Wet and Nasty Conditions Looming: Serena and Clijsters Up First – Nadal Match to Resume

On the women’s side, this is the clash that many people hoped for. Serena Williams has yet to blink running through 5 rounds of tennis like she was on vacation. The “Working Mom” Kim Clijsters is one of the great “feel good” stories of the tournament.

Clijsters won’t feel good for long. She’s been very impressive so far, but no woman on the planet is match for Serena right now. Williams serves too well, moves too fast and hits too hard for anyone to pose a serious threat. But Clijsters had a great run.

After that match wraps up, Rafael Nadal will resume his contest against Fernando Gonzalez. Nadal’s match got suspended last night, not once, but twice. Rafa is up a set and on serve in a 2nd set tiebreaker by a score of 7-6, 6-6(3-2).

Nadal aggravated an abdominal injury last night, but should be able to push past Gonzalez. The cold and wet conditions are apparently compounding the injury issues for Nadal and today’s conditions won’t be any better than the weather was last night.

Although advancing to the semis would be a great accomplishment for Nadal, he would run into the red-hot Juan Martin Del Potro. Del Potro struggled with the wind early in his match against Marin Cilic, but then overcame the conditions and swatted Cilic away 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-1.

No one wants a piece of Del Potro including Nadal. But Nadal has pressing issues to take care of this afternoon, before he can worry about the semis.

A Summer Off May Be Exactly What Nadal Needed

Rafael Nadal proves it time and again - Never count him out!

Very often, I'm not happy to admit that I was wrong, but this time is different. Plagued by a summer of knee issues, few writers thought they would still be covering Rafael Nadal during week 2 of the U.S. Open Tennis Championships, but here he is - playing Fernando Gonzalez in the quarterfinals.

Rafa’s knees have come through with flying colors and he’s done well to overcome an abdominal injury earlier in the tournament. He was pushed to the limit in a four set win over French strongman, Gael Monfils in the 4th round. Nadal split two of the most physical sets you’ll ever see against Monfils before taking him out in four sets.

Going back to today’s quarterfinal matchup - Nadal has easily beaten Gonzalez five straight times and today should be no different. Gonzalez has a 3 and 6 lifetime record against Rafa and two of those wins have come on hard courts, but that is ancient history. If Rafa holds up physically, he should win this one in straight sets.

In the other quarter, my pick to win the tournament has me a bit worried now. When I picked Juan Martin Del Potro to steal his first grand slam title away from Federer this year, I foolishly never thought he might have to encounter Nadal. I’m staying with Del Potro for now, but I may change my mind for the next round.

Of course I’m way ahead of myself right now – for Del Potro to get to the semis, he must take out Marin Cilic from Croatia. I don’t think that’s going to be much of a problem for him, but that’s why they lace up the sneakers. Look for Del Potro to cruise past Cilic in four sets and meet Rafa in the semis.

Murray Melts Down, Del Potro Hungry for More

Andy Murray: Missing in action, knocked out in the 4th round.

Most experts in the tennis world felt that the time had come for Andy Murray and the United Kingdom. Most experts were wrong. Andy Murray got dropped on Arthur Ashe Stadium today by Marin Cilic from Croatia and I’m not really sure why.

Andy Murray fell off the face of the earth after the first set losing 7-5, 6-2, 6-2. Cilic didn’t do anything particularly impressive, he just kind of showed up.

Murray displayed no real fight and not much emotion. He went out there, got his butt kicked and left. Not much more to say except that the people in the U.K. are going to be pissed when they see the low-lights from this match..

Cilic earns (sort of) a quarterfinal matchup against the 6th seed Juan Martin Del Potro, my pick from the start to win the whole darn thing. ((Article: Beware the Dark Horse from Argentina)) It’s safe to say that I’m in the overwhelming minority here.

Del Potro wasn’t a popular pick when I selected him to shock the world and win the Open and he still isn’t. Regardless of that fact, this six-foot-six Argentine has been racing around this tournament punishing his opponents with remarkable speed and sledgehammer-like power.

He treated Juan Carlos Ferrero like a speed bump, thumping him 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. I believe that even the mighty Federer will wilt under the barrage that Del Potro will bring to him. Stay Tuned!