing in the world to do. Even though she lost, I think Dinara can take a lot away from this match - and watch her come out swinging at the Australian Open! Actually, watch her come out swinging at Doha - surely she must have qualified by now? She's going to be a force.

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For now, I think she needs to have a rest. She must have a case of Rafa Syndrome something severe. Put your feet up for a week and have some chocolate, Dinara. You've earned it.

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Jankovic triumphed over Dementieva in the other semi - actually, that's not the best way to put it. If ever there was an example of a match being on someone's racquet, there was it. All Jankovic had to do was hang about and wait for Dementieva to make a mistake. I mean, kudos to her for playing such a great defensive game and also for coming back from being down in both sets, but if she pulls that against Serena, she'll get eaten for breakfast. Actually, I'd put money on her getting eaten for breakfast anyway, but she might need to revise her game plan a bit. The Djokovic 'I am a wall' game might work for a while, but if Serena can't hit through Jankovic, she'll make angles and do crafty things and suchlike. Either that, or she'll just blast Jelena off the court with pure power. Jankovic is no sissy, but if you put them against each other in a test of pure strength, I'd be backing Team Serena.

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So that's my call. I wouldn't mind seeing Jankovic win, so when she flits in and out of that #1 positon she actually has a little something to back it up, but this one is Serena's to win or lose - and I'm betting she won't falter. When it comes down to it, I think Serena probably deserves #1 more than Jelena - they're both still in the running, yesno? I'd think she deserved more if she played more tennis, but on the whole this year, she's been up there in the big time a bit more than Jelena has.

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Now let's sit back, relax, and wait for Novak Djokovic to retire tomorrow. What excuse will it be this time? I'm going with stomach problems - but I think he's used that one before against Federer. Wait, no, it was breathing problems in Rome. Maybe it'll be a knee - I don't think he's injured those yet. Or a migraine. Or a sudden urge to sneeze.

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Today's Results

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US Open (Flushing Meadows)

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Women's Draw

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Serena Williams def. Dinara Safina, 6-3 6-2

Jelena Jankovic def. Elena Dementieva, 6-4 6-4

Bird Flu, Anthrax, SARS...

I have to say that I am a little disappointed in Andy Roddick. I'm not particularly enamoured with him at the moment, what with the Olympics thing, but I was going for him against Djokovic - and damn it, he could have won! He certainly had that fourth set on his racquet, and he threw it away not once, but twice: when he was serving for it, 30-0 up, and served two double faults, and then in the breaker at 5-5 when he tried that STUPID dropshot. What was that? He played so beautifully in the third set and most of the fourth - and if it had gone to a fifth, I would have backed him. Very disappointing, A-Rod. I hope Patrick McEnroe spanks you good.

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One thing I have to say, though, and that is that Djokovic's wingspan and reach is deceptively huge. He's not that big a guy, but when it comes to returning, he is a wall. At the net, as well, he has great reach - though I have many bad things to say about his volleys, especially his forehand volley. I mean, what is that? It certainly was not a match of volleyers - I wince and look away every time I see Roddick coming near the net.

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For two such good players, this was not the highest quality match ever. I only caught the third and fourth sets, but although Roddick lifted and played really well there, it wasn't exactly scintillating. Djokovic lets the crowd into his head too much, as well - and he really, really needs to learn not to antagonise them. I can tell you one thing, and that is that the crowd is going to be 120% behind Roger Federer in the semi after that performance there. He's a crowd favourite anyway, and Djokovic has really not done anything to endear himself. Considering that he lets the crowd get to him, that really isn't a smart career move.

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Let's talk about the Federer match. It was probably a little closer than I would have liked, considering who his opponent was, but he did what he had to do, which was nice. Of the Big Three, he's probably managed to conserve the most energy - he certainly came into the tournament less tired than Rafa and even his five set match was well under the four hour mark. And also he doesn't have Djokovic's injuries - though whether they are injuries or 'injuries' I'm not sure. A-Rod wasn't far off the mark when he said that Djokovic had 'bird flu, anthrax, SARS.' You watch. If Federer gets two sets up - or even a set and a break or two - I BET Djokovic will retire. He's been setting himself up for it all tournament. You just watch.

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Oh, and kudos to Gilles Muller, as well. He was never going to beat Federer, but he did his best, and he did pretty well considering his ranking. I hope Luxembourg is proud of him - and I would like to see him making his mark at tournaments in the future. One thing I will say, though - he needs to wear longer shorts. I'm not a fan of Rafa's 'manpris,' but Gilles was seriously wearing hotpants. Not a good look.

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So we have our semi finalists - Rafa against Murray, Roger against the Djoker. I'm picking a Murray/Fed final, though I would not be surprised to see Rafa come through. Murray is maybe just a little fresher, and is certainly playing well, whereas Rafa hasn't been playing 100%. And I am gagging for the Australian Open rematch. Of course, if Djokovic wins, I will cry many bitter tears, but if (when) Roger wins, I will celebrate like nobody's business. Revenge, dish, cold, best served, etc - and if Djokovic retires and takes that away (what with his bird flu, anthrax and SARS,) I will be FURIOUS.

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Oh, and a special congratulations to Roger Federer for making his eighteenth straight Grand Slam semi final. That is a streak that will not be matched in a LONG time, if ever! Congratulations, Roger!

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Today's Results

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US Open (Flushing Meadows)

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Men's Draw

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Roger Federer def. Gilles Muller, 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 7-6 (7-5)

Novak Djokovic def. Andy Roddick, 6-2 6-3 3-6 7-6 (7-5)

'You And Your Mother'

Semi final #1 for the boys has been decided – it’ll be Rafa Nadal taking on Andy Murray, this tournament’s official Random Semi Finalist (tm.) Both had very intriguing quarter final matches, and this match should prove likewise interesting.
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Even though his match was later, let’s start with Rafa. I think I said yesterday or the day before that Fish might take a set off him, and that was about it. That was exactly what happened. Rafa still isn’t playing at 100% Rafa level, but he’s into the semis now, and that’s all that counts, really. He’s done what he had to – and the fact that he can do that not at his best makes him very ominous indeed. It’d be a foolish person who’d ever count out Rafa Nadal.
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Kudos to Mardy Fish, though, for pressing Rafa – because he did. Nice work, Mardy. It may not have worked in the long run, but the blazingly fiery glory-or-death game that some play might well be the only way to play Rafa – because you have to try and impose your game. Ain’t nobody can beat Rafa at his own game, and if you try, you’ll fail, because he’s the best at it by a long way, which is why he is #1. To beat Rafa, you have to make him play your game. Fish tried to impose himself and enjoyed some moderate success with that, so kudos to Mardy.
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But Rafa fried him in the end. Sorry for the pun.
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Now, over to the del Potro/Murray match. This one was particularly intriguing because of the fact that they pretty much hate each other. This dates back to Rome in May, where del Potro fired a ball straight at Murray’s head, Murray took offence at the changeover and del Potro fired back with the infamous ‘you and your mother’ remark. Murray, naturally, did not take too kindly to this and should they meet each other in a dark alley, I would not like to say what would happen.
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That said, they behaved pretty much like gentlemen today, and though del Potro is technically one of my Stars of the Future, I think I’m glad Murray won. It’s his turn – and also I think the Andy/Rafa match could be an absolute marathon twelve hour affair. If Rafa was at his best and hadn’t played tennis pretty much every week for six months, I’d go with him no question, but Murray just might have a little bit more left in the tank – and he’s on a hot streak, after Cincinnati (first round loss at the Olympics nonwithstanding.) So that one should be an interesting match and make no mistake. I’m not sure who I’m picking to win, actually. It could go either way. I’m going to go with Murray, purely because Rafa’s tired and has never really gone very well here, but I am quite prepared to be wrong.
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Over to the ladies, and there was nothing in that Williams sister clash. I suppose it was nice for Serena to get one back after the loss in the Wimbledon final, but I can’t say I really cared much who won. They’re really pretty interchangeable to my mind – and it doesn’t matter, because Dinara is going through to the final anyway. I have spoken and thus shall it be. She pulverised Flavia Pennetta today, and so Serena better watch out. If I was standing on the other side of the net to Dinara Safina right now, I’d be quaking in my boots.
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Today’s Results
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US Open (Flushing Meadows)
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Men’s Draw
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Rafael Nadal def. Mardy Fish, 3-6 6-1 6-4 6-2
Andy Murray def. Juan Martin del Potro, 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-1) 4-6 7-5
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Women’s Draw
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Dinara Safina def. Flavia Pennetta,6-2 6-3
Serena Williams def. Venus Williams, 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (9-7)

Cyclone Igor

I would love to gloat about how Novak Djokovic got taken to five by Tommy Robredo, who is definitely not one of the king of hard courts, and barely scraped out of it alive, but then, in the interests of my pretended fairness, I would have to say the same thing about Federer, and I don't want to. So I'll say this instead: both Federer and Djokovic got taken to five sets by lower-ranked but dangerous opponents, and both played well to dig themselves out of trouble and asserted themselves when it counted.

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Well, except for Djokovic.

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Let's start with the Federer match. He didn't play his best tennis EVER, but he didn't suck - it wasn't one of those times when the wheels just fall off one of the aspects of his game or anything. Everything was working, firing mostly. Andreev just played really, really well. He has a very high risk game - he rips that ball from the baseline like nobody's business and his serve has major pop on it. He's one of the closest things tennis has to a force of nature - he's Cyclone Igor. If it works, it's deadly. If it doesn't, it's painful to watch. He certainly came out hard, and credit to Federer for hanging with him, because ain't just anyone can do that. Even though Federer got the break back, Andreev really did deserve that first set, so perhaps it was sort of justice that he won it. But good on Roger for hanging tough and doing what he does best. I breathed a sigh of relief when he got that breaker and brought it to one set all.

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The third set had some vintage Fed moments, as did the fifth - the fourth was a bit of an anomaly. However, I don't think that's the fourth set Roger would have played if he were down two sets to one instead of being up. Remember the Tipsarevic match? Federer was down, and then stamped his authority all over the fourth. He eased his foot off the accelerator a bit and paid the price. Against most opponents he could probably afford to do it, but Andreev proved his quality by not being one of those guys.

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The fifth was the real thriller, with all those deuces, but from the get go it had Federer stamped all over it. That game where he got the break to go up 2-0 after was really a microcosm of the match. Andreev was close to him, really, really close, but Roger came through when it counted. Major credit as well for saving all the break points that he did - the story of a match is often told in the break point conversion rate, and Roger's percentage was not brilliant, but it was better than Igor's.

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If I hadn't been so nervous, I think I would have thoroughly enjoyed that match. I was, am and always will be going for Federer, but I like Andreev, and I was glad he could make a good account of himself. Has he ever won a tournament title? If not, he should have. He had a couple of near misses earlier - I think he lost one final to del Potro - but I don't know if he's ever actually won a title. I could go and find out, but that would just be too easy.

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Over to Djokovic, and if it was Federer looking like he is at the moment, I'd be worried. Robredo is a good player and all - he's ranked higher than Andreev is - but hard courts are not his thing, and really, he shouldn't be able to press Djokovic this much. Robredo is clearly in excellent form - Marat Safin and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga are not cakewalk matches - but Djokovic is obviously not. He managed to pull the win out of somewhere, but I would be seriously surprised to see him make it through the quarter final if he plays at this level. Matt Cronin said in his pre match analysis that Djokovic should be bouncing Robredo off the walls, and there was nothing like that happening. He's whinging about injuries and being sick, and all those things just spell two sets down and retiring to me.

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He'll meet Roddick in the next round, and disenchanted though I am with A-Rod, I think he'll beat the Djoker. He really surprised me today with his win over Gonzalez - I thought Gonzalez was going to demolish him, but instead it was the other way round. On the men's side, Roddick had by far the easiest win today. Djokovic/Roddick will be an intriguing match, and whoever wins it will provide an intriguing semifinal, which will probably be against Federer - fun and exciting as Gilles Muller's run has been (good on the boy from Luxembourg for taking out Kolya the Whinger!) I don't think it can withstand the Mighty Fed... and besides, his legs have to give out sometime. He's played so many hours of tennis that I'm amazed he can still walk.

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Meanwhile, Jelena Jankovic is looking surprisingly good. I keep waiting for her to injure herself and crash and burn, but it hasn't happened yet, and her win over Sybille Bammer today was very convincing. That said, Sybille Bammer is hardly one of the top players on tour right now, but still, a quarter final is a quarter final, and you don't get there by being a schlep. Jankovic will meet Dementieva in the semi, who took out Schnyder, and that should be a very intriguing match. I'm not sure which way to call it. I'm pretty sure Jankovic is guaranteed to be #1 if she makes the final, and I want Dinara to get it, so I might be going for Dementieva... but Dementieva's serve REALLY ANNOYS ME.

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Today's Results

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US Open (Flushing Meadows)

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Men's Draw

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Roger Federer def. Igor Andreev, 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 3-6 6-3

Novak Djokovic def. Tommy Robredo, 4-6 6-2 6-3 57 6-3

Andy Roddick def. Fernando Gonzalez, 6-2 6-4 6-1

Gilles Muller def. Nikolay Davydenko, 6-4 4-6 6-3 7-6 (12-10)

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Women's Draw

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Jelena Jankovic def. Sybille Bammer, 6-1 6-4

Elena Dementieva def. Patty Schnyder, 6-2 6-3

Don't Cry For Me, Miss Safina

I don't want to cast aspersions on Rafa Nadal - he has undoubtedly been the best player on tour this year, whatever my personal preferences may be - but he is just not so hot right now. I thought that he'd played out his early kinks with that good victory ove Troicki in the third round, but then against Querrey today, the kinks were back. I mean, he still won, and won pretty comfortably when it came down to it, but he wasn't the Rafa we've seen over the past six or so months. This wasn't the man who won the French Open and Wimbledon and the Olympics back to back. This man... well, he was a bit tired.

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And I can get why he's tired. I mean, come on, the scheduling is insane. Add to that the Querrey factor - the guy may not be ranked that high, but he's not a pushover, and he was playing at home in front of an adoring crowd - and you can see why Rafa's not playing at his best. But if he wants to win the tournament, he's going to have to lift. While Fish could emulate his countryman Querrey and take a set off Rafa in the quarters, I don't see him doing much more than that - but when Rafa gets to the semis, he's going to face either Juan Martin del Potro or Andy Murray, either or whom will eat him alive if he doesn't pick it up. Murray, I feel, has a real chance - he played pretty damn spectacularly to beat Djokovic and win the Cincincatti. And we know the Scottish kid has what it takes to beat members of the Big Three - I don't know about Rafa himself, but he's certainly beaten Djokovic and Federer in recent times.

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Speaking of Murray, wasn't he in scintillating form today? Sure, lovely Stan Wawrinka did not play to the best of his ability, but Murray was just awesome. I'm not a Murray fan, I have to say, but the kid's got game. I would not be surprised at all to see him make the final. If/when he faces Rafa, I don't think we're going to see a repeat of the Wimbledon match they played. Rafa is not going to be able to have it his own way with Andy. Remember when they played at the Australian Open - I think it was last year? It was a fabulous match that really went the distance - in the end, it pretty much came down to Rafa having the better legs and Murray running out of steam. If they go five sets again, I don't think we'll see Murray's fitness have such a negative impact. He's certainly picked it up - and, unlike Rafa, he hasn't played tennis solidly for six months. I don't want to impugn Rafa's fitness - in fact, I would go so far as to say he is one of the fittest players on the tour, maybe even the fittest - but no one can do that and not feel the effects. And we've seen him feeling the effects. So what can Murray pull out the bag?

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I'm sort of assuming Murray will be the random semi finalist here - with his form, he deserves to be - but that's not to rule out the del Potro possibility. We all know how hot del Potro has been of late. However, he hasn't been 100% sparkling here - a few five set matches here and there - but on the flip side, he's in the frickin' quarters. I don't think he's ever done that before. I shouldn't judge him by Federesque standards - my bad. But I think Murray'll get him. Del Potro is hot right now, but if anyone is due a big showing at a Slam, it's Murray. It's his turn, really.

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And we can't forget Mardy Fish either. Everyone ruled him out at Indian Wells or Miami or wherever it was when he played Federer in the semis, and he came out and won the thing. Best of five sets is a bit of a different story, but with the home crowd behind him and Rafa not playing as Rafa does, maybe Fish can hook a big one. (Sorry for the pun.) This is Fish's best ever showing here - it would be a bit of a fairy tale to see him go the distance.

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Speaking of Americans, one match I am very much looking forward to is the Roddick/Gonzalez match tomorrow. That one is going to be a corker. I know Roddick is the higher seed and has the home crowd support, but I think Gonzalez might just get him. Fernando hasn't been playing quite as well as he did that time at the Australian Open where he made the final, but he's been big in form recently, and it'd be nice to see him put up a good showing. And wouldn't a Djokovic/Gonzalez quarter be an awesome match? I would like that one enormously - mostly because I think Gonzalez would win.

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And going back to fairy tales, I would dearly love to see Gilles Muller make the quarters by taking out Davydenko. Kolya seems to have got a little bit of his mojo back, but that doesn't mean I am any more impressed with him. And I like the guts of this Muller guy. And since when does Luxemborg ever win anything? Go Gilles.

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And obviously I want to see Federer beat Andreev. That should be a good match, actually - Andreev is good enough to test Federer, but I don't know if he's good enough to actually put him in danger. That said, I won't count my chickens - I remember Tipsarevic. Oh, do I remember Tipsarevic. But I like the look of Roger right now. If he can put away Stepanek - someone who he has had trouble with in the past - in easy straights, then he's in pretty decent form.

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Oh, and women. Yay Dinara and being through! Actually, did anyone see the Tennis Australia headline this morning? I ain't got nothing on their bad puns. 'Don't Cry For Me Safina.' Apparently she started crying before her match and couldn't stop until her coach came and calmed her down for some inexplicable reason. Go figure. That article also featured the immortal line 'sobs turn to lobs.' I like a good pun here and there - I went to town with curtain/Kuerten puns (just like everyone else) when Guga retired, but really, isn't there a place where you have to draw the line?

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It's looking like a Williams/Safina semi - though which Williams will be an interesting question. I'm feeling Serena, but honestly, they're pretty interchangeable to me. Whichever one does get through, I'm still picking Dinara to win. Apparently - on the ever constant rankings question - she can become #1 if she wins and Jankovic doesn't reach the semis. Here's hoping Jelena loses. Not that I dislike Jelena or anything, but Dinara deserves it way more than she does right now.

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And yeah, I stole the Safina pun and used it as a title. Puns that awful just cannot be denied. But you will notice, however, that mine scans better. I, at least, understand that 'Argentina' has four syllables. Take that. Ha.

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Small victories. Small, small victories.

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Today's Results

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US Open (Flushing Meadows)

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Men's Draw

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Rafael Nadal def. Sam Querrey, 6-2 5-7 7-6 (7-2) 6-3

Andy Murray def. Stanislas Wawrinka, 6-1 6-3 6-3

Juan Martin del Potro def. Kei Nishikori, 6-3 6-4 6-3

Mardy Fish def. Gael Monfils, 7-5 6-2 6-2

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Women's Draw

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Dinara Safina def. Anna-Lena Groenefeld, 7-5 6-0

Serena Williams def. Severine Bremond, 6-2 6-2

Venus Williams def. Agineszka Radwanska, 6-1 6-3

Flavia Pennetta def. Amelie Mauresmo, 6-3 6-0