ANDY'S NYC COLLAPSE
The US Open is the arguably the first place where Andy Murray really made his name - by winning the junior event back in '04. It also proved to be where he got to the final of a senior Grand Slam for the first time - back in '08. Last time around though, his run at Flushing Meadows wasn't exactly awesome last time around. He got booted in the fourth round, with me barely following the tournament as I was out in Poland on GB basketball business. This time around, Murray came Stateside off the back of winning defending his Rogers Cup title - the first tournament he'd won this year. For the big one he was number 4 seed and despite last year's performance, everyone saw him as one of the favourites.
In the first round, Andy found himself up against the Slovakian Lukas Lacko. The first set turned out to be pretty straightforward for the Brit though his opponent wasn't completely dead meat. The second set again turned out to be smooth for the number four seed - in fact easier than the first! Credit to Lacko for winning the opening game of the third set but that didn't mean he could do anything about the Murray serve and the Brit won his opener 6-3 6-2 6-2. That meant that Andy kept up his run of six wins out of six US Open 1st round matches. Amazingly he was the only Brit in the men's draw on this occasion - come on guys, there have to be more players out there!
In the second round, Andy found himself up against a Jamaican called Dustin Brown. I suppose that if Jamaica can have a bobsleigh team, they can definately have tennis players. Well the first Jamaican professional tennis player I've ever heard of certainly caused a headache(as did some rain) but Andy still took the first set. Brown looked to be blown out of the water in the second set though but came back only for Andy to still grap that set. In the third set though Andy really did anhiliate his opponent and went on to win the match 7-5 6-3 6-0. That garunteed his fifth appearance in the third round of the US Open in a row - so far so good.
In the third round though Andy had to step up a gear against Stanislaus Warwinka. Well the first set was a lot messier than expected for Andy who had to scrabble to force a tiebreak, though he did manage to win that. The British number 1 initially looked to be running the 2nd set but then collapsed, allowing Warwinka to force a tie break which he used to level the match. The third set proved to be a seriously messy one for Andy, well neither player looked to be 100% fit but the bottom line is, it was Andy that looked like he couldn't hack it and Warwinka took the third set. He still had to take the forth set but the fourth set was not good viewing for Murray fans with the Brit crashing out 7-6(7-3) 6-7(4-7) 3-6 3-6.
As for the rest of the tournament, well the fourth round saw Rafael Nadal beat 23rd seed Feliciano Lopez 6-3 6-4 6-4 in one all-Spanish affair and Fernando Verdasco beat David Ferrer 5-7 6-7(8-10) 6-3 6-3 7-6(7-4) in another. Warwinka then saw off Yank San Querry 7-6(11-9) 6-7(5-7) 7-5 4-6 6-4 and Russian 12th seed Mikhail Youzhny beat another Spaniard Tommy Robredo 7-5 6-2 4-6 6-4. Gael Monfils beat Richard Gasquet 6-4 7-5 7-5 in an all-French affair and Novak Djokovic beat Yank 19th seed Mardy Fish 6-3 6-4 6-1. Finally Robin Soderling beat Spanish 21st seed Albert Montanas 4-6 6-3 6-2 6-3 and Roger Federer beat Jurgen Melzer 6-3 7-6(7-4) 6-3.
As for the quarter finals well Nadal beat Verdasco 7-5 6-3 6-4 to reach the US Open semis for the third time in a row. Youzhny then saw off Warwinka to the tune of 3-6 7-6(9-7) 3-6 6-3 6-3 to reach the US Open semis for the first time since '06. Djokovic beat Monfils to the tune of 7-6(7-2) 6-1 6-2, allowing the Serb to reach the US Open semis for the fourth year in a row despite having to deal with the tail end of a hurricane! Finally, Federer beat Soderling 6-4 6-4 7-5 to reach the US Open semis for an amazing seventh year in a row and get payback on Soderling for knocking him out of this year's French Open quarter finals.
Then came the semis where Nadal beat Youzhny 6-2 6-3 6-4 which allowed Nadal to amazingly(given his record elsewhere) reach the US Open for the first time ever, becoming the first Spaniard to reach the US Open final since Juan Carlos Ferrero in 2003! In the meantime Djokovic beat Federer 5-7 6-1 5-7 6-2 7-5 to reach the US Open final for the first time since '07 and leaving Federer having to deal with what has been a less than vintage year for the Swiss star. It would be the first time that Nadal and Djokovic had faced each other in a Grand Slam final but that didn't mean the pair didn't have plenty of hisitory with each other already - it would certainly be an interesting encounter.
In the meantime though the women's competition was also taking place and in the final there Kim Clijsters faced Russian Vera Zvonereva in the final. The Belgian 2nd seed made short work of the first set. The second set well...that didn't see the Russian 7th seed put up much of a fight either and Clijsters went on to win the match 6-2 6-1. It's the second year in a row that the Clijsters has won the US Open title(third time in total). Given that she won her '09 title after having come out of an early retirement caused by family and injury issues - that's a pretty impressive record to have. Given that she's got plenty of years to go still, more titles are surely on the way.
Then however came the men's final between Nadal and Djkovic. Well Nadal didn't hang around in the 1st set and though Djokovic gave him a battle it was the Spaniard that took the opener. Djokovic looked to be running the second set early on though...but then Nadal levelled the set and then rain stopped play. Djokovic took care of business at the restart though, levelling the match. The Serb then started to get big ideas in the third set but this time around Nadal shut him down to retake the lead in the match. He still had to deal with the fourth set though but at that point Djokovic appeared to have run out of fuel and the Spaniard was able to win 6-4 5-7 6-4 6-2.
So, they have had to bown down to him at the Australian Open, they have had to bow down to him at the French Open, they have had to bow down to him at Wimbledon and now, they have to bow down to Rafael Nadal at the US Open. Finally the Spaniard has completed the "career Grand Slam" by winning the US Open for the first time. He is the first Spaniard to win the US Open title since Manual Orantes in 1975. It's also his third Grand Slam tournament he's won in a row. So, what now? He is still the right side of 25, what more is he meant to do? Making it four Slams in a row in Australia 2011 would be nothing short of awesome. I suppose that's the first order of business.
Click here to go to 'other sports' archive
Comments go here
