It's been a wet few days in New York and the schedule is being disrupted but it hasn't impacted the quality of tennis we've been seeing. With matches today having to be finished from last night it's left a very exciting order of play for today's matches. Maria Sharapova was first up and she recovered from losing the first set to come through against Marion Bartoli and she now goes on to meet the in form Victoria Azarenka in the semi finals. Sara Errani has transferred her clay court form to the hard courts and reached the semi finals here for the first time. She awaits the winner of tonight's game between Ana Ivanovic and Serena Williams. Janko Tipsarevic was playing well last night when the rain interrupted him but he showed no signs of frustration as he comfortably beat Philip Kohlschreiber. He now faces David Ferrer in the quarter final after he got through his match with Richard Gasquet in straight sets yesterday before the rain came. Novak Djokovic has made it to the semi final after easily winning the first two sets and being a break ahead when Stanislas Wawrinka retired.
Three more matches are waiting to take to the court and one is currently underway. Juan Martin Del Potro is about to go two sets to one up on Andy Roddick which could mean were about to see yet another great player go into retirement. On to tonight and starting with an interesting match on Louis Armstrong. Andy Murray got through his match with a disappointing Milos Raonic on Monday night in straight sets but he will face a very stern test from Croatian Marin Cilic tonight. Murray beat Cilic at Wimbledon in straight sets but Cilic had just come through a lengthy five set match two nights previous so he wasn't fully fit. He is playing some good tennis this fortnight and got through comfortably in his last match against Martin Klizan so he should be slightly more prepared for this one. If he plays the way he did when he beat Murray at the US Open in 2009 then he has got a real chance of winning this one. Listening to him this morning he was saying he needed to be aggressive without going for too much and that sounds to me like he knows what he needs to do to win. All the players who beat Murray have to work extremely hard to earn the right to dictate the points. It takes courage to step up and hit with the best but I think Cilic has got that in him. Murray will want to control the tempo of the game and that's something Cilic needs to prevent. He may have lost six times to Murray but he's always given him tough matches and I expect this one to be very close. Interestingly Cilic hit with Federer this morning and that will have helped him greatly because of how relaxed Federer is during his practice sessions. I think it will depend on how Cilic performs. If he executes his plan then I think he will win. If he doesn't then I think Murray will win in five.
Ana Ivanovic has the daunting task of facing Serena Williams in the quarter finals tonight but it's a task she will relish. Serena is playing some of the best tennis of her career and has her sights set on winning the title here come Saturday. Ana is certainly on the rise again and with her ranking up to 13 now it looks certain she will contest the Grand Slams consistently again. Ivanovic is coming into this one with no pressure and will try to impose herself early on. The problem Ivanovic faces is she likes to hit the ball and try to out-rally her opponents but against Serena that won't be good enough, simply because Serena is too strong from the back of the court. She will need to vary her play, mixing up her deep ground strokes with some slices to get Williams on the run. The only time Serena has looked uncomfortable in her matches here was when Martinez-Sanchez started serving and volleying and that's something Ana will need to be aware of. I think Ivanovic has the ability and belief to win this one but I'm not sure she has the consistency at this stage in her comeback so I think Williams will win but watch out for a potential fright for the 4th seed before she comes through.
Match of the is certainly the one between Thomas Berdych and Roger Federer. The only concern I have is that the night time conditions might take from Berdych's game as it did with Isner and Raonic. Isner and Raonic looked brilliant during the day when the conditions were hot and the courts were fast but both suffered disappointing defeats in the slower conditions of the night. Berdyc is a more natural shot maker though and the way he dismantled Nicolas Almagro shows he is certainly back to his best. From the moment I saw the draw I thought that if Berdych reached the quarter finals he would have to be back to his usual self and I thought he would beat Federer. My opinion hasn't changed and I do think Berdych is going to win. Federer has looked good here during his three matches but I think he would have rathered to have faced the stiff test Mardy Fish would have brought him instead of getting the walkover. I think that could affect him more than we might think. When Djokovic was on his long unbeaten run last year he got a walkover in the quarter finals at the French Open against Fognini and then lost to Federer. Federer was out practicing with a 14 year old on Monday to stay fresh instead of his match which shows how relaxed he can be. Berydch and Federer have always had some great games right from the start of their rivalry which began in 2004 in Athens. Their last 6 meetings have been split three each and their meeting this year was an epic match in Madrid which Federer won 3-6 7-5 7-5. I'm going out on a limb and saying Berdych is fully behind his troubles of the past few months and he's going to prove it tonight by beating Federer in a thrilling match.
Finishing off with some news outside of the US Open and Rafael Nadal yesterday announced that he won't be back in action for another few months at least which is a major blow for the Spaniard. He hasn't played since his shock loss to Lukas Rosol and it's a real shame for tennis. Annabel Croft mentioned yesterday how last year everytime Nadal went out to practice there were massive crowds to see him and there were screams for autographs when he was done and there hasn't been any of that without him this year. He has made it clear he hopes to return for the end of year championships at the O2 in London or for the Davis Cup final should Spain beat the USA. Another big player struggling is Mardy Fish who appears to have had another of those palpitations attacks this week and that is such a shame for him. After all the work he put in to make it to the top ten and then to have this damage his fitness is a major blow for the American. Hopefully it won't be anything long term and we hope that both players make it back on to the court as soon as possible.
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