Roger Federer took no time in taking apart Andy Murray in this straight-set snoozer. The world no. 1 triumphed over the Scotsman 6-3 6-4 7-6(13) after just 2 hours and 41 minutes of play. The win extends Federer’s grand-slam titles to 16.

Last year, Federer was inconsolable in his five-set loss to Rafael Nadal in their epic thriller. Now, Nadal is no threat with his knee issues that began last May. We now see the tennis great atop the stand with yet another trophy.

It seems that neither Murray nor Novak Djokovic -- and we can now add Nikolay Davydenko to the list -- will step up to break up the Federer monotony with the Spaniard consumed with his issues. Being peers with the Majorcan, Murray and Djokovic bring their A-game when Nadal is playing well. When Nadal is not really a threat or around, you can look forward to them being content with getting to the semifinals or playing runner-up to Federer. It is officially annoying.

In Murray’s case, he wins when it does not really matter. The Scotsman has beaten Federer, Nadal and Djokovic in Masters tournaments and has four career titles at that level. It is at the grand slams where he has yet seal the deal.

There is no reason why Murray should leave the grand slams titleless. Juan Martin del Potro was able to take care of business at the US Open last year at the tender age of 20. It is starting to look like the Scotsman is the new Andy Roddick but with more talent.

With Nadal neutralized, all the Scotsman has to do is take out Federer in the final, but that is too much to ask. You would think it would be an easier path to a grand slam title. Since Nadal’s problems began, Murray lost in the semifinals at Wimbledon to Roddick, of all people. Murray then turned around and lost to Marin Cilic in the fourth round at the US Open where he is away from the British media and the pressure.

Murray has all the physical and technical skills to win a grand slam. Everyone respects his game. The problem may lie somewhere between his ears. Luckily for the Scotsman, he is still young at 22 and can learn from these grand slam losses.

Give Federer credit. He is always consistent and always brings his A-game to the slams. His confidence is back with a vengeance with Nadal is out of the way.

On the doubles side, the Bryan brothers have successfully defended their Australian Open title. They bested second-seeds Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic 6-3 6-7(5) 6-3 on Saturday. The win is their third Aussie title. The Bryans have now won 57 career titles. Ten of those titles come from grand slams. They earned themselves a career slam in 2006.

Sunday’s Results
Singles Championship
1 Roger Federer def. 5 Andy Murray 6-3 6-4 7-6(11)

Saturday’s Results
Doubles Championship
1 B. Bryan (USA)/M. Bryan (USA) def. 2 D. Nestor (CAN)/N. Zimonjic (SRB) 6-3 6-7(5) 6-3

Friday’s Results
Singles Semifinals
1 Roger Federer def. 10 Jo-Wilfried Tsonge 6-2 6-3 6-2

Thursday’s Results
Singles Semifinals
5 Andy Murray (GBR) def. 14 Marin Cilic (CRO) 3-6 6-4 6-4 6-2

Doubles Semifinals
1 B. Bryan (USA)/M. Bryan (USA) def. M. Kohlmann (GER)/J. Nieminen (FIN) 6-1 6-4
2 D. Nestor (CAN)/N. Zimonjic (SRB) def. I. Karlovic (CRO)/D. Vemic (SRB) 6-4 6-4

(Images: AP/Rick Rycroft, AP/Andy Wong)

Marin Cilic upset fourth-seed Juan Martin del Potro 5-7 6-4 7-5 5-7 6-3 after 4 hours of 38 minutes of play. The young Croat finally beat del Potro, who was 2-0 over the fourteenth seed. His quarterfinal appearance this week will match his best grand slam performance at last year’s US Open, where he lost to Juan Martin del Potro.

Now, the Croat will play Andy Roddick next, who was able to overcome Fernando Gonzalez in five sets. They are currently 1-1 in head-to-head action with Cilic winning their last meeting in 2008 in Toronto. It would be nice to see the Croatian youngster make it to the semifinals.

Sunday’s Results
Singles Round of 16
2 Rafael Nadal (ESP) def. Ivo Karlovic (CRO) 6-4 4-6 6-4 6-4
14 Marin Cilic (CRO) def. 4 Juan Martin del Potro (ARG) 5-7 6-4 7-5 5-7 6-3
5 Andy Murray (GBR) def. John Isner (USA) 7-6(4) 6-3 6-2
7 Andy Roddick (USA) def. 11 Fernando Gonzalez (CHI) 6-3 3-6 4-6 7-5 6-2

Doubles Third Round
1 B. Bryan (USA)/M. Bryan (USA) def. 17 J. Melzer (AUT)/P. Petzschner (GER) 7-6(1) 6-4
2 D. Nestor (CAN)/N. Zimonjic (SRB) def. P. Marx (GER)/I. Zelenay (SVK) 6-4 6-2
Arnaud Clement (FRA)/J. Erlich (ISR) def. J. Brunstrom (SWE)/J.J. Rojer (AHO) 6-3 0-6 7-5

Monday’s Matches
Singles Round of 16
1 Roger Federer (SUI) vs. 22 Lleyton Hewitt (AUS)
3 Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs. Lukasz Kubot (POL)
6 Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) vs. 9 Fernando Verdasco (ESP)
10 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) vs. 26 Nicolas Almagro (ESP)

Doubles Third Round
3 L. Dlouhy (CZE)/L. Paes (IND) vs. J. Isner (USA)/S, Querrey (USA)
11 S. Aspelin (SWE)/C. Kas (GER) vs. F. Gonzalez (CHI)/I. Ljubicic (CRO)
M. Kohlmann (GER)/J. Nieminen (FIN) vs. Simone Bolelli (ITA)/A. Seppi (ITA)

Monday’s Order of Play

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(Image: AP/John Donegan)

Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Roddick, Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters, Lleyton Hewitt and Samantha Stosur took part in the Hit for Haiti fundraiser at Rod Laver Arena yesterday afternoon. The 90-minute exhibition has brought in over $200,000 so far.

The Spanish Davis Cup team posed with Spanish PM Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero after recapturing the title this past weekend.

Spanish camaraderie won in the end. Plus, there are details of Ferrer’s bathroom break right after he lost the first-two sets to Radek Stepanek (NYT)

Tignor takes a harsh look at the Davis Cup final participants. He is really hard on Tomas Berdych and kind of hard on Radek Stepanek. It is a little too severe considering the fact that, on paper, the Czechs should have never made it that far, but they did. Other teams allowed the Czechs to get past them when they should have won. Spain just did what it was supposed to do (Tennis.com)

Freep this poll! Ronaldo vs. Nadal (TMZ)

Viktor Troicki beats Novak Djokovic in a Serbian exhibition 7-6. Djokovic does some impressions and talks tennis (Blic)

Andy Murray commits audio terrorism against the world. You have been now warned (The Pop Cop)

Guga will be honored by Brazil's President Lula. I will now be holding my own parade to honor the honors (ATP)

Pat Rafter wins AEGON Masters title (BL's Tennis News)

Roddick rehabs knee after injury (TSN)

The Austrian Open is dropped from the ATP calendar, and the ATP transferred the rights to Nice, France (TSN)

Roger Federer finishes the year No. 1 in singles, and the Bryan brothers finish no. 1 in doubles (ESPN)

(Image: Pedro Armestre/AFP/Getty Images)

Colombian up-and-comer Santiago Giraldo won the Natomas challenger title last week. The 21 year old won his third challenger title this year and six for his career. Let's hope he makes a speedy transition to the pros (Sacramento Bee)

Nadal warns of tour overload and thinks the season is too long. After all the nine retirements in Shanghai this week, you would think the ATP might want to be proactive about the situation (Guardian)

Roddick chimed in about the season (BBC Sport)

Novak Djokovic takes both sides into account (The Independent)

Marat Safin adds that he was talking about the season length five years ago. The Russian took time to slam Roddick for his newfound position on the matter, and then takes a swipe at Berdych too. Boy, I am going to miss him (The Globe and Mail)

Maybe they should get rid of the Race (The Globe and Mail)

Andy Roddick will be out with a knee injury for three weeks (NYT)

Czech Ivo Minar is banned for eight months in a doping ban (Fox Sports)

Safin feels the love in Shanghai (Open Court)

The many sides of Djokovic (ESPN)

The case for Juan Carlos Ferrero to play against the Czech Republic for the Spanish Davis Cup Team (Times Online)

Juan Martin del Potro wants to build on his success (CBS)

Novak Djokovic almost played for Great Britain (Times Online)

You wouldn’t know if from tennis common "wisdom" in the States, but Nadal is actually the most popular player worldwide on tour. They pretend it is Roger Federer (CCTV)

(Image: Denise/tennisfiend)

Tommy Robredo asks server James Blake for a little more time before receiving. Robredo eventually stopped the American’s forward progress in the tournament by beating him 7-6(2) 6-4 6-4 in Saturday’s night match.

Robredo will now have the opportunity to meet Roger Federer in the round of 16. Federer leads their matchup 8-0. Good luck to the Spaniard in tomorrow’s match.

In other match news, John Isner and his big serve sent fifth-seed Andy Roddick home last evening in a five-set serving thriller. Isner will face Fernando Verdasco, who had his own five-set thriller. The two players have never played in ATP or grand slam action.

Thanks, Mrs. M & Family!
(Image: Denise/tennnisfiend)

City: Cincinnati, OH, USA
Surface: Outdoor Hard
Championship Points: 1000
2008 Singles Champion: Andy Murray
2008 Doubles: Mike Bryan and Bob Bryan

Andy Murray will be on hand to defend his title in Cincinnati. He will have his work cut out for him because his half of the draw is chalked full of contenders.

He could meet Juan Martin del Potro in quarterfinals. The Scotsman has had the Argentine’s number, but it is only a matter of time before del Potro turns the corner and surprises the defending champion. Del Potro did have physical problems during their Rogers Cup match, so he might be less of a threat this week. Murray could also have to deal with Federer in the semifinals.

Federer’s quarter of the draw is as difficult as Murray’s. The Swiss champ could have to contend with Robin Soderling or Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals. He then, of course, could meet with Murray or the surging del Potro in the semifinals.

Rafal Nadal has a pretty good draw. For someone who needs to play their way into contention, this draw could be a good way for the Spaniard to make it to the semifinals or finals because he desperately needs the points. He may have to see Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or Fernando Gonzalez in the quarterfinals and then maybe Nikolay Davydenko or Novak Djokovic in the semifinals.

Tournament Draw
Singles / Doubles

Tournament Evils (formerly Tournament Malfeasance)
Singles
10 Fernando Gonzalez (CHI) vs. Tomas Berdych (CZE)
14 Marin Cilic (CRO) vs. Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP)
16 Tommy Robredo (ESP) vs. Jeremy Chardy (FRA)
Igor Andreev (RUS) vs. Nicolas Kiefer (GER)

Doubles
T. Parrott (USA)/F. Polasek (SVK) vs. J. Chardy (FRA)/G. Simon (FRA)

(Image: Eric M Spohn/WSFGM)

When Andy Roddick won the first set, it looked like he would be off to the races. The American broke Juan Martin del Potro in the tenth game of the set to win the first set. The 20 year old amazingly shook off the loss and then took off on a four-consecutive-game streak to win the second set in no time.

In the third set, the two players dug in and traded service games. In game ten, Del Potro fought off one match point. In the the next game, Roddick double faulted at 30-40 to give del Potro a break in game eleven. The Argentine was able to close out the match by taking the twelfth game, set and match 4-6 6-2 7-5.

The Argentine youngster’s maturity is astounding. He was able to pick apart Roddick’s game clean after losing the first set. It seems the kid has nerves of steel because he came up with some really big serves and hitting when he needed to.

Now, the Argentine will play Andy Murray, who beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4 7-6(8) in the first semifinal of the day, in tomorrow’s final. The win will move the Scotsman into the world no. 2 position on Monday. Murray is currently 3-1 over the Argentine with del Potro winning their last meeting in Madrid. The two players have a spirited rivalry, so there will be no love lost between them tomorrow.

The Argentine will try to break up the monopoly the top three have on the Masters titles, as they have won all of them so far this year. If del Potro wins tomorrow, it will be his first Masters title of his career. It would be exciting if the kid breaks through tomorrow.

(Image: Denise/tennisfiend)

Juan Martin del Potro continued to play well last night against Rafael Nadal. He easily upset the second-seed 7-6(5) 6-1 to advance into the semifinals. This is his second-straight win over the Spaniard.

The Argentine looked great on the court last night. He served, hit and moved well last night in an all-around solid performance. One thing that stood out was that he effectively moved Nadal around the court, which is something the Spaniard tends to do to other people.

It is kind of scary to think this 20 year old now possesses the skills and the maturity to now take on the top players on tour. He will meet for the second week in a row Andy Roddick. He got the best of the American last week in Washington D.C. and is 2-0 over the world no. 5. We shall see if it will be two wins in two weeks.

As for Nadal, he is far from his top form and has some work to do. Hopefully, he can get back into form before the US Open. It is really a shame what being sidelined can really do for a player’s confidence and continuity. For me, injuries are an untold story of the game.

(Image: Dennis/tennisfiend)

Juan Martin del Potro successfully defended his title in Washington D.C. He rallied to beat Andy Roddick 3-6 7-5 7-6(6). The Argentine youngster successfully defended this title, won his second title of the year, and is now 5-6 against the top eleven players this year.

It looks like someone might be turning a corner.

(Image: AP)

City: Montreal, Canada
Surface: Outdoor Hard
Championship Points: 1000
2008 Singles Champion: Rafael Nadal
2008 Doubles: Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic

Rafael Nadal is back on tour and will defend his title. This tournament everyone will get a chance to see how fit the Spaniard is. Hopefully, the Mallorcan champ is back in fine form because I missed watching him beating up on everyone.

Again this tournament will be between the top four. Between the top four, they have won all of the Masters titles this year. It should be interesting to see if someone else can break up their monopoly.

Of late, Nikolay Davydenko and Andy Roddick have had the hot hand and are always dangerous. It is only a matter of time until Juan Martin del Potro breaks through. Tommy Haas has had a great summer, but we shall see if he is still holding up since he has played a lot of tennis in the last month. Robin Soderling has had a good spring and summer, but he injured his elbow this past week.

It should be a good tournament this coming week. Hopefully, someone else steps up and shakes up the tournament up this year.

Tournament Draw
Singles / Doubles - TBD

Tournament Evils (formerly Tournament Malfeasance)
8 Gilles Simon (FRA) vs. Frank Dancevic (CAN)
10 Fernando Verdasco (ESP) vs. Feliciano Lopez (ESP)
13 Gael Monfils (FRA) vs. Marat Safin (RUS)
14 Marin Cilic (CRO) vs. Mikhail Youzhny (RUS)
David Ferrer (ESP) vs. Viktor Troicki (SER)
Dmitry Tursunov (RUS) vs. Igor Andreev (RUS)

Sunday's Order of Play

(Image: Getty Images)

City: Washington, D.C., USA
Surface: Outdoor Hard
Championship Points: 500
2008 Singles Champion: Juan Martin del Potro
2008 Doubles: Marc Gicquel and Robert Lindstedt

Second-seed Juan Martin del Potro will defend his title. This year, he will have stiff competition from Andy Roddick and Robin Soderling. The Argentine could have his hands full with Robin Soderling, who currently has the hot hand on tour, in the quarterfinals.

Top-seed Andy Roddick has a good draw. Luckily for him, all of the real threats are on del Potro’s side of the draw. In addition to Soderling, Fernando Gonazalez could get the hot hand this tournament. The Chilean has a good quarter of the draw could cruise into the semifinals.

Roddick should not take his draw for granted, as he has some real sleepers on his side of the draw. Tomas Berdych is perfectly capable of surprising people and putting together a run. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga returns to the tour after taking a break after Wimbledon. He has struggled this year, but he can turn his season around at anytime.

It should be a good tournament and a taste of things to come in the run up to the US Open.

Tournament Draw
Singles / Doubles

Sunday's Order of Play

(Image: Getty Images)

Andy Murray now heads into the semifinals. He beat Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-5 6-3 6-2. It was a much easier win compared to his fourth-round match against Stanislas Wawrinka.

Next up for Murray is Andy Roddick, who had a five-setter with Lleyton Hewitt. Murray leads 6-2 in their head-to-head matchup. He is trying to become the first Brit to win Wimbledon since Fred Perry raised the trophy 63 years ago.

For Juan Carlos Ferrero, he had a great run in the tournament. I hope he stays healthy and continues to do well this season. He agrees:

But anyway, I'm happy about the way I played today also. I think it wasn't very far the first two sets. So, you know, only want to play like this all the time in the next tournaments and be a little bit more regular than I was.

(Image: Paul Gilham/Getty Images)

City: Wimbledon, Great Britain
Surface: Outdoor Grass
Championship Points: 2000
2008 Singles Champion: Rafael Nadal
2008 Doubles Champions: Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic

Rafael Nadal will unfortunately not defend his title this year. This occurrence moves all the odds onto Roger Federer. It will be interesting to see if someone can stand in his way. If he wins this title, he will beat Pete Sampras’s record of 14 grand slams and regain the number one ranking.

Federer could see Fernando Verdasco in the quarterfinals. The Spaniard should not really be an obstacle since he has yet to live up to the hype of having some of Agassi’s former people behind him. Another obstacle for Federer could be Robin Soderling, who turned it on for the French Open but fizzled in the final against the Swissman. The question will be whether Soderling has enough gumption to exact revenge in a possible round-of-16 rematch.

James Blake and Novak Djokovic anchor the top quarter of Federer's half of the draw. Djokovic actually has a good quarter to advance into the semifinals against Federer. Let’s hope the Serb is focused, rested and confident. He should have no real pressure on him and will be under the radar this year with all of the focus being on Federer and Murray. Last year he had a lot of pressure on him because he was close to upsetting Nadal for the No. 2 spot, and Marat Safin consequentially bounced him out of the tournament in the second round. We shall see if he makes a run this year and challenges Federer in a possible semifinal showdown.

Andy Murray is Federer’s main obstacle and is on the other side of the draw. The two could meet in the final. Should this happen, it will be different for Federer because the crowd will definitely be behind Murray. Murray is trying to be the first Brit to win the trophy in 73 years since Fred Perry did it in 1936.

Murray’s main obstacle could be Stanislas Wawrinka in the round of 16 – luckily for Federer, he is not in his quarter. Simon anchors the other part of Murray’s quarter, but I doubt the Frenchman will give him any trouble due to his lackluster season. Let’s hope he proves me wrong.

The most interesting quarter is the top quarter, which is anchored by Juan Martin del Potro and Andy Roddick. We shall see if the old guard, Roddick or the new guard, del Potro gets to possibly meet Murray, but these two are the most vulnerable to being upset. Lleyton Hewitt, Nicolay Davydenko, Tomas Berdych and newcomer Grigor Dimitrov could shake up this part of the draw.

Tournament Draw
Singles / Doubles

And The Qualifiers Are . . .
Rajeev Ram (USA), Simon Greul (GER), Xavier Malisse (BEL), Roko Karanusic (CRO), Lukas Lacko (SVK), Alexander Peya (AUT), Alejandro Falla (COL), Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA), Grega Zemlja (SLO), Santiago Gonzalez (MEX), Taylor Dent (USA), Riccardo Ghedin (ITA), Adrian Mannarino (FRA), Luka Gregorc (SLO), Michael Yani (USA), Jesse Levine (USA)

Tournament Malfeasance
Mischa Zverev vs. Dmitry Tursunov
Jeremy Chardy vs. Andy Roddick
Juan Carlos Ferrero vs. Mikhail Youzhny
Evgeny Korlolev vs. Igor Andreev
Nicolas Almagro vs. Juan Monaco

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(Image: Getty Images)

Andy Murray secured his place in the Queen’s Club final by defeating former World No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero. The Scotsman passed the Spaniard 6-2 6-4 after 72 minutes of play. Murray will now play James Blake, who was a recipient of an Andy Roddick retirement at 4-4. Roddick retired due to an ankle injury.

Blake leads Murray in their head-to-head 1-0. Their only meeting was in Hamburg in 2006. Murray will be looking to even this record and also win his first grass title.

(Image: Aegon Championships)

Gael Monfils upset Andy Roddick 6-4 6-2 6-3 in just under two hours of play. The Frenchman now advances into the quarterfinlas to play Roger Federer, who went down to the wire with a resurgent Tommy Haas in five sets. Federer leads their head-to-head matchup 4-0.

Let’s hope La Monf get inspired by the home crowd on Wednesday.

(Image: FFT)

City: Roland Garros, France
Surface: Outdoor Clay
Championship Points: 2000
2008 Singles Champion: Rafael Nadal
2008 Doubles Champions: Luis Horna and Pablo Cuevas


The French Open is finally here and caps off the European clay-court season. Rafael Nadal will try to go for a record-breaking, fifth-consecutive title. He should be able to do it if he is healthy over the next two weeks.

The only two players who can stop him are Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer -- I would pick Djokovic over the two if I was forced to. It would be great to see Nadal and Djokovic battling it out in the final to change things up.

Nadal’s quarter contains Fernando Verdasco and Stanislas Wawrinka. Verdasco and Wawrinka will have to duke it out in the round of 16 to possibly play Nadal in the quarterfinals. Nadal should still be able to take either one of them.

The Spaniard then could have to meet Andy Murray in the semifinals. Of the top four, Murray is the player most likely to be upset, as clay is his weakest surface. To play Nadal, he will have to get past Fernando Gonzalez, his biggest obstacle, in the quarterfinals. The Chilean has a good chance of upsetting the Scot on clay this year.

Of course Federer has the privilege of having an easy quarter, as he usually does in the grand slams. Federer could meet Tomas Berdych in the round of 16. The Czech gave Federer trouble at the Australian Open and should have won the match but could not seal the deal. Federer’s other challenge could be Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals. Roddick still his Rogeritus, so the Swiss maestro should have an easy time advancing into the semifinals, where he could meet Djokovic. This may be the battle he will lose this year if I may be so bold.

The Serb needs to be in shape and make sure that he does not stay on the court too long over the next two weeks. Djokovic’s part of the draw is trickier. He could meet Juan Martin del Potro in the quarterfinals. The young Argentine has stepped his game up lately, so he might give the Serb some trouble. Even if del Potro loses, he might keep Djokovic on the court for a while and wear him down before a possible semifinal appearance with Federer – like Djokovic and Nadal in Madrid last week. Hopefully, the Serb has it together enough to make it to his maiden French Open final.

Tournament Draw
Singles / Doubles

Sunday's Order of Play

Tournament Malfeasance
Juan Martin del Potro (ARG) vs. Michael Llodra (FRA)
Viktor Troicki (SRB) vs. Lukasz Kubot (POL)
Fabio Fognini (ITA) vs. Igor Andreev (RUS)
Dmitry Tursunov (RUS) vs. Arnaud Clement (FRA)
Julien Benneteau (FRA) vs. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Ivan Ljubicic (CRO) vs. Juan Carlos Ferrero
Nicolas Lapentti (ECU) vs. Novak Djokovic (SRB)

And The Qualifiers Are . . .
Kevin Anderson (RSA), Sebastien De Chaunac (FRA), Benoit Paire (FRA), Lamine Oahab (ALG), Fabio Fognini (ITA), Daniel Brands (GER), Marcos Daniel (BRA), Lukas Rosol (CZE), Paolo Lorenzi (ITA), Ilia Bozoljac (SRB), Santiago Giraldo (COL), Victor Crivoi (ROU), Flavio Cipolla (ITA), Leonardo Mayer (ARG), Jean-Rene Lisnard (MON)

(Image: FFT)

Novak Djokovic's Head commercial

After Federer last week, Andy Roddick gets married (People)
Tsonga pulls out of Barcelona Open with knee injury (AFP)
An article about famous sporting siblings, featuring the Safins (NY Times)
Possible challengers to the Nadal-Federer monopoly (Fox Sports)



A very special Federer commercial with Derek Jeter and Tiger Woods

Rafael Nadal defeated Andy Roddick in the second semifinal of the day 6-4 7-6(4). This was a highly anticipated matchup since Roddick is playing well this year. In the end, Nadal prevailed, but it was a respectable loss for Andy since he remained competitive with Nadal.

Nadal struggled in the first game of the match but was able to hold onto his serve. He then began to hold easily during the next couple of service games. Roddick served well throughout, and all was even until the seventh game. Roddick started to serve and volley, and Nadal responded by playing target practice around the American for the break. In turn, Roddick then jumped ahead to 0-30 during Nadal’s next service game, but Nadal started flattening his shots and pushing Roddick around the court to hold serve. The Spaniard cruised to win the first set.

It looked like Roddick had shaken off the first set loss, but Nadal struck Roddick for the break in the third game of the second set. Roddick returned the break to level the set to 3-3 after Nadal had four unforced errors in his service game. After a long game and a series of long rallies, Nadal broke Roddick again in the seventh game.

Nadal began to wear down Roddick, and it looked like the match was over. While Nadal was serving for the set, Roddick broke back to level the set at 5-5 and then held serve. The Spaniard tightened up his service game to take the set to a tiebreak.

In the tiebreak, Nadal went back to business by stopping the errors and tightening up his serve. He jumped ahead to 5-2. Roddick held onto his two service points to bring the tiebreak to 5-4, but Nadal responded by holding onto his service points to take the set and the match.

All is not lost for Roddick. He will play in the doubles final with partner Mardy Fish against Max Mirnyi and Andy Ram. As for Nadal, he will play Andy Murray in the final and have a rematch of the Rotterdam final. The Spaniard currently leads their head-to-head 5-2, but Murray has won the last two meetings at the US Open last year and this year in the Rotterdam final.

(image: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images)

It appears that Andy Roddick may have Novak Djokovic's number this year. Their last meeting was in the Australian Open when Djokovic retired after trailing Roddick in the quarterfinals. In their rematch today, Roddick emerged victorious again by beating the Serb decisively in straight sets 6-3 6-2.

Roddick had an overall solid match. He served well with a first serve percentage of 81%. On the other side of the ball, he broke the Serb four times in the match.

Unforced errors killed Djokovic. The Serb could not find the inside of the court if he tried. He looked lethargic, lacked the intensity and looked like he could not wait to get off the court. Luckily, Roddick put him out of his misery after 68 minutes of play. This was Roddick's first of two wins today because he also won the doubles semifinal with Mardy Fish against Richard Gasquet and Stanislas Wawrinka.

In the other quarterfinal, Juan Martin Del Potro came out hitting big in the first couple of games and looked like he was going to go toe-to-toe with Rafael Nadal. The Argentinian young gun was then broken by Nadal in game three of the first set. After securing the break, Nadal was off to the races and sent Del Potro packing in straight sets 6-2 6-4.

Roddick and Nadal will now meet in the singles semifinal on Saturday. Nadal currently leads their head-to-head 4-2.

(images: AP)