By Rosangel Valenti, TW Contributing Editor
Good morning - or good afternoon if you happen to be in the European zone like me. I've been watching the night sessions, so I've definitely been around at TW at some point this morning already, US Open time, but, having caught up on sleep, it still feels like morning here.
Please use this post to record your match-calling, analysis or other thoughts on today's tennis at Flushing Meadows. Due to the heavy volume of traffic at the site during this fortnight, we'd be grateful if you could keep your conversations focused on tennis until it's over for the day. We are already regularly putting up an extension Crisis Center every evening during Grand Slams when the number of comments gets too great for the post to load quickly, and too many off-topic comments put even more pressure on TW real estate. Tennis-related items will be considered on-topic.
!KeiMatches of the Day:
Men, Third Round. There are three matches that catch my attention today. First, Radek Stepanek plays Roger Federer. These two players have met surprisingly few times - Federer leads the head-to-head 4-2. However, it was Stepanek who upset Federer in Rome earlier this year, 7-6, 7-6, and the wily Czech has been involved in some great hard-court matches over the years, none more so than his epic battle with Novak Djokovic in the second round at the US Open last year, which ended in a fifth-set tiebreaker. Stepanek hasn't had great results on hard courts recently, but he should prove to be a good test of where TMF is at.
Secondly, 15th seed Tommy Robredo, after defeating Marat Safin, takes on 19th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who dispatched Carlos Moya in the previous round. The two have never met before, but it could be a nice contrasting matchup. Then, during the night session, Novak Djokovic plays Marin Cilic. Djokovic won their only encounter, in Dubai earlier this year, 6-4, 6-3, but Cilic is a rapidly improving player, won his first ATP title a week ago, and gritted out a four-setter against Robby Ginepri in the second round, during which he showed considerable composure and served well.
Women, Fourth Round. First on Ashe Stadium, Jelena jankovic meets Caroline Wozniacki for the second time, after being taken to three sets at Wimbledon earlier this summer. Later in the day, Patty Schnyder, seeded 15, takes on Katarina Srebotnik, who defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova in the previous round. The current head-to-head is 3-1 in favour of Schnyder. Then, during the evening session, Li Na faces Elena Dementieva. Both did well in Shanghai, but didn't meet there. Their head-to head is 1-1, with Li having won their latest match, in Sydney last year, over three tough sets.
Player of the Day:
There's an embarrassment of riches to choose from on the ATP side yesterday, with four of the eight matches going the distance: Stanislas Wawrinka over Flavio Cipolla, Andy Murray over Jurgen Melzer, Juan Martin Del Potro over Gilles Simon. and Kei Nishikori over David Ferrer. In addition, Mardy Fish's three-set victory over James Blake counts as an upset, and Sam Querrey recorded a fine three-set defeat of Ivo Karlovic, seeded 14th. Not to mention Gael Monfils' win over David Nalbandian. Really, Rafael Nadal's three-set victory over Viktor Troicki, beloved as the third-set bagel was by many Nadal fans, was the exception to the day's unpredictability.
Murray's victory over Melzer contained some splendid moments, particularly when, after losing an early break advantage in the third set, two points from defeat, he landed a 138 mph serve in the box for an ace, and in winning the set, swung the momentum the match firmly in his favour.
However, the Player of the Day for me was Kei Nishikori. He took the first two sets over the world number four, Ferrer, who never stopped battling until the end, with his ranking on the line and a semifinal to defend. Then in sets three and four, the 18-year-old was outplayed, and looked tired. Somehow, in the fifth, he found the resources to win those key points that earned him a break. He served for the match, held a match point - and lost it after Ferrer came up with a desperate lunging pass off a netcord. Finally, he managed to break Ferrer on his third match point while leading 6-5 - not by waiting for Ferrer to miss, but with a cool forehand winner into the corner. High-quality, forward-moving tennis, and simply breathtaking.
Weather Report:
Today is predicted to be hot and sunny.
As always, enjoy today's tennis.