Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates his victory against Fernando Gonzalez of Chile in their match at the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York, September 12, 2009. REUTERS/Shaun Best

Earlier today, the rain in New York paused for a brief period of time allowing former World #1 Rafael Nadal to close the door on his quarterfinal match against Chilean Fernando Gonzalez 7-6 (4), 7-6 (2), 6-0. Nadal couldn’t have drawn a better script for the resumption of this delayed match. Gonzalez began the tiebreak in the second set down 2-3 and proceeded to donate the next 4 points and the set to the Spaniard on four unforced errors. With that shockingly quick ending to the second set, Gonzalez couldn’t not recover in time to even hold his serve in the first game of the third set. With the early break in the third, Nadal seized his opportunity and refused to make any mistakes until the match was over. Earlier in the week, GEM Tennis wrote about Nadal enacting the “rope-a-dope” and it seems that Rafa is very much in control of his destiny, even though bothered with an abdominal strain. He next faces 20 year old Argentinian Juan Martin Del Potro, young man beware, Rafa looks fresh.

In the late match, it was Kim Clijsters defeating defending champion Serena Williams 6-4, 7-5 in a controversial ending of this semifinal. Serving a second serve at 5-6, 15-30, Williams was called for a foot fault. As unnecessary as the call may have been in the moment, Williams absolutely and inexcusably lost her cool. Down match point, she proceeded to go on a tirade at the lines-person who made the call and subsequently was given a point penalty for her behavior effectively ending her 2009 US Open. It was obvious the entire match that Serena was “edgy,” but it wasn’t appropriate to blame others for her own controlled mistakes. Expect a large fine and tons of media scrutiny for Serena. Despite the strange ending, Clijsters outplayed Williams for most of the match and deserved the win. Tomorrow, Clijsters faces Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark who defeated unseeded Yanina Wickmayer in the other semifinal 6-3, 6-3. Look for Clijsters to win the US Open in just her third tournament back since returning to the tour full time after a two year absence.

Enjoy the great tennis tomorrow!

Serena Williams of the U.S. yells at a line judge after being called for a foot foul during her semi-final match against Kim Clijsters of Belgium at the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York, September 12, 2009. Clijsters won the match 6-4 7-5, which ended in controversy when Williams was called for a foot-fault on a second serve to go match point down. REUTERS/Shaun Best