ATP Tour

Pro Tennis

US OPEN: MEN’S SEMIFINALS, PHOTOS AND MORE

September 14, 2009 1:42 am
GEM
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Juan Martin Del Potro (© Parsa Samii)

First up in today’s matches was sixth seed Juan Martin Del Potro versus third seed Rafael Nadal. In an expected result (read US Open preview), Del Potro advanced to his first career grand slam final with a 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 drubbing of clearly injured Nadal. From the beginning the game plans were obvious. The Argentine wanted to first, serve very well and second, he wanted to seize on any opportunity Nadal gave him by pounding the ball down the Spaniards throat. Rafa on the other hand wanted to change pace with his backhand slice and also his goal was to move the big Argentine around the court. Very quickly Nadal ran into problems with his tactics. In order to play that style, Nadal would’ve needed to play tremendous defense and use the speed he’s known for, however, Nadal quite often was flexing his right knee and it seemed he was a step slow today. As the match wore on, it was clear that Del Potro was in control using his powerful forehand to deflate the hopeful Nadal. Rafa gave his championship effort throughout the match, but his body was failing him. He even tried to change up his game in the third set by going for more like he does at Wimbledon, but without his bigger serve available due to his abdominal strain, Nadal was hopeless and now Del Potro will contest for his first grand slam title tomorrow.

In the second match, it was world #1 and 5 time defending champion Roger Federer versus fourth seed Serbian Novak Djokovic. This match promised an intense battle as in the past, but for the third straight year at the US Open Federer ended Djokovic’s pursuit of his second major victory with a 7-6, 7-5, 7-5 victory. Djokovic started off strong with an early break in the first set, but it was the Swiss who dominated the “big” points for the whole match. Federer used his usual quickness, touch, variety, and serve to overwhelm the Serbian. The match almost seemed like Federer was playing along until about three quarters into a set and then all of the sudden he would go into some sort of lock down mode in which he engaged Djokovic in long rallies that usually ended with success for the champ. Near the end of the match, the Swiss even passed Djokovic with a thru the legs passing shot that even Djokovic couldn’t believe to set up match point. The match was very entertaining from a fan’s perspective, but make no mistake about it, Federer dominated this one. Look for Federer to take it to the young Del Potro in the final tomorrow, but expect the cool Argentine to put up a scintillating fight. Prediction: Federer in 5 sets. Enjoy the pictures of today’s battles and stay tuned for more coverage of the US Open tomorrow!