The story of the U.S Open quarter-finals was Roger Federer’s 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 win over Gael Monfils. The Frenchman took an error-ridden first set 6-4, which inspired him as he played some of his best tennis (10 winners to 4 errors) to win the second set 6-3. Federer, who made 26 errors in the first two sets, then focused and won the third with a 12-1 winner-error ratio. The Swiss then edged a tightly contested fourth set 7-5. That seemed to end the Monfils challenge as Federer then ran away with the fifth 6-2.
Federer will face Marin Cilic who upset sixth seeded Tomas Berdych 6-2, 6-4, 7-6(4). Cilic played some first class big-hitting tennis to repeat his Wimbledon upset of the Czech. The Croatian moves into his first U.S Open Semi-final.
Novak Djokovic battled past Andy Murray in a nervy encounter 7-6(1), 6-7(1), 6-2, 6-4. When these two meet, they bring out the best and the worst of each other. Murray had to better Djokovic at his aggressive baseline game to beat him in the ’12 US Open final and ’13 Wimbledon final, and his presence across the net made Djokovic edgy. The Serbian hit 48 errors to 46 winners, while Murray was 47-65.
Kei Nishikori beat Stan Wawrinka 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(7), 6-7(5), 6-4 to make his first slam semi-final. It was a heavy hitting affair, but Nishikori’s fitness held up to the Wawrinka challenge and he will give the world No.1 Djokovic a stern test on Saturday.
Commentary by Christian Deverille
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