Mens
Last nights two
mens quarter finals provided mixed fortunes for Spanish fans.
Starting with Richard Gasquet against
David Ferrer, both players push each other hard during their
marathon match which lasted nearly five hours. It seemed like it was
going to be a straight win for Gasquet who raced to a two sets to
love lead (63 61) however forth seeded Fereer used his experience and
the mentaility that he has beaten Gasquet 8 out of their last 9 meets
to his advantage to level that match taking the third and forth set
(64 62). This was still not enough from Fereer as Gasquet produced
more dominance in the five set to take the set and match 63 61 46 26
63. Gasquet has now equaled his best grand slam performance
(Wimbledon SF,07) with this fantastic win.
Meanwhile for the
new king of Hard-courts (not clay!) Rafael Nadal continued his
impressive performance at Flushing Meadows by crushing 19th seed and
Roger Federers conqueror Tommy Robredo 60 62 62. The score was
preticuarly impressive considering the high level of confidence
Robredo would of carried into the match due to beating Federer but
giving Nadals Shockinly good performance so far in the tournament we
really shouldn't be so surprised. Below is a list of just how good
Nadal has been this year at Flushing Meadows:-- Has yet to drop serve at the 2013 US Open, holding 67 times
- Statistically has the most potent forehand in the tournament (97 winners)
- Has won 36% of points when facing first serves and 60% returning second serves
After the match
Nadal said (quoting bbcsport.co.uk):-
"I
think I played great the first set - it's my first set so far this
year at 100%," said Nadal, who returned from a serious knee
injury in February.
"I
did all the things that you expect to do good in the first set, in my
opinion. I am very happy with the way that I moved myself on court,
very happy with the way I hit my forehand and my backhand especially.
"So
in general it was my best match of the tournament, so that's great
news."
Womens
Second seed
Victoria Azarenka eased her way to the semi finals with a 62 63
win over experienced Slovakian Hantchova. This was a more
convincing performance by Azarenka after her pervious two three
setter matches against Ivanovic and Cornet. In the semi final she
will play the underdog of the tournment Flavia Penetta.
Something magical always seems to happen to Penetta during the US
Open for some reason with the Italian also reaching the quarter final
stage before in 2008,2009 and 2011. In her match yesterday against
fellow Italian Vinci, Pennetta eased her way to a 64 61 victory.
Commenting on her shock run at this year tournment she said (quoting
sky sports UK):-
"From the first day of the tournament I never thought I would be here and be talking about the semi-finals.
"I
didn't play my best tennis in the last six months, and I just tried
to keep working and working the same way every day.
"I'm
starting to feel more my forehand, my backhand. Everything is
starting to feel more normal in the way it was before the injury.
"I'm
playing really good tennis here. Every day is much better. Every day
was tougher and I've adjusted, tried to use everything I have and
take it to the court and play my best tennis."
This will now mean
that the women's semi finals will consist of veterans with 3/4
being over 30 with the exception of Azarenka who is 24. Asked by
the media about this Azarenka said:-
"I
think it's just showing that our sport is taking physical ability to
another level. You see everybody taking care of their bodies much
more, really paying attention to nutrition, fitness, everything.
Everybody is working out."
No comments:
Post a Comment