Arena Federer/Nadal/Djokovic Era - Now 1/3rd Over

All Italian women's quarterfinal and all-Spanish men's quarterfinal. Sun-drenched coastal people of Europe: please stop dominating tennis.

 

So watching Murray play Istomin contrasted so vividly with Wawrinka/Berdych. W/B were just "CRUSHING" the ball while Murray and Istomin looked like a NTRP 3.5 match. I'd hate to play Wawrinka atm. He's playing rugged, tough, and hardhitting tennis.

 

If Hantuchova wins tonight, unlikely as that seems, there won't be any woman under 30 years old in the semi-finals.

 

Nadal bageled Robredo 6-0 in the first set and won the second 6-2. It's 2-2 right now in the third.

 

masterful performance by nadal.

 

Nadal is a runaway freight train at the moment. You can't play much better than he has lately.

 

I've seen Nadal be dominant on clay before but I've never seen him be so convincingly crushing on hard court. Last night was totally impressive, especially given the fact that the wind was a major factor. never would have known. Be wary, Gasquet. Be very wary.

 

It's easy to imagine Djokovic and Murray beating the crap out of each other in an epic five-setter with the winner being smoked by Nadal in straight sets.

 

Nadal is looking good and has had an excellent hard court season, but I would point out that he hasn't played anyone who can actually test him yet in this tournament. Still, Djokovic and Murray have been a bit underwhelming so far so I expect Nadal to win. Azarenka looked pretty shaky too so Serena is the clear favorite.

 

i could actually see murray losing tonight. as -polymath- said, wawrinka is playing great right now. no idea how djokovic has been "underwhelming" though. he's lost a total of 7 games in his last two matches. i'm not sure nadal is the clear favorite, a djokovic/nadal final could be epic. they played in the semis in montreal a month ago and nadal won it in a third set tiebreak.

 

In the matches I've seen he hasn't looked as sharp, as he hasn't all summer, IMO. And these days its very easy for the high seeded players to sweep through their matches until the semi-finals. His only test came against a tired Youzny.

 

huh, did they play that match already?

 

murray down a set.

 

and he's out. absolute domination from stan. i actually like his chances if he does face novak, we'll just have to see how he handles the pressure of his first major semifinal.

 

Nice to have a new face in the semis.

 

Stan is just on a tear this tourney. He's absolutely crushing the ball. Great to see a different swiss do well at a grand slam.

 

Wow.

 

Man, Murray got owned

 

wow, great fight from youzhny to take the third set. glad i resisted the temptation to turn it off after the second.

 

stan one set away, but novak finally lifting his game. this turned into a really compelling match.

 

that was one of the best games i've ever seen. amazing how close these guys are right now. glad wawrinka's injury doesn't seem to be an issue.

 

no kidding. Wawrinka is a beast.

 

gah, every time i say something in the middle of a match it seems like i jinx it. wawrinka looking a bit gassed now.