Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray are one round away from a semifinal showdown in New York. They are first set for respective Thursday meetings with Mikhail Youzhny and Stanislas Wawrinka.
(1) Novak Djokovic vs. (21) Mikhail Youzhny
Djokovic and Youzhny will be facing each other for the ninth time in their careers when they collide in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open on Thursday night. The head-to-head series stands at just 5-3 in Djokovic’s favor, but he has won three of their last four hard-court meetings and Youzhny has never gotten the best of his favored opponent outdoors. They most recently clashed this spring on the clay courts of Monte-Carlo, where Djokovic survived 4-6, 6-1, 6-4. Youzhny’s last victory came at the Rotterdam event in 2010.
Not surprisingly, it has been a different kind of fortnight so far for these two competitors. Djokovic has cruised past Ricardas Berankis, Benjamin Becker, Joao Sousa, and Marcel Granollers while playing just one tiebreaker against Becker. The top-ranked Serb had not been at the top of his game this summer, but he is in ruthless form at the moment. Youzhny needed three hours and 58 minutes to overcome Hewitt in a five-set battle on Tuesday afternoon. The 24th-ranked Russian preceded that win with defeats of Nicolas Mahut, Alexandr Dolgpolov, and Tommy Haas–losing only one set to Haas during that stretch. Youzhny is playing well, but this should be straightforward unless Djokovic delivers a suddenly mediocre performance.
Pick: Djokovic in 3 losing 8-10 games
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(3) Andy Murray vs. (9) Stanislas Wawrinka
Wawrinka and Murray will be squaring off for the 14th time in their careers and for the second time this season. Murray leads the head-to-head series by a modest 8-5 score, but he boasts a more daunting 6-2 mark on hard courts. They have split a pair of U.S. Open showdowns–Murray in straight sets in 2008 and Wawrinka 6-7(3), 7-6(4), 6-3, 6-3 in 2010. Their most recent encounter came this spring on the clay courts of Monte-Carlo, where Wawrinka rolled 6-1, 6-2.
Murray, of course, is a far more formidable force on the hard stuff. He is the defending champion in New York and so far this fortnight he has dismissed Michael Llodra, Leonardo Mayer, Florian Mayer, and Denis Istomin–losing sets to the first Mayer and Istomin in the process. The third-ranked Scot is 41-7 for the year, which includes a triumph at Wimbledon and also a title in Miami. This is the second Grand Slam quarterfinal of 2013 for Wawrinka, who suffered a heartbreaking fourth-round Australian Open loss to Djokovic but outlasted Richard Gasquet 8-6 in the fifth to reach the last eight at Roland Garros. The 10th-ranked Swiss has advanced in New York by taking out Radek Stepanek, Ivo Karlovic, Marcos Baghdatis, and Tomas Berdych. All signs point to a thriller, with a slight edge going to Murray based mostly on his confidence and experience from playing as a two-time major champion.
Pick: Murray in 5
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Expecting a cracker of a match between Murray & Wawrinka.
The Scot has to be favoured – but Wawrinka had a fine season (that June-July-early August blip aside) and could test the defending champion.
Hope for a classic. Wawrinka has beaten him here before and took out Berdych the other day (who could have also been a bane for Andy).
Good luck to all players!
PS: Fleeting thoughts on the “second” Swiss, should anyone be interested to have a read…
http://www.sportsbox360.com/editorial-14678-tennis-stan-and-deliver
yep, this one should be awesome.
Forget the pep pills to stay awake for the Murray match – shake out the tranquillisers!
Andy had better be wide awake for this match if he wants to play Djoker in the SF. Stan is finally coming out from under the shadow of his countryman and will be hellbent on making a statement. IF he holds his nerve and doesn’t succumb to stage fright he could give Andy all kinds of a headache.
Reblogged this on Tennis Abides.
@ed
As long as it’s a headache and not heartache…
A 5 setter, even if Andy wins, would be a horrible disadvantage if he were to meet Nole next round 🙁
Stay strong Deucy and dont hide behind that sofa! Andy needs you!
Hoping for an Andy-Rafa final. Even though my loyalties will be comprised.
Waiting for Andy to come on court. Meanwhile watching the highly entertaining doubles SF. Step and Paes are taking it to the Bryan brothers.
i will not watch the match live.. fingers crossed.. andy please win it this in straights……….
wawa seems to be getting better with age ! I pick andy in tough 4 sets…
Tennis.com has picked andy in 4 sets and even for nole-youzh they have nole in 4
Matt cronin has picked nole in 4 while andy in 5…
Wow. Step and Paes crush the Bryan brothers’ dream of the Calendar Slam.
I think this match is going to be very competitive. I am expecting Murray to raise his level of play for this one. We know that Berdy can be a tough opponent for Murray, but Stan is also dangerous when playing well. He played some great tennis to get the win against Berdy.
I went back and forth on this one. I finally voted for Murray in four. But it could go either way, four or five sets. For Murray’s sake, I hope it’s four.
There’s a lot of wind swirling around on the court. Who handles the conditions best could be the deciding factor.
this will be a good one. as was the doubles match.
My least favourite commentators covering this match 🙂 Think I’ll switch to the Frenchies.
Watching Wawa’s SHBH and comparing it to Reeshad’s, I think Reeshad’s is better……….
Agreed. His has more power behind it. Stan’s cross court forehand is impressive but can be wayward when he goes down the line with it.
Bad moment for Andy to serve a DF. And now Stan has a BP 🙁
Looks like I will never be able to warm myself up for Muzz 😉
How can someone like a person who keeps on cursing and beating himself :p
abhirf: He’s definitely an acquired taste 😉
As we thought, this is going to be a long match.
NNY: And I thought Muzz had taken a resolve to cut down on his swearing habit 😉
yeah, this looks to be a long and entertaining match. That’s why I’m still awake at 1:15 am.
Ahm.. Typo.. I was referring to you @Ed, not @Nny. Sorry 🙂
I thought that Lendl broke Murray of that habit of cursing and getting agitated on court. When I left home Stan had just won the first set. I know they said it’s windy on the court today. But I came home to see Murray down two sets! What is going on here? I knew that Stan could be dangerous, but Murray has the game to beat him.
I know you were referring to ed, but I chimed in anyway!
Shocking to see this. I don’t know what to say.
Take back what I said about Stan’s DTLF. He’s painting the lines with it tonight.
Yeah. Another example at 30-15 (2-1) in the 2nd.
Does Muzza really want to go to 5 sets, with a possible Novak semi coming? Did not expect Wawa to trouble Muzza on HC, clay yes, but HC?
This is far from entertaining and If Andy doesn’t get his act together PDQ the match isn’t going to be that long either 🙁
When will Muzz really start playing like a top player ala Fed, Nole or Rafa?
Though I feel like this will unfold like this years AO 4th rd b/w Nole n Wawa.