Djokovic, Nadal brace for old-school assault at US Open

Top-ranked players to play last-four matches today.

NEW YORK: Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal must quell a double-edged assault from masters of the dying art of the single-handed backhand if they are to set up a blockbuster US Open final.

The world’s top two men have comfortably been the best players at the tournament with Djokovic dropping just one set in five rounds and Nadal not having been broken.

While the top seed and Nadal have reigned supreme, defending champion Andy Murray slumped to a quarter-final loss to Stanislas Wawrinka in straight sets 6-4, 6-3, 6-2.

Murray showed signs of extreme unhappiness as he crashed out of the event.

“I would have liked to have played a little bit better,” said Murray. “It’s a shame I had to play a bad match.

“I don’t know if I’m meant to win every Grand Slam I play or be in the final. It’s just very, very difficult just now. With the guys around us, it’s very challenging.”



As the tournament progresses, today, six-time major champion Djokovic, playing in a 14th successive Grand Slam semi-final and seventh in a row in New York – having defeated Russian 21st-seed Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-0 – will attempt to make Wawrinka’s maiden last-four appearance a painful experience.

Nadal, the 12-time Grand Slam title winner and the 2010 New York champion, faces Richard Gasquet, the French eighth seed and one of his closest friends on tour.

Gasquet, like Wawrinka, has reached his first semi-final of the US Open. The two outsiders also have something else in common — a lethal expertise in the one-handed backhand, something that neither Djokovic nor Nadal employ.

“I’m quite happy with my backhand,” said Wawrinka, who for the first time in his career has gone deeper into a Grand Slam than his more-celebrated compatriot Federer. “That’s one of my best shots.”

Gasquet primed for Nadal challenge

Nadal heads into his fifth US Open semi-final boasting 10-0 record over fellow 27-year-old Gasquet.

Despite that dominance, Nadal knows that Gasquet is battle-hardened, having needed five sets to see off Milos Raonic in the fourth round, in the longest match of the tournament so far, and then fourth-seed David Ferrer.

“I expect him to be very good,” said Nadal. “He’s playing a great tournament. Two great wins against Raonic and David. Five-set victories against tough opponents, that’s brilliant for him.”

French Open champion Nadal, by contrast, has been unbroken in 67 service games as he looks to win a 10th title of 2013 since his return from a seven-month injury layoff in February.

Gasquet, whose only other semi-final appearance was a run to the 2007 Wimbledon last-four, admits he is not a favourite, especially after Nadal dropped just four games in his quarter-final win over Tommy Robredo.

That was the fastest last-eight tie at the US Open in 25 years.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 7^th, 2013.

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