20130903rafaOf the top men’s seeds, it’s not surprising that Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have looked the best.  They continue to play crisp tennis and seemed destined to meet one another.  Roger Federer seemed to look good, too, but it’s never safe to gauge Federer’s level because he plays bad opponents as well as anyone.  With his loss, there’s one more year that Federer-Nadal at the US Open becomes less and less likely.

Nadal had a tough start as well.  Kohlschreiber used his relatively big serve and big groundies to stay even with Nadal.  This was no easy feat as Kohlschreiber faced triple break point late in the first set, and managed to dig himself with a nice hold.  Forward to the tiebreak, and it was Kohlschreiber, not Nadal, that got out of that with a win.

Was this another upset brewing?

Turns out, not so much.  Nadal had not lost serve all tournament long, and he was again imperious on his own serve.  Even in games where Nadal worked hard to break, such as one early in the first set, the kind of game that normally leads to mental weakness and a break in the following game, Nadal calmly held serve again, and proceeded to break serve the next go-around.

Rafa’s always a little edgy until he gets that first break.  He feels he’s playing a game of mental chicken, and once he gets the break, he relaxes, feeling he’s not only broken game-wise, but spirit-wise too.  From then on, Nadal worked his way to a four set win while Kohlschreiber’s shots, not surprisingly, started to miss more often.

Nadal will face Tommy Robredo, who upset Roger Federer, in the quarterfinals.

Gasquet and Raonic play a marathon

This was an important match for both players.  On the one hand, Gasquet had not reached a quarterfinals of a Slam in some time, and on the other, Raonic had not reached a Slam quarterfinal ever.

This match went on and on, with Raonic hitting winners or hitting errors, and Gasquet doing his best to extend the points.

In an interesting turn of coaching events, Raonic is currently coached by Ivan Ljubicic.  Ljubicic was once coached by Italian, Riccardo Piatti.  Piatti now co-coaches Richard Gasquet (along with Sebastien Grosjean).

In the end, Raonic’s legs seemed to give way, and Gasquet secured a late break in the fifth set to win: 67 76 26 76 75.

Gasquet will face David Ferrer in the quarterfinals.

Bryan brothers reach semifinals

The Bryans are still on a quest to reach the calendar Grand Slam, and as such tournament organizers have been putting them on Arthur Ashe, a rarity for doubles. This is always a challenge in doubles since sets are determined by razor-thin margins.  Holding is much more common in doubles among the best teams.  The Bryans had two chances to break in the first set, but couldn’t manage it.  In the tiebreak, the British team of Fleming-Marray had set point chance but overhit a putaway volley.  With that, the Bryans clinched the first set, 7-6.  They took the second set, 6-4.  Their likely opponent is Paes-Stepanek which is a tough road to the finals.