Matches of the Day:
Towards the sharp end of the tournament, there are only four singles matches scheduled today - the remaining two women's quarterfinals, and the first two of the men's quarterfinals. Thus, on Ashe Stadium, singles action begins later than has been the case so far this fortnight, with the first scheduled match being doubles.
In the first singles match, Flavia Pennetta plays Dinara Safina. Safina should be the heavy favourite to win here. She leads the head-to-head 4-0, with two victories recorded on hard courts earlier this year, including the final in LA.
Next, the highly-anticipated showdown between Andy Murray and Juan Martin Del Potro. In addition to their much-publicised spat in Rome earlier this year, there's also the added spice that the two, just behind Rafael Nadal, have topped the US Open Series points table. Murray reached a semifinal in Toronto, and won Cincy, while Del Potro is currently on a 23-match winning streak. including hardcourt titles in Washington and Los Angeles. Their only career meeting to date was on that notorious Roman night, when the two split sets before Del Potro was forced to retire injured in the third.
The evening session kicks off with the quarterfinal between Venus Williams and Serena Williams. Given the way the sisters have been playing so far, I'd say that whoever wins this match is the favourite for the title. Their head-to-head is tied 8-8, with Venus having won their last encounter, in the Wimbledon final.
Finally, Rafael Nadal plays Mardy Fish. Nadal has won all four of their matches to date, two on grass and two on hardcourts. Fish has yet to take a set from Nadal, but he looked convincing during his last two matches against James Blake and Gael Monfils - both straight-sets wins. Nadal's four-set win over Sam Querrey in the fourth round looked scrappy by his standards, while Fish should have plenty of crowd support.
Player of the Day:
On balance, I think this must go to the unseeded Gilles Muller, yet again. Not content with defeating Tommy Haas and Nicolas Almagro in five-setters in earlier rounds, yesterday he disposed of number five seed Nikolay Davydenko in a mere four sets, fighting off set points in the tiebreak that ended the match. Yesterday's first two men's matches were something special,though, with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic each being pushed to a fifth set, by Igor Andreev and Tommy Robredo respectively. Either of the latter two might have been Player of the Day on any other day, thoroughly exceeding expectations.
Weather Report:
Today, tomorrow and Friday are all expected to be hot and sunny. As of today, heavy rain is forecast for Saturday.
As always, enjoy today's tennis.
