Today should be a very exciting day with some great matches at the US Open. After all this rain delay, the stage is set for the semifinals. The Top 4 guys made it into the semis in the men’s draw. On the women’s side there is one surprise player in Angelique Kerber from Germany. Let’s have a look at the match-ups!

Men’s Draw

Roger Federer vs. Novak Djokovic

This to me is the match of the tournament. Both of these guys seem to be in incredible form and I am looking forward to these guys trading punches in a tough match!

Federer surprisingly beat Novak in this year’s French Open, where he played an outstanding match. The two had three matches prior to the French this year, all on hard and all were won by Novak Djokovic! Overall Federer leads their head-to-head 14-9.

Federer loves the US Open and has an unbelievable record at this tournament. He won the title here five consecutive years from 2004-2008. In 2009 he lost lost in the finals in five sets to Juan-Martin Del Potro and last year he lost in the semifinals 5-7 in the fifth set to Novak Djokovic. The court surface suits his game extremely well because the ball bounces relatively fast and relatively low.

Djokovic of course is having a phenomenal year and should have incredible confidence at
this point. He has only lost two matches so far this year which is unbelievable
considering that he had to battle it out with two of the greatest players of
all time throughout the year!

As far as the match-up and the playing styles go I don’t see either player at a
disadvantage. Both of these guys stay rather close to the baseline and try to
dictate points. Federer has the better forehand and Djokovic has the better
backhand. Roger should have a slight edge when it comes to serving but Novak is
moving better than anyone else this year.

I expect this match to be incredibly close and it is hard to pick a winner here. I’m
gonna go with Federer just because in the last couple of matches I got the
feeling that Novak is a little bit tired after this tough year and Federer
looks fresh and hungry!

Rafael Nadal vs. Andy Murray

Andy Murray is still in the hunt for his first Grand Slam title. So far he has been in
three Grand Slam finals and lost all of them. He is playing great Tennis but he
also has to compete against three phenomenal players in Federer, Nadal, and
Djokovic at every Grand Slam!

Rafael Nadal is a really bad match-up for Andy Murray. Their head-to-head shows this
as Nadal is in the lead by 12-4. Murray also lost to Nadal at Wimbledon this year, which
was a really tough loss for him.

The reason this is such a bad match-up is that Murray
has not played offensive enough against Nadal in the past. Murray is not that comfortable playing very aggressive even though he has the weapons to do so. In order to beat Nadal you have to get some balls by him, which takes tremendous firepower. Murray prefers to slowly work the point and oftentimes lacks the aggressiveness and the powerful finish
that you need to beat Nadal!

Another factor seems to be that Murray does not play his best most aggressive Tennis when it really matters. He is 8-6 against Roger Federer for example, but lost the two most important matches in the Australian Open finals in 2010, US Open finals 2008 in straight sets!

Murray needs some kind of a mental breakthrough and start playing a lot more aggressive in these big Grand Slam matches. I don’t expect it to happen in this upcoming match!

Women’s Draw

Samantha Stosur vs. Angelique Kerber

Kerber surprised me by taking out Flavia Pennetta in the quarterfinals. Pennetta did
seem a bit tired and sore in the match but nevertheless Kerber played really
solid in her first Grand Slam quarterfinals match. Maybe she is one of those
rare athletes that rises up to the occasion and plays even stronger under
pressure.

Stosur was very impressive in her straight sets win over number 2 seed, Vera Zvonareva. It
seems like she is peaking just at the right moment this time!

These two players have never played each other before. Stosur plays a rather unique style
on the women’s tour with her heavy high-bouncing topspin shots. It might take a
while for Kerber to get used to these kinds of balls coming at her, since this
game style is quite rare on the women’s tour. Kerber on the other hand is a
lefty and likes to hit the ball flat from the baseline.

Even though my German heart wants Kerber to win this one, I believe Stosur will not let
this opportunity pass and expect Stosur to come out ahead!

Caroline Wozniacki vs. Serena Williams

I expect this to be the best match of this year’s US Open on the women’s side. Everyone
following the tournament knows that Serena is the favourite to win the title.
Nevertheless, Caroline Wozniacki has surprised many experts and seems to be in
great form. She is playing slightly more aggressive than in the past, which I
believe is a necessary change for her!

Surprisingly these two have only played each other twice. Serena won both of those matches on hard courts. Generally, I think Serena is a bad match-up for Caroline.
Caroline’s strength is that she can make the court really small for her
opponents by moving extremely well and counter-punching even better. In order
to beat her, players usually need some serious firepower to get balls past her.
Well nobody should have better abilities in this regard than Serena Williams!

Serena can hit winners against anybody from almost anywhere on the court, especially on
this fast surface. When she gets her serve going she can dominate the entire
match with it.

Nevertheless Caroline is in great form and I expect her to put up a good fight. At the end I
think Serena will come out victorious though!

So much for my semifinal preview. Hope you are excited about the upcoming matches!