Federer and Soderling to Face Off

Roger Federer does what he always does. He reached his 26th consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal round and now only trails Jimmy Connors in that accomplishment. On Sunday, the Swiss number two seed had some help.

Locked in a tight second set tiebreaker against Austrian star Jurgen Melzer, Federer benefited from two timely let cords to win the set and derail any Melzer momentum. Federer’s new, more aggressive all court game seemed to have the hot Melzer off balance in the first set and when he claimed the second set, he was on his way to his fourth consecutive straight sets win, 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-3.

Federer will next play Sweden’s Robin Soderling who topped Spaniard Albert Montanes 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3. Last year, Soderling lost to Federer in the quarters but was successful in the quarters at Roland Garros this summer, ending Federer’s record for consecutive semifinal appearances.

Soderling is a fairly predictable player. He features a big serve and perhaps the best forehand in the game. Despite these impressive strokes, players who can get the Swede moving and work on his backhand have had success against the fifth seed.

Robin Soderling

In the Toronto and Cincinnati tournaments, Soderling was unable to play past the second round. Even with his big shotmaking abilities, his foot speed on the hard court is regarded as a tough flaw to overcome.

Soderling started slowly against Montanes but once he got control of the second set, he moved swiftly to the finish line. The Swede will need all his weapons against the always improving Roger Federer.

In another fourth round match, 3rd seeded Novak Djokovic notched an impressive straight set win against American Mardy Fish, 6-3, 6-4, 6-1. The repackaged Fish has been especially hot of late.

For the first time in his career, Djokovic has qualified for the quarterfinals in all four majors. To reach is sixth consecutive quarterfinal, Djokovic thoroughly outplayed the crowd favorite and, in fact, seemed to thrive on the environment. The key to Djokovic’s success was his ability to convert on six of 8 possible break points.

The Serb improved his record against Fish to 6-0. He will next play the talented Frenchman Gael Monfils who beat fellow Frenchman Richard Gasquet 6-4, 7-5, 7-5. The athletic Monfils has done well to reach the quarters and he could use a signature win against the three seed.

Caroline Tops Maria

Cinderella was a firm believer that if the shoe fits, wear it. On Monday the shoe for a princess was there for the taking and top seed Caroline Wozniacki knew just what to do. The beautiful Dane would not wait for good things to happen. Instead, she would make good things happen.

She did that by serving with extreme accuracy and plenty of power and by chasing down every ball and hitting exquisite groundstrokes. Two hours after she began her quest, she had reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open and did so with a signature win over former number one Maria Sharapova.

Although she clearly deserved to be the number one seed, many fans overlooked the Dane in discussions about the eventual winner. One of the reasons was that she would have to play through Sharapova who has been in top form for more than a month.

Prior to yesterday’s convincing 6-3, 6-4 triumph, Caroline had never won a set from Maria, much less a match. Maria came out firing and pressured Wozniacki at every turn, but the new princess of women’s tennis played with her usual calm and simply made very few errors.

Sharapova struck 32 winners but she gave away 36 unforced errors, while Caroline has just 10 unforced errors to go with he 16 winners. Sharapova had eight break opportunities but only converted one in what turned out to be the tell-tale statistic.

Wozniacki is now two wins form returning to the finals where she lost to Kim Clijsters last year. For Sharapova, the loss is her fourth crucial loss of the Grand Slam year. The bookmakers had installed Sharapova as the second choice, behind Clijsters, to win the tournament.

Caroline will next play Dominika Cibulkova, who engineered an upset over two-time Open Champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, 7-5, 7-6 (4). Cibulkova went toe-to-toe with Svetlana and rallied from 2-4 n the first set and then served beautifully in the second set tiebreaker to clinch the win.

The upset gained Dominika her second quarterfinal in a Grand Slam event. She also achieved to the quarters in the 2009 French Open.

Russia’s number seven seed Vera Zvonareva never gave Andrea Petkovic a chance to get on the match on Sunday. Zvonareva played aggressively from start to finish and breezed past Petkovic 6-1, 6-2 in one hour.

Up next for Vera will be Kaia Kanepi, the 31st seed, who came back against Belgium’s Yanina Wickmayer 0-6, 7-6 (2), 6-1. At the start of the match, Kaia had no answers for anything Yanina did. By the end of the match, it was Wickmayer who was wondering what just happened as she completely lost control of the match, the pace and the tempo.

Samantha Stosur at US Open

Sunday may not have been the most complete schedule but every match revealed something about the potential champion at this year’s U.S. Open. The most anticipated match of the day ended at 1:36 A.M. Monday when Samantha Stosur came back against a determined and experienced Elena Dementieva in a stirring 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (2) triumph.

Stosur, the fifth seed, withstood Dementieva’s beautifully executed all court play in the convincing second set. In the past, these have been the situations from which Stosur has been unable to compose herself. However, against Elena, Samantha relied upon the things she doles best to fashion a winning strategy.

The Aussie ramped up her speed and kept Dementieva off balance with selective net charges and deft volleys, but still had to withstand one match point at 5-3 and three more at 4-5 to finally get the third set to a tiebreaker where she quickly jumped to a lead she would not relinquish. Up next for the popular Aussie will be bookmaker favorite 2nd seeded Kim Clijsters.

Venus Willams

The Belgian is defending her title and going about her work in her usual methodical order. On Sunday, Clijsters may have dealt the former number one her most crushing defeat yet in a 6-2, 6-1 spanking to which Ivanovic is unaccustomed.

Sixth seeded French Open Champion Francesca Schiavone had an intense match with Russian star Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova winning in straight sets 6-3,6-0 just to announce her presence in the quarterfinals.

Schiavone will entertain third seeded Venus Williams in the quarters after Venus made quick work against Israeli Shahar Peer, 7-6(3), 6-3. For Peer the match was a breakthrough of sorts because she has never won more than four games in a set against the Israeli.

Venus looked very much like a number three seed who has quietly gone about her business and realizes that this U.S. Open may be her best shot at another major. With little sister Serena on the sidelines this Open has the most balanced field in many a year.

Wawrinka downs Murray

As he is prone to do, the best male player to have never won a tennis Grand Slam continues his once a fortnight lapse and fell to a more focused upset-minded competitor. Fourth seed Andy Murray had no answers for Stan Wawrinka’s penetrating one-handed backhand that helped the Swiss register 58 outright winners in the 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3), 6-3, 6-3 win.

When Wawrinka won the second set tiebreaker, he was clearly in command of the match. The win propelled Wawrinka into the fourth round for the third time in four years at the Open.

Wawrinka turned up the pressure on his serving in the third and fourth sets. After claiming the second set, he was barely pressured by the fourth seed who tends to go away quietly in big matches.

Youzhny Guns Down Isner

Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny quieted the pro-Eisner gallery by breaking the American’s serve in the first games of the first and second sets. The Russian made the break stand up in the first set and in the second claimed another break to take a 4-1 lead. This time, Isner answered with two breaks of his own. Isner broke twice and took command of the tiebreaker which he won on his 4th set point attempt.

By this time, the crowd knew something special was in the works and the grounds at Flushing Meadows came alive. After sealing the third set in another tiebreaker Youzhny began to return Isner’s with relative ease and pressured the 19th seed in every game. Youzhny won the fourth set 6-4 and joined the elite round of sixteen.

Also advancing is the top seed, Spain’s Rafael Nadal, who dismissed new father Gilles Simon after a quiet 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 third set match. Nadal is serving particularly well and is seeking to become just the fourth player to win three Grand Slams consecutively.

The Spaniard has advanced without losing a set. However, the U.S. Open is the one link missing from Nadal’s career Grand Slam. He has never reached the finals in New York.

One of the toughest matches of the day featured the eighth seed Fernando Verdasco and 2003 semifinalist David Nalbandian, who has been especially hot of late. The two hard hitters went right at each other from the start, but Verdasco’s hard court serve was too much for Nalbandian. Verdasco’s 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win kept him on track for a quarterfinal battle with Rafa.

Meanwhile Verdasco will face yet another Spaniard, Davis Ferrer who outplayed Daniel Gimeno-Traver 7-6 (2), 6-2,6-2. Feliciano Lopez advanced when Sergiy Stakhovsky retired down a set and 4-0.

Jankovic Falls to Kanepi and Wind

Estonia’s 31st seed, Kaia Kanepi, arrived with a plan and refused to be deterred by the offshoots of Hurricane Earl. The hard serving, pressing groundstroker charged through the first set and raced to a 5-3 lead in the second before the fourth seed managed a rally that Kaia abruptly swept aside, allowing Jankovic just one point in the tiebreaker.

The upset sets up a hard-hitting 4th round match with Belgian slugger Yanina Wickmayer. The 15TH seed had a two hour thirty minute thriller with Patty Scynyder. In a see-saw emotional battle, Yanina claimed the brilliantly played battle 7-6, 3-6, 7-6 (6). Wickmayer will be favored over Kanepi but that is a round of 16 battle worth watching.

Top seeded Caroline Wozniacki is carrying herself well as a number one seed. She has risen above the media and stayed on course. Her quick 6-1, 6-0 dismissal of Chan Yung-Jan of Taipei is characteristic of the way the twenty year old has conducted herself. She has earned this number one seeding and it is hers until someone takes it away.

Unfortunately, she may meet that person in the next round, where Russian former number one Maria Sharapova is lurking in a Monday matchup. On Saturday, Maria swept American wildcard Beatrice Capra off the court after Capra had surprised 16th seed Aravane Rezai on Thursday. Sharapova’s 6-0, 6-0 effort sent a clear message to the Wozniacki camp. Sharapova holds a 2-0 career record against the Dane.

Seventh seeded Vera Zvonareva continues her track towards the finals with a strong performance against young Rumanian challenger Alexandra Dulgheru 6-2, 7-6 (2). Zvonareva is playing well and will be a difficult task for anyone.

Two-time former U.S. Open Champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 11th seed, earned a fourth round match by controlling her strokes and out-strategizing 23rd seed Maria Kirilenko 6-3, 6-4. Svetlana had lost the last two meetings between the pair, but, Hurricane Earl was a bigger problem for the youngster than for the past champion.

Roger Federer at US Open

The weather provided plenty of reasons to want to be somewhere else on Saturday rather than in New York, but for the top seeds, the Big Apple was the only place to be. Second seeded but bookmaker favorite, Roger federer notched his fifth consecutive win over Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4, 6-3 6-3.

In the one hour thirty-nine minute match, Federer converted four of his six break opportunities and notched his 54th U. S. Open triumph. He tossed 13 aces at the experienced Mathieu. After claiming the final in Cincinnati, Federer has a 42-10 record this season and can hardly be overlooked in any Grand Slam.

Hard playing third seed, Novak Djokovic, not only had to outplay crowd favorite James Blake but he had to overcome his skeptics, of which there are many.

Djokovic blew through the first set at 6-1 and then held off a Blake rally winning the second in a 7-6 (4) tiebreaker before capturing one break and holding on for the 6-3 final. The Serb seems focused and confidant as he approaches every opponent.

Robin Soderling

Sweden’s top player, Robin Soderling, was in top form on Saturday registering a surprisingly efficient 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 shellacking of Theo de Bakker of the Netherlands. Soderling struck 30 outright winners on the one hour 30 minute win.

Mardy Fish may be seeded 19th at the Open, but he is the player nobody wants to play right now. The svelte Fish is playing with loads of confidence, is covering more court than ever and is serving with awesome efficiency. Fish needed all those attributes to put away determined Frenchman Arnaud Clement 4-6, 6-3,6-4, 1-6, 6-3. It was Mardy’s first win over Clement in seven years. Fish and Djokovic will meet in a tough round of sixteen bout.

Austrian Jurgen Melzer, the 13th seed, downed Spaniard David Ferrer 7-5, 6-3, 6-1. Melzer was unbothered by the gusts while Ferrer seemed to be wrestling with his ball toss and his backhand throughout the match.

Janko Tipsarevic, who burst on the scene with a solid victory over popular Andy Roddick, lost a gut-wrenching match to another Frenchman Gael Monfils, 7-6(4), 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-4. Monfils continues to awe the fans with his daring athletic play.

Kim Clijsters of Belgium

In a tournament where Serena Williams is out due to injury, consistency hs become the key to the tactics of the higher seeds. 2nd seed Kim Clijsters knows the danger of laying back and allowing lesser players to find winning ways. 19-year old Czechoslavakian Petra Kvitova is one of those dangerous players that will be in the headlines within one or two years and is just one b ig upset away from breaking though.

After a slow start on Friday, Clijsters kept the young left-hander at bay. The popular Belgian lost the first three games before running off 12 straight games to win 6-3, 6-0 over a future star-to-be.

The win set up an inriquing match between Clijsters and crowd pleaser Ana Ivanovic. Ivanovic is playing, and more importantly, serving with a free stroke, a steady ball toss and a newfound confidence that paved the way to a 7-5, 6-0 win over wildcard Frenchwoman Virginnie Razzano.

The two former number ones are both attempting comebacks and while Clijsters won in New York last season, she has been out for a while with a leg injury. Ivanovic simply disappeared as she developed a psychological problems with her serve.

Samantha Stosur

Two other big names emerged from Friday’s matches on a crash course . Former two-time Champion at the Open, Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova has recently begun to swing back into competitive form. When new Russian star, Maria Kirilenko, won on Thursday, it set up an interesting match between one of Russia’s senior stars against a strong rookie. Kirilenko has won three of their four matches this season, but Kuznetsova is a much more formidable opponent on the hard court surface.

Third seeded Venus Williams is keeping a well-dressed low profile in her Open quest. The 30-yeaar old American needed just 66 minutes to bump Luxembourg’s Mandy Minella out of the tournament with a 6-2, 6-1 win.

With her defeat of Sara Errani (6-2, 5-3), Samantha Stosur kept the dream match between Stosur and 12th seeded Elena Dementieva aiive. Although haing a terrific season, the Australian is just 1-4 lifetime against the smooth Russian.

In this match, the player who serves better will win. Stosur is regaded to have on of the best serves in the game while Dementieva seems to have lost confidemce in her serve. There are very few players with groundstrokes as solid as the Russian’s.

Rafael Nadal at US Open

Seven Spaniards won on Friday while 5 Frenchmen lost to round out the Round of 32. More importantly, top seed Rafa Nadal held his place to meet Andy Murray, the fourth seed, in the semifinals.

Ironically, Nadal has five Spaniards remaining in his quarterfinal bracket. Uzbekistani’s Dennis Istomin battled Nasal late into the night on Saturday and left little doubt that Uzbekistani has a place in the world of tennis. Istomin is no stranger to the underdog role and after a shaky fist set, he jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the second set tiebreaker.

The greatness of Rafael Nadal’s talent can be recognized by the way in which the world’s top player methodically chipped away at Istomin; coming back from 1-5 in the second set tiebreaker to win the second set in his 6-2, 7-6 (5), 7-5 victory. It should be noted that Istomin was up to the Spaniard’s relentless attack and competed at a very high level in the featured match of the day.

Meanwhile, Mardy Fish led a contingency of four Americans into round of 32 action. Joined by power servers Sam Querrey and John Isner, James Blake who kept his spirited run alive on Thursdays gave the USA a strong presence in the round of 32.

When needed, Isner can pile up some spectacular numbers as he did in four sets against Marco Chiudinelli of Switzerland. Isner fired 24 aces and 70 outright winners in the four set match. 18th seeded Isner will next play 12th seed Mikhail Youhzny who downed Israeli Dudi Sela in a 2 hour 36 minute 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 triumph.

Spain’s popular Fernando Verdasco, ranked 8th, played his best tennis of the tournament in a 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 one-sided victory over France’s Adrian Mannarino.

One of the few Spaniards to lose on Friday was M. Granollers who had his hands filled with the power serving and power forehands struck by American Sam Querrey.

David Ferrer (Becker 6-3, 6-4, 6-4), young Nicolas Almagro (Garcia-Lopez, 6-3, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-6(4), Fernando Lopez (Paire 6-4, 6-7 (4), 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-2, Colorful Tommy Robredo (6-4, 6-6 (ret’d), and D. Gimeno-Traver (Jerome Chardy, 4-6, 6-3, 6-0, 7-6 (2) complete the role of successful Spaniards on Friday.

The difference between winners and losers has become such a thin line, that more and more upsets take place in Grand Slam tournaments. The round of 32 will provide 16 winners, anyone of which is capable of going the distance at Flushing Meadows.

Tomas Berdych at US Open

Michael Llorda wants to win three tour titles this year but across the net stood Czech star Tomas Berdych, the seventh seed with a mission of his own. Llorda is considered a game competitor with great ball hawkng capabilities. Llorda has been around long enough to know that even the hottest players are susceptible to periodic slumps.

On Wednesday, Bedych had one of those days. Nothing was crisp and very few shots were offensive. The 7th seed did something he has not done in a longtime. He lost a winnable match and Llorda beat the trend by polishing off a polished player.

Llorda beat the French Open semifinalist and Wimbledon runner-up because he arrived at the court with an aggressive style in mind,. The change in tactics surprised Berdych and suddenly Llorda was dictating play and tempo. The 7th seed was regarded as a serious contender for his first Grand Slams.

Alas, it was not in the cards for Berdych, but he will have other days. In another appealingly unbalanced early round pairing, Ryan Harrison went for it was Harrisons time to be cast as against veteran Ivan Ljubicic, The match had little to offer Ljubic, but plenty to help the hapless Harrington.

Harrison, long known as a dynamic retriever, unleashed a bevy of serves and powerful two-handed backhands to balance the weighted paring. Harrison and Lbjucic and Harrison went at it for nearly 3.5 hours before Harrison clsimed the 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-4 victory.

America had more than its share of losrs on Wednesday as Josh Shock fell to Marcos Chuildineli and France’s Gilles Simon crushed the hopes of American Don Young 6-1, 6-4, 6-2. Then, along came 6’9” John Isner of the three days 11 hour 5 minute marathon Wimbledon match.

Better yet, Isner came with a strategy that smacked of “break me if you can but hold on for dearf life if you cannot.” Isner does not have the game to stay in longer points and although he covers the court well, he is certainly not blessed with Amdre Aggassi foot speed.

On Wednesday, Isner had the big gun firing as he served his way past Francesco Brown of Portugal 6-4, 6-3, 6-4. Isner never lost serv e and made the most of his three breaks,

In a batttle of Germans, Phillipp Kolschreiber was victorious over Theo Kamko 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. Guillermo Lopez, gritty Nicolas Almagro and Martin Granollers all advanced for mother Spain whose male team is very solid.

The last pairing of the night featured Americn favorite and former Champion at the Open Andy Roddck and Serbia’s Yanko Tipsarevic. With Querrey, Fish, Isner and Harrison, the USA stood to land another berth in the third round.

However, a determined Yanko showed up for this one and playing the best match of his career recorded a surprising -6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6(4). The second round defeat was the earliest loss by Roddick in nine second rounds at the Open.

After grabbing the first set with near flawless play, Andy could not fight off the relentless pressure from the Serb. The effects of Roddick’s monneucleus wrer apparent as Tipsarevic extended each game. At this point American flyweight Mardy Fish looks to b e the molst serious ciontender as the true status of Isner’s knee is unknown.

Venus Williams celebrates her win over Rebecca Marino

It is impossible to notice how different the 2010 U.S. Open feels. The absence of a clear favorite (Serena) and a very strong contender (Henin) have given hope to mid-level players and a chance to win for a good player who gets a few breaks. As week one winds down, the good players have protected their favored role status well, but there is no question that the presence of the game’s best player has fans and players a bit anxious.

While the full impact of the tour without Serena is measured, there is now pressure on high seeds to elevate play and arrive with a winner who will forever be known as the winner of the Open when Serena did not play. That role is probably best suited for Caroline Wozniacki, the number two seed. But, try as she might, Caroline lacks certain physical traits that Serena brings to every match.

The people who put their money where their mounts are, list three former number ones ahead of Wozniacki and there are certainly reasons to share their views. Clijsters, Venus and Maria Sharapova all looked solid reaching the round of 32 and these ladies know how to win.

Kim Clijsters of Belgium

On Wednesday, Kim Clijsters looked like a player with repeat potential. The Belgian’s win at the 2009 Open was one of the biggest shocks as the unranked tour returnee finished off Serena in the semis and then walked over Caroline in the finals.

Seeded third, the top Belgian crushed Australian qualifier Sally Peers 6-2, 6-1 in 68 minutes. Peer was obviously pleased to not only earn her way to the main draw but to win a match. For qualifiers, there are very few opportunities to buck the odds. Clijsters played her favored role to perfection in dominating throughout and working on manuevers she will need in later matches.

Williams had a similar match. Although pressed to a first set tiebreaker, Venus started to find all cylinders in the 7-6 (3), 6-3 win against 6’ Canadian Rebecca Marino, who had never played a top 50 performer before.

Lately, Venus has had trouble with early sets in early matches. This may be the reason she has little championship energy in the finals. To go all the way, Venus needs to sharpen her closing role.

Australian Samantha Stosur, the fifth seed, knows how to close, but she is fast replacing Elena Dementieva as the best player to have never won a Grand Slam.

Stosur has converted her renowned doubles skills to the singles court and has moved up in the rankings by five slots. On Wednesday, Stosur showed Australian Anastasia Rodionova how the game is played by displaying all aspects of an all-court game.

The day’s biggest upset was Argentina’s Gisela Dulko’s win over Victoria Azarenka, who was forced to retire after falling to the court. Victoria was down 1-5 at the time. Number thirteen, Marion Bartoli of France, fell to another Frenchwoman, qualifier Virginnie Razzano in two tough sets 7-5, 6-4.

As expected, Elena Dementieva (12), Shahar Peer (16) and a pair of Italians Flavvia Penmnetta and Francesca Schiavone all advanced.

Ana Ivanovic may not be playing well, but the former number one knows how to compete and what it takes to win a Grand Slam. The talented Serb made it look easy on Wednesday, defeating young Zheng Jie, 6-3, 6-0 in one hour.

American heartbreaker, Melanie Oudin is struggling this season but the 18-year old battled Alona Bondarenko to the bitter end 6-2, 7-5. Melanie has spent this season, her first full-time season, learning what it takes to win on the tour.. What she will be working on this off-season io her serve, which basically leaves her defenseless.