Last Monday week the US Open began with 128 men fighting it out to win the final major of the year and now after almost two weeks of tennis were down to just four. For the first time in 33 Grand Slam events we have a semi final line up without Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer but three players are left fighting for their first Grand Slam title while the in form Novak Djokovic is looking to win his 5th major and second US Open title. In his way in tomorrow's semi final is the dogged Spaniard David Ferrer who is stepping up to represent Spain while Nadal is out injured. In the other semi final Andy Murray, still with no major to his name, takes on a resurgent Tomas Berdych. Play tomorrow begins at 11 a.m local time instead of the original time of 12 p.m due to the threat of rain and both games are sure to be full of excitement, emotion and superb tennis.
Novak Djokovic has been sensational throughout these championships and only Juan Martin Del Potro last night has managed to get more than three games in a set off him. He looks as good as he did through all of last year when he won three Grand Slams and that's going to make him very difficult to beat. The man with that challenge is Ferrer who has played some brilliant tennis himself this fortnight. He will be looking to take advantage of the fact that neither Federer or Nadal are here as he has lost to both in big tournaments so many times. Djokovic is a player he has had some success against in the past beating the Serb five times, although three of those wins came on clay. He will take confidence from his win over Djokovic in London last year on a hard court and, despite his three losses to Novak this year, he will be quietly confident. A huge question mark will be placed over Ferrer after his marathon match with Janko Tipsarevic where he showed incredible spirit to fight back and take the final set tie break. Fitness has never been an issue with Ferrer though as he has always been an unbelievable athlete. Ferrer is one of the greatest players to never win a major and this might be one of his last good chances to win one. The problem he faces is trying to hurt Djokovic. Novak has looked invisible so far in these championships and if he plays at the level he did against Del Potro I don't think anything Ferrer does will get him the win. He will need to be at his best from the back of the court to stay in rallies but he needs to find a way to shorten points which means either being aggressive and going for winners or coming to the net. He has shown in the past he can beat the best and has beaten Nadal on hard courts at Grand Slams before so he isn't a stranger to big wins. I don't see it coming tomorrow though as Djokovic just looks sensational. Novak in three or four sets.
Match of the day is certainly the one preceding the Djokovic-Ferrer encounter. Andy Murray may be the favourite to reach the final and I've already heard pundits talking of what Murray has to do against Djokovic. By all accounts he is already been placed in the final. Underestimating Tomas Berdych is very dangerous, just ask Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. He beat both of them on the way to the Wimbledon final and he beat Federer again on Wednesday night. He's got three wins over Nadal, five over Federer and four against tomorrow's opponent Andy Murray himself. For the past number of years people have dismissed Berdych because he is flaky upstairs but he has shown in the past year or so that he is able and ready to compete with the big boys. Murray has got through his matches realtively easily after a disappointing performance from Milos Raonic and a complete collapse from Marin Cilic allowed him play his best to advance. We know that Murray will be chasing down everything and looking to move Berdych from side to side but I'm not so sure he will get a chance to do that against the Czech player. Berdych hits a very flat ball and is taking it very early which makes him even more dangerous. He likes to go for his shots and be the aggressor and that sort of tactic means the game is always on his racquet. Murray needs to step up on to the baseline and try to attack Berdych which he seemed to be working on in practice today. Berdych is going to play from the baseline as usual and as long as he doesn't under perform he has got a great chance. It's easy to look past Berdych as he's been around a long time and hasn't won any big events but he is still only 26 and I think he has got time on his side to win multiple slams, it's the first one that will prove toughest. Of course it's not all about his own faults that have cost him winning slams and he offers a valid reason why he hasn't won,
“They are too good,” Berdych said, referring to the big three of Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer. “I think the statistics just make it quite clear. Probably if there wouldn't be three of them, maybe one or two, then it would definitely be different. But, you know, once one player is on the run winning almost everything, then he maybe gets injured or something, then there is another one, and he took a spot from him. Like Rafa was winning, and next season it was Novak doing the same. Now Roger is back. They are quite strong. That's how it is. We have to deal with that.”
He has got a real chance here having defeated Federer and Nadal not being here. He won't fear Murray and he won't fear Djokovic or Ferrer. I see Berdych playing another great match tomorrow night and the fact that it's the first match up will suit him. The heat will be greatest at that time and that makes the courts play faster which suits Berdychs game. Berdych needs to move as well as he did against Federer or he will face trouble. Murray has the creation to move Berdych side to side and back and forth but if Berdych is hitting power and taking the ball early then Murray doesn't get the time to move his opponent. I think this one will be a good match but I picked him against Federer and I will have faith in him again tomorrow. Berdych in four.
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