New York:
The United States Open semifinals have been a New York stop sign for Rafael Nadal until now, a signal he has been too weary or too harried to ignore.
He is back in the same spot for the third straight year at Flushing Meadows, but it is difficult to imagine him stopping there this time after watching him blunt the power and well-founded enthusiasm of his Spanish compatriot Fernando Verdasco in the quarterfinals at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Thursday night.
The last time Verdasco faced Nadal on a hard court was also in a Grand Slam event, and Verdasco made his fellow left-hander work for five sets and more than five hours before Nadal prevailed in a classic semifinal at the 2009 Australian Open.
On Thursday, on another summer night in a different hemisphere, the eighth-seeded Verdasco produced some of the same flourishes -- huge forehands that had the crowd gasping with surprise, athletic lunges to the corners and wicked serves wide to Nadal's forehand in the ad court.
But this quarterfinal was an entertaining sprint instead of an engrossing marathon as Nadal -- in blustery, deeply challenging conditions -- produced perhaps the finest and most suffocating performance of all his U.S. Open matches.
True, Nadal lost his serve for the first time in the tournament and he did so early, but he soon broke back against Verdasco and then did not allow him another break point. Nadal went on to win, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4, in a tidy 2 hours 22 minutes.
"It's a very nice feeling to be in the semifinal for the third time in a row in one of the most important tournaments in the world, for me right now probably the most important," the top-seeded Nadal said on the court with the wind still whipping through his dark hair, once flamboyantly long but now no-nonsense short.
The U.S. Open remains the only major individual title that Nadal lacks. He has won the French Open five times, Wimbledon twice and the Australian Open once. He also won the singles gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
But he is a clear favorite to reach the final here, even if his surprise semifinal opponent, the 12th-seeded Mikhail Youzhny, has caused him trouble here in the past. Saturday's other semifinal will match No. 2 Roger Federer, a five-time champion here, against No. 3 Novak Djokovic.
Youzhny, a smooth-moving Russian veteran with an elegant one-handed backhand, defeated Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, 3-6, 7-6 (7), 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, in Thursday's first quarterfinal, a victory that required four hours to complete and an abundance of patience, hard running and deep thinking from both players.
But Nadal, like his archrival Federer, has not lost a set at the Open this year, and although Youzhny upset Nadal here in four sets in the 2006 quarterfinals, Nadal has won seven of their 11 matches and has clearly proven himself a hard-court champion since by winning in both Australia and Beijing.
Conditions in Ashe Stadium are considered quicker than in Australia, with a lower bounce. But Nadal said he feels fresh and has none of the energy issues that he believed affected his chances in his 2008 semifinal loss here to Andy Murray or any of the injury problems that contributed to his 2009 semifinal loss to Juan Martín del Potro. But Nadal chose not to contest Verdasco's post-match assessment that Federer was still the man to beat.
"For sure Roger is the favorite of the tournament, especially because he won five times and six finals in a row," Nadal said.
Youzhny reached the semifinals here in 2006 before losing to Andy Roddick. He is back there again and soon to be back in the top 10. None of that appeared likely late on Thursday afternoon when Wawrinka confidently ripped a huge ace into the corner to win the third set and take a two-sets-to-one lead.
The 25th-seeded Wawrinka was still riding the wave after upsetting Murray and outlasting Sam Querrey in five sets on his way to the quarterfinals. He was carving backhands with panache and reading the flow of play with prescience despite the tricky winds that have become the rule at this blustery Open. Meanwhile, Wawrinka's new coach, Peter Lundgren, who once tutored Roger Federer, was grinning in the players' box, leaping to his feet and barking out encouragement. With Federer already into the semifinals, it appeared that Switzerland was about to account for half of the Open's final four.
But Youzhny quashed those plans, proving fresher and more accurate down the stretch with Wawrinka destroying one of his rackets in frustration deep in the fifth set.
Youzhny has escaped from more difficult situations in the past, starting at the beginning. In 2002, in the Davis Cup final against France in Paris, his captain, Shamil Tarpischev, called on him to replace the struggling Yevgeni Kafelnikov in the fifth and final match.
Just 20 then, Youzhny rallied from a two-set deficit to defeat Paul-Henri Mathieu and secure the Cup for Russia for the first time. There was quite a celebration in Paris and back in Moscow, but Youzhny's emotions were mixed, because his father, Mikhail, had died suddenly just a few months earlier.
Eight years later, Youzhny is a father himself, but he still commemorates victories with a salute to all four sides of a stadium with his tennis racket resting on his head. It is hardly as straightforward a gesture as Andre Agassi's blown kisses and bows, but it still means plenty to Youzhny, whose father was in the military.
"It's my way of dedicating my victories to my father," he said.
Now, after four hours in the wind against Wawrinka, another victory would allow Youzhny to end any further chatter about a first Federer-Nadal final at the U.S. Open.
"I'm ready to be bad person," Youzhny said with a grin. "I love to be bad person in this case."
He is back in the same spot for the third straight year at Flushing Meadows, but it is difficult to imagine him stopping there this time after watching him blunt the power and well-founded enthusiasm of his Spanish compatriot Fernando Verdasco in the quarterfinals at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Thursday night.
The last time Verdasco faced Nadal on a hard court was also in a Grand Slam event, and Verdasco made his fellow left-hander work for five sets and more than five hours before Nadal prevailed in a classic semifinal at the 2009 Australian Open.
On Thursday, on another summer night in a different hemisphere, the eighth-seeded Verdasco produced some of the same flourishes -- huge forehands that had the crowd gasping with surprise, athletic lunges to the corners and wicked serves wide to Nadal's forehand in the ad court.
But this quarterfinal was an entertaining sprint instead of an engrossing marathon as Nadal -- in blustery, deeply challenging conditions -- produced perhaps the finest and most suffocating performance of all his U.S. Open matches.
True, Nadal lost his serve for the first time in the tournament and he did so early, but he soon broke back against Verdasco and then did not allow him another break point. Nadal went on to win, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4, in a tidy 2 hours 22 minutes.
"It's a very nice feeling to be in the semifinal for the third time in a row in one of the most important tournaments in the world, for me right now probably the most important," the top-seeded Nadal said on the court with the wind still whipping through his dark hair, once flamboyantly long but now no-nonsense short.
The U.S. Open remains the only major individual title that Nadal lacks. He has won the French Open five times, Wimbledon twice and the Australian Open once. He also won the singles gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
But he is a clear favorite to reach the final here, even if his surprise semifinal opponent, the 12th-seeded Mikhail Youzhny, has caused him trouble here in the past. Saturday's other semifinal will match No. 2 Roger Federer, a five-time champion here, against No. 3 Novak Djokovic.
Youzhny, a smooth-moving Russian veteran with an elegant one-handed backhand, defeated Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, 3-6, 7-6 (7), 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, in Thursday's first quarterfinal, a victory that required four hours to complete and an abundance of patience, hard running and deep thinking from both players.
But Nadal, like his archrival Federer, has not lost a set at the Open this year, and although Youzhny upset Nadal here in four sets in the 2006 quarterfinals, Nadal has won seven of their 11 matches and has clearly proven himself a hard-court champion since by winning in both Australia and Beijing.
Conditions in Ashe Stadium are considered quicker than in Australia, with a lower bounce. But Nadal said he feels fresh and has none of the energy issues that he believed affected his chances in his 2008 semifinal loss here to Andy Murray or any of the injury problems that contributed to his 2009 semifinal loss to Juan Martín del Potro. But Nadal chose not to contest Verdasco's post-match assessment that Federer was still the man to beat.
"For sure Roger is the favorite of the tournament, especially because he won five times and six finals in a row," Nadal said.
Youzhny reached the semifinals here in 2006 before losing to Andy Roddick. He is back there again and soon to be back in the top 10. None of that appeared likely late on Thursday afternoon when Wawrinka confidently ripped a huge ace into the corner to win the third set and take a two-sets-to-one lead.
The 25th-seeded Wawrinka was still riding the wave after upsetting Murray and outlasting Sam Querrey in five sets on his way to the quarterfinals. He was carving backhands with panache and reading the flow of play with prescience despite the tricky winds that have become the rule at this blustery Open. Meanwhile, Wawrinka's new coach, Peter Lundgren, who once tutored Roger Federer, was grinning in the players' box, leaping to his feet and barking out encouragement. With Federer already into the semifinals, it appeared that Switzerland was about to account for half of the Open's final four.
But Youzhny quashed those plans, proving fresher and more accurate down the stretch with Wawrinka destroying one of his rackets in frustration deep in the fifth set.
Youzhny has escaped from more difficult situations in the past, starting at the beginning. In 2002, in the Davis Cup final against France in Paris, his captain, Shamil Tarpischev, called on him to replace the struggling Yevgeni Kafelnikov in the fifth and final match.
Just 20 then, Youzhny rallied from a two-set deficit to defeat Paul-Henri Mathieu and secure the Cup for Russia for the first time. There was quite a celebration in Paris and back in Moscow, but Youzhny's emotions were mixed, because his father, Mikhail, had died suddenly just a few months earlier.
Eight years later, Youzhny is a father himself, but he still commemorates victories with a salute to all four sides of a stadium with his tennis racket resting on his head. It is hardly as straightforward a gesture as Andre Agassi's blown kisses and bows, but it still means plenty to Youzhny, whose father was in the military.
"It's my way of dedicating my victories to my father," he said.
Now, after four hours in the wind against Wawrinka, another victory would allow Youzhny to end any further chatter about a first Federer-Nadal final at the U.S. Open.
"I'm ready to be bad person," Youzhny said with a grin. "I love to be bad person in this case."
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