US Open men's singles semifinals preview: Maiden Slam in the offing

At least one of the three things mentioned below should work in your favour if you are one of the men’s singles semifinalists at Flushing Meadows aspiring to be in the finals of the last Slam of the year.

a) You are the one who is scheduled to play in the first semifinal.

b) Well, if you are not, then the least you can hope for is to see the second one getting completed in the shortest time possible.

c) Even if your second wish is not fulfilled, all you should do is ensure that you are not stretched too far by your opponent.

The cushion of 48 hours which men’s singles finalists normally enjoy in other Grand Slam events is missed every year here in New York. The winners of the “last four” on Saturday are made to compete on the very next day in the finals. So, like I said, playing in the first semifinal is highly imperative so that you get at 24 hours, if not more, to get yourself ready for the mega event. If the second semifinal extends to five sets, the winner will be left with, say, just 21 hours or less to recuperate from the marathon before going for the ultimate prize the very next day.

So we will see which one of the four individuals has the required skill and stamina to add a Grand Slam title against his name. The spots for the semifinals have been decided finally. Just by looking at the players’ names we can say they are going to fight for every single point with lengthy exchanges of shots from the baseline. In such a scenario, it is not easy predicting the outcome of a tournament when there is very little to choose between the players who are pitted against each other. However, I am going ahead and do that anyway, hoping that I don’t cut a sorry figure at the end.

Andy Murray vs Tomas Berdych:

It was here in Arthur Ash stadium that Andy Murray played his first ever Grand Slam final. Well, that was four years ago and the British No.1 is entirely a different player now. He is seeded No.3 here this year and was waiting to lock horns with five-time champion Roger Federer ever since the event started. After literally destroying the legendary Swiss on the grass courts of Wimbledon at the London Olympics, he was all set to build momentum as he looked forward for one more combat with Fedex. Not even an accurate fortune teller, if there was any, would have gone on to choose a different opponent for the Scot in the semifinals at Flushing Meadows. But the whole world was caught unaware as the Czechoslovakian Tomas Berdych, ranked No.7 in the world, usurped the lordliness of the Swiss Maestro by derailing him in four sets at the last eight stage, thereby claiming for himself a place in the semifinals against Andy Murray.

The last time Berdych was in a semifinal of a Grand Slam, he forced his way into the finals as he beat Novak Djokovic at the 2010 Wimbledon. Now, he is up against a man who is trained by his own countryman, the legendary Ivan Lendl. So at the end of the semifinals at least one Czech will be elated, after all. Purely going by the talent and current form, I do not foresee Berdych pulling off another upset, cetainly not against a man who is soon going to be elevated to No.3 in ATP rankings.

Berdych is going to hit flat forehands like he did against the Swiss, trying to force the error out of his British adversary. His strengths lie in his first serve and his powerful groundstrokes. But the consistency with which he is going to showcase them will decide his future. Murray, on his part, will try to squeeze the life out of Berdych by extending the rallies from the baseline at which he is very good. The British No.1 is not a bad server either. In fact, he can produce some lethal service games when required. To beat a player like Berdych you do not require heroics, and Murray understands that well. Being a much better baseliner than the Czech, all Murray needs to do is ensure that the ball is kept in play as long as possible. The Czech is neither fast on foot nor is he good at rallies of longer duration. Andy Murray can beat him on both counts. If Murray can get those smart return of serves going, he will almost invariably break Berdych’s serve at least once in a set. In short, Tomas Berdych does not seem to have enough weapons with him to nail the tactful game of Murray. The likely result is pretty obvious, in my opinion.

Prediction:
Winner – Andy Murray in straight sets.

David Ferrer vs Novak Djokovic:

It would be an understatement to say that the year 2012 has been a season of rejuvenation for David Ferrer. He has won five ATP titles so far and in doing so, has positioned himself second only to Roger Federer in the title count for the year. He reached his first ever quarterfinal at the All England Club this year and played a ripper of a baseline match against the eventual runner-up, Andy Murray. Yesterday, he played a blinder of a match against Serb Janko Tipsarevic, clinching a victory from the brink of defeat, after being a break down in the fifth set. He is a warrior who hates quitting and looks to be in the form of his life right now.

He’ll be up against the World No. 2 and the defending US Open champion Novak Djokovic in the semifinals. Ferrer clearly knows that he should be at the peak of his game to have any chance of outclassingthis Serb. So far, Djokovic has not dropped a set in the last ten days of the tournament. For the past two years, starting from Australian Open 2011, he has not lost a single match in the Grand Slam events held on hardcourts. The way he counter-attacked 2009 champion del Potro, finishing him off in straight sets in the quarterfinals during the night match on Thursday, clearly indicates as to who is the man to beat.

The semifinal match between the Spaniard and the Serb will be another epic quite similar to their quarterfinal clash at the Australian Open earlier this year. None of these two is known to relent during rallies, and we should be quite prepared to see a long match on Saturday. Djokovic, when he steps  on to the court against a Spanish bull like Ferrer, will be fully aware of what he needs to do. He can make Ferrer run, fetching balls from New York to Washington, and at times he himself can don the role of Ussain Bolt when it comes to “baseline patrolling.” Ferrer, being a weaker server, needs to get his first serves in as far as he can but even that cannot guarantee any freebies for the Spaniard as Djokovic is very clinical in his return of serves.

Djokovic returns the ball very deep off both his forehand and backhand and for a shorter man like Ferrer, particularly on harder surfaces, it becomes doubly difficult to get on the offensive. More than the Spaniard, Novak can quickly swap offense and defense regularly which can fox Ferrer, who lacks big match experience in a Grand Slam. On Ferrer’s part, he should try attacking the Serb’s forehand more often, angling his own cross court forehand deep towards the baseline, which is the only way he can sneak in a few points. The Spanish Bull will probably have a slight advantage over the world No. 2 in terms of unforced errors, but overall, the latter’s game is a lot more adaptable to hardcourts.

Prediction:
Winner – Novak Djokovic in four sets.

Final: Andy Murray vs Novak Djokovic

Champion: Andy Murray.