(Rafa is all freakish intensity as he destroys Andy Roddick in the quarters.)
The US Open continues to zip along now with clear skies as we try to cram all the later rounds of play into the next three days. Luckily, all the extra matches in a short amount of time does not seem to be having an ill-effect on Our Hero, Rafael Nadal. He completely pummeled Andy Roddick in their quarter final meeting yesterday, taking it in straight sets 6-2, 6-1, 6-3. It was a shame for Andy, who could not shake off the fatigue from an intense battle with David Ferrer the day before in the Round of 16 to put up any sort of fight against Nadal. I was actually surprised Roddick managed to get passed Ferrer, who has been playing really well this year and is currently no, 5 in the world. Roddick gave that match his all, and it was not enough recovery time for him to be at his best again. He just had no weapons against Nadal who was in rare form, even by his high standards. One telling stat: Nadal finished with 22 forehand winners compared to ZERO for Roddick. Zero? That's unbelievable! Not typical Roddick at all. Rafa took the opportunity of facing a hampered Roddick to secure the match in under 2 hours. That means he comes in the fresher man against Andy Murray (who had a hard fought win over John Isner yesterday) when they play their semifinal match... this afternoon. Stay healthy, guys! Whichever one of you meets Federer or Djokovic in the Final on Monday is gonna have a tough mountain to climb!
Fun facts: it's the second time this year the top four men have advanced to the semifinals at a Grand Slam. It also happened at the French Open. Also it's the third straight major, Nadal and Murray will face off in the semis. Rafa beat Murray in 3 sets at the French Open and in 4 sets at Wimbledon..We liked the results at this year's French! Let's see that happen again! We want Rafa over Murray in 3 quick sets! Vamos!
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