The History of Men's Tennis (Open Era)

1st semifinal:
(1)Novak Djokovic d. (3)Roger Federer 6-7(7), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5                  [3:51 h]

The match was delayed more than hour due to rain. There were no breaks of serve in the 1st set, either player was unable to get ‘deuce’ on opponent’s serve. In the tie-break Federer led 5:2 after D’Joke’s double fault, but served a double fault as well. The Serb saved a triple set point in impressive style, then the 4th set point, but at ‘7 all’ Federer deceived the rival with a tricky semi-lob during the rally – Djokovic was unprepared to play a backhand slice on a high bounce. It was their 11th tie-break and the longest one. Federer increased the level of play in the 2nd set, in the previous set he was concentrated mainly on his own service games, in the 2nd set stepped up and Djokovic (wore a cap in the meantime) lost his service games twice (3rd and 7th game; broke back at 3:3). The 3rd set was actually decided in the initial phase, the Serb made a break in the 2nd game and held his service games to get the set rather comfortably. It was a time when Djokovic loosened up himself and his more solid ground-strokes began to overwhelm Federer’s baseline game more and more prone to make errors. Especially the Serbian backhand was working tremendously well, and two breaks in the 4th set gave him leveling at two sets apiece, albeit he needed six set points to do it. The final set was exceptional… Nothing special in the first seven games, at 3:4 the serving Djokovic plays the worst game in the match (first point Federer’s winner, then two pathetic errors and double fault by Nole).  Federer serves at 30-15, frustrated Djokovic throws away his cap, a moment later 5:3 (40-15) means two match points, quite good serve and Djokovic plays the best return in the entire match – cross-court forehand winner! He smiles and tries to make a contact with the crowd with his hands. Again first serve in, on the body, Djokovic blocks with a double-handed backhand and Federer’s forehand hits the tape, then lands outside the sideline, four points later Djokovic ribreaks! Next game, D’Joke holds to ’30’, fantastic ground-strokes in the following game, D’Joke breaks to ’15’ with two consecutive forehand winners. Federer can’t deal with the dramatic turn around, a couple easy mistakes of him produce another game to ’15’ for the Serb! Absolutely amazing, unprecedented stuff – second year in a row Djokovic beats Federer saving a double match point on the same court (!!) – last year he fought off those match points with forehand winners, after 11- and 5-stroke rallies. “It was a very similar situation to last year,” acknowledged Djokovic. “I had to take my chances. I was very close to being on my way back home. He was serving. He was 40/15 up. I managed to hit that amazing forehand return which got me back. I got a little bit of energy from the crowd, and I fought back. I needed to stay positive, and I definitely didn’t want the French Open to happen again. It was an incredible last two games“. Federer said: “It’s awkward having to explain this loss because I feel like I should be doing the other press conference. But it’s what it is. It’s the obvious, really. He came back; he played well. I didn’t play so well at the very end. Sure, it’s disappointing, but I have only myself to blame. I set it all up perfect, but I couldn’t finish it“. Stats
The former and current Nos. 1 made their own trademark today, it was their fifth consecutive match in New York (all encounters at Arthur Ashe Stadium), there hadn’t been a pair before to play in a major more than four matches in a row #.

# The record – five consecutive Federer-Djokovic meetings at the US Open:

2007, F: Federer d. Djokovic       7-6(4), 7-6(2), 6-4
2008, SF: Federer d. Djokovic     6-3, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2
2009, SF: Federer d. Djokovic     7-6(3), 7-5, 7-5
2010, SF: Djokovic d. Federer     5-7, 6-1, 5-7, 6-2, 7-5                     2 m.p.
2011, SF: Djokovic d. Federer     6-7(7), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5               2 m.p.

# 5-set barometer: 18-16 Federer; 13-5 Djokovic

2nd semifinal:
(2)Rafael Nadal d. (4)Andy Murray 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2                 [3:24 h]

Well, Nadal is a much more worse match-up for Murray than both Federer and Djokovic #. Against ‘Fedjok’ Murray can count on some unforced errors, he is excellent in defense, so playing especially against Federer he has always a few chances to pass the Swiss obtaining important points. In a confrontation with Nadal, Murray is forced to adapt a more challenging style because the pace of the match is completely different, Murray needs to dictate the pace against a defensive and more efficient player like Nadal. Against the vast majority of players, the Brit is a sovereign at 10-12 stroke-rallies, it doesn’t work against Rafa, for whom it’s a kind of warm-up rally, he quite often plays rallies consisted of 20 strokes and more!  It was their fourth meeting this year (all in the semi-finals) and every time the same scenario was realized – longer sets in terms of the match-time than the scoreline would suggest with Nadal as a winner without a special threat of being beaten. “For sure it’s an emotional day for me, winning against one of the best players in the world and reaching another final at the US Open,” assessed Nadal, “I have to play my game. I’ve beaten him in the past playing my game. The thing is playing my game very well. I need to be strong mentally all the time, fight every ball, believe in the victory in every moment. That’s something that for moments this year I didn’t do.” “If you want to judge someone’s whole career based on Grand Slams, then I would have had a terrible career. But I don’t really feel like I have,” said “the eternal No. 4” Murray, who became just the seventh player in the Open era to reach semi-finals at all slams within a season (Djokovic achieved this feat also in New York, one day before). Stats of the match

# Murray’s H2H’s against the Top 3:

– Novak Djokovic 4-6
– Rafael Nadal 4-13
– Roger Federer 8-6

## Top 4 seeded players in semi-finals at the US Open:

1969: 1 – Laver, 2 – Newcombe, 3 – Roche, 4 – Ashe
1982: 1 – J.McEnroe, 2 – Connors, 3 – Lendl, 4 – Vilas
1985: 1 – J.McEnroe, 2 – Lendl, 3 – Wilander, 4 – Connors
1992: 1 – Courier, 2 – Edberg, 3 – Sampras, 4 – Chang
2011: 1 – Djokovic, 2 – Nadal, 3 – Federer, 4 – Murray

1st quarterfinal:
(1)Novak Djokovic d. (20)Janko Tipsarevic 7-6(2), 6-7(3), 6-0, 3-0 ret.      [3:27 h]

It was a match of two Belgrade boys, good friends, composed of two completely different parts. The level of play in the first two sets was astonishing, Janko Tipsarevic was playing much more above his standards, especially in the 2nd set when he notched 83% of 1st serve in, delivering regularly bombs racing 200 kph (125 mph)!! Djokovic was forced to make miracles in a deep defense with his trademarking slides. Tipsy was serving at 6:5 (30-30) in the 1st set, having erased a 2:5 deficit before, but it doesn’t obviously mean he would have led two-sets-to-love if he had won that set… The breathtaking quality disappeared in the 3rd set as the lights were switched on. The lower ranked Serb didn’t stand his own tremendous pace, the legs couldn’t work anymore like in the first two hours. There was a moment in the 1st game of the 4th set when appeared a chance for equaling of strength on both sides. It happened as D’Joke won an amazing rally, celebrated it powered by adrenaline, but fell down in pain and asked for a medical time-out. He received a treatment to his big toe (left foot) and came back playing with normal movement. Tipsarevic after producing a poor backhand at *0:3 (15-30), decided to retire in order to avoid a double bagel.

# Here are the players who played the most Grand Slam tournaments before reaching their first quarter-final (copied from atptourworld.com):

54 – Fabrice Santoro (Australian Open, 2006)
38 – Mark Woodforde (Australian Open, 1996)
34 – Todd Woodbridge (Wimbledon, 1997)
32 – Jurgen Melzer (Roland Garros, 2010) & Jason Stoltenberg (Wimbledon, 1996)
31 – Janko Tipsarevic (US Open, 2011)

2nd quarterfinal:
(3)Roger Federer d. (11)Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4, 6-3, 6-3     [1:55 h]

Great expectations preceded this match because Tsonga had beaten Federer twice in the last three months, in entertaining matches at Wimbledon and Montreal. Unfortunately this time their encounter was one-sided from start to finish. Federer was reading Tsonga’s serves like an open book, especially from his backhand side, and broke the Frenchman six times (lost his serve twice). Actually, the five-time champion was better in each department of the game. Just like in Melbourne, Federer advances to the semi-finals in New York eighth straight time, tying Ivan Lendl‘s achievement (the other US Open legend – Jimmy Connors, played semifinals in New York 12 years in a row)! Two additional notes: I’ve never seen Tsonga winning so many points with one-handed backhand; the match was interrupted by light rain at *3:2 (0-15) Federer, for around 90 minutes.

# The most consecutive appearances in Grand Slam quarter-finals:

30 – Roger Federer (2004-11)
27 – Jimmy Connors (1973-83)
13 – Ivan Lendl (1985-89)
12 – Bjorn Borg (1978-81)
11 – Pete Sampras (1991-94)

3rd quarterfinal:
(4)Andy Murray d. (28)John Isner 7-5, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(2)             [3:24 h]

“All-service players” are a great match-up for Murray. The Brit has a perfect record against Ivo Karlovic (3-0), Feliciano Lopez (6-0), Gilles Muller (1-0) and John Isner (2-0). In his service games, he exposes decisively their frailty on the baseline, moreover his patience and extraordinary skills in the defense, allows him to break them at least once per set, if a tie-break is required, no problem for Murray, he knows how to play them (88-59 career record… 60%), even against a tie-break specialist like Isner. The American had a little chance to get the 4th set as he obtained a double break point at 4:4 – Murray saved it quickly with an ace and an awkward backhand winner directly after the return (it was an approach shot but Isner didn’t run thinking about the challenge, but it was too late to question the second serve as a long one). In the tie-break Isner served at 1:1 a silly double fault (didn’t try to hit an ace; 5 d.f. in total) and Murray built immediately a safe 4:1 advantage. He advances to the fourth straight Grand Slam semifinal, snapping a career-best 9-match winning streak of Isner.

4th quarterfinal:
(2)Rafael Nadal d. (21)Andy Roddick  6-2, 6-1, 6-3                  [1:53 h]

Humiliation of the 2003 champion… Roddick is too weak this season to play against Rafa from the baseline on even terms, so he was attacking the net quite often, but his approach shots were poor and Nadal’s passing-shots looked like a formality. A-Rod had a break point only in one game, in fact it was 40-0 for him in the opening game of the 3rd set, he had also the fourth chance to break in that game. Quick match with Roddick is a positive news for Nadal’s fans in a perspective of tomorrow’s meeting with Murray; the Brit spent 5 hours 21 minutes on court in the last two days, Nadal “only” 4 hours. It may be a decisive factor in their match, which will probably extend to 3 hours at least, given the pace of their previous matches in 2011… I’m a bit disappointed that the best four players in the world have a huge advantage over the rest of the tennis elite. This year’s majors confirm it explicitly, only two other guys advanced to the last 4, neither of them was able to get the final # “It was evident pretty early that he was in full control of things,” said Roddick. “I think he has a tendency to play himself into tournaments, and then by the end he’s taking cuts. I feel like today he was doing that. I had zero reserves. I didn’t have any time to train this summer, so I played a four setter yesterday; I felt like I played six sets.”

# Participants of the major semi-finals in 2011:

Australian Open: Djokovic, Federer, Murray, Ferrer
Roland Garros: Djokovic, Nadal, Federer, Murray
Wimbledon: Djokovic, Nadal, Murray, Tsonga
US Open: Djokovic, Nadal, Federer, Murray

In a match of two US Open champions, Gilles Muller (junior champion 2001) had a great opportunity to clinch the 1st set against Rafael Nadal (the defending champion). Muller thanks to a lucky beginning yesterday, needed to hold just three service games to take the set. He was broken though in the 7th game with a sloppy play. In a potential tie-break against Nadal, Muller is rather useless because on the 2nd serve his chance to win a point drops drastically (today won only 33% points on 2nd serve). During the last Wimbledon, Muller was eager after losing the 1st set tie-break (6-7, 6-7, 0-6), this time after losing the tie-break, he surrendered quickly (6-7, 1-6, 2-6). Nadal takes on Andy Roddick [21] next. The best American player of the previous decade, eliminated David Ferrer 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 on Court No. 13 (only 584 seats). The match started yesterday at Louis Armstrong Stadium (it had been designated at Arthur Ashe Stadium two days ago), but today after playing two games, both players agreed that the surface around one of baselines had been damaged by two-day heavy rain, and the match was shifted onto other court! For Roddick it’s arguably the best result of the season.
Andy Murray avenged a sensational loss to Donald Young at Indian Wells earlier this year, beating him in two hours, 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 on Grandstand. “It’s not just losing the way I lost. I felt I didn’t put my best foot forward and play the way I’ve been playing the whole time. But it’s been a good tournament.” analyzed Young his best performance in a major. John Isner once again showed great confidence in tie-breaks, won all three he played against Gilles Simon on Court No. 17 to reach his first Grand Slam quarterfinal. The Frenchman was close to win 2 out of 3 losing sets, served at 6:5 in the 1st set, squandered two set points at 5:4* in the 4th set. The match lasted 3 hours 39 minutes, Isner hit 26 aces. It’s the seventh 4-setter in the US Open history with three tie-breaks won by one player:

1985, 1R: Todd Nelson d. Mark Dickson                7-6(5), 4-6, 7-6(4), 7-6(3)
1991, 3R: Derrick Rostagno d. Jakob Hlasek       6-7(2), 7-6(3), 7-6(2), 7-6(4)
1999, QF: Cedric Pioline d. Gustavo Kuerten     4-6, 7-6(6), 7-6(14), 7-6(8)
2001, 2R: Marat Safin d. Ivan Ljubicic               7-6(5), 6-7(2), 7-6(5), 7-6(5)
2001, QF: Pete Sampras d. Andre Agassi            6-7(7), 7-6(2), 7-6(2), 7-6(5)
2003, 2R: Ivo Karlovic d. Hicham Arazi            3-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(4), 7-6(6)
2011, 4R: John Isner d. Gilles Simon                    7-6(2), 3-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(4)

Another frustrating day at Flushing Meadows… Matches were delayed 90 minutes due to rain. The players entered three different courts in front of rather empty stadiums only to play a couple games when a drizzle forced them to walk off. More than fours hours later, the officials decided of postponing the matches to Thursday! The biggest problems with these inconvenient conditions had Rafael Nadal, who delivered two double faults in his opening service game and was broken to ‘love’! “We are not protected, we are only part of the show,” complained Nadal on the slippery court on which he spent about fifteen minutes on Wednesday.
In the picture a disorientated David Ferrer

Arthur Ashe Stadium: Gilles Muller vs. Rafael Nadal 3:0* (0-15)
Louis Armstrong Stadium: Andy Roddick vs. David Ferrer *3:1
Grandstand: Donald Young vs. Andy Murray 2:1*

Arthur Ashe Stadium

Mardy Fish [8] against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga [11] is a good match-up due to their entertaining game-styles. Unfortunately they hadn’t an occasion to meet on the court prior to this year’s US Open. Through a set and half the level of play couldn’t fill the bills, they were struggling with a strong wind. Tsonga had a great opportunity to lead 2-0 in sets as he served at 5:4 in the tie-break – Fish went to the net then, and played a lucky backhand volley (the net-cord helped). After that set the floodlights were triggered and the protagonists rapidly elevated the level of play. Fish won five straight games since *2:3 in the 3rd set (he hadn’t broken Tsonga before), but problems with the right groin emerged and Tsonga won five straight games as well – since *3:4 in the 4th set. The final set was a one way traffic, Fish’s movement was limited and fitter Tsonga closed out a 6-4, 6-7(5), 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory with a slum-dunk smash. The match lasted 3 hours 45 minutes. The 5-set record: 7-2 Tsonga, 8-9 Fish. The Frenchman has been in excellent form in the last three months, he has beaten Nadal, Federer (twice), Ferrer & Fish in that period, having played also competitive matches against Djokovic and Murray, I’d say he is a virtual No. 5 at the moment…
Roger Federer [3] began his match at midnight (the latest beginning this year in New York) but didn’t spend too much time on court – his rival Juan Monaco [36] was completely out of form and after 82 minutes (6-1, 6-2, 6-0) the Swiss extended his extraordinary streak of major quarter-finals to 30 in a row! “It’s happened often to me that I’ve had to wait a long time,” said Federer. Monaco has lost three times in the last 16 of Grand Slam events, it was his first appearence at this stage since the US Open 2007.

Louis Armstrong Stadium

The best active player among those who haven’t won an ATP title yet – Janko Tipsarevic [20], booked his place in the quarter-finals of a major for the first time in career, after an exhausting 4-setter consisted mainly of long flat baseline rallies, especially from backhand sides. Tipsarevic wasn’t broken by Juan Carlos Ferrero [105] once in 3 hours 43 minutes (!) – faced just two break points in the entire match (at 3:3 in the 1st set). Ferrero was close to lead two-sets-to-one but ‘Tipsy’ at *4:5 (0-30) in the 3rd set, fired an ace (20 in total) and won 12 consecutive points – it clipped wings of the Spaniard who had already had in legs two 5-setters in three previous matches. “I think physically I didn’t get in the fourth set. Like maybe not 50%, because I have a little problem in my adductor, so I couldn’t resist the whole time.” said the 31-year-old Ferrero after a 5-7, 7-6, 5-7, 2-6 defeat. “I feel that he was a little bit psychologically down [after the third set], of course, which is understandable,” reflected Tipsarevic. “He ran out of fuel in his tank because I think first two rounds he played like nine hours.”
Novak Djokovic [1] dissmising Alexandr Dolgopolov in the following match, made another milestone for the Serbian tennis – first time there will be two players in quarter-finals of a major from the Balkan country, and one semifinalist is guaranteed because they’re going to play against each other. Dolgopolov [23] surprised the No. 1 with his unorthodox style, he was changing the pace with plenty of slices from both sides which worked very well in windy conditions, and almost won the 1st set. In the tie-break led 4:0 and chose the toughest variant from an awkward, but winnable position. A few minutes later Djokovic leveled and relatively long time nothing could separate these two guys. The Serb fought off four set points (5:6, 6:7*, 9:10, 13:14) and took the set after 76 minutes on sixth set point. There was an amazing rally at 12:11 as Nole played two volleys, the second one with the net-cord, ‘Dog’ lobbed him clipping the line, then played two overheads – the second one forced the title contender to an error. It was the longest tie-break in career of both players and one of the longest in the tournament history #. Dolgopolov couldn’t do too much after the heart-breaking tie-break and was broken twice in a row at the start of the following two sets.

# Six longest tie-breaks in the US Open history (tie-breaks since 1975):

1993, 1R: Goran Ivanisevic d. Daniel Nestor 6-4, 7-6, 7-6(18)
1993, 1R: Mats Wilander d. Jaime Oncins 7-5, 7-6, 7-6(16)
1987, 2R: Ken Flach d. Darren Cahill 1-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(15)
2011, 4R: Novak Djokovic d. Alexandr Dolgopolov 7-6(14), 6-4, 6-2
2009, 1R: John Isner d. Victor Hanescu 6-1, 7-6(14), 7-6
1999, QF: Cedric Pioline d. Gustavo Kuerten 4-6 7-6, 7-6(14), 7-6

The third round disappointed intensely, there was no 5-setter and only four 4-setters – you could expect more from the last 32 as seeded players face each other. Two matches in the same section of the draw weren’t even concluded in a customary way because Tomas Berdych (shoulder, the same injury forced him to retire in Cincinnati two weeks ago) and Marcel Granollers retired in the middle of the 2nd set of their matches. Injuries have become a menace of this year’s US Open, first Robin Soderling withdrew in the last minute, then  8 retirements occurred in the first week of the tournament (last year 7 retirements during two weeks) #.
In the most interesting encounter, on Louis Armstrong Stadium, Gilles Simon overcame a former champion Juan Martin del Potro in front of a very enthusiastic crowd. Simon fought off a double mini-set point in the 2nd set and quickly a triple set point in the 4th set (volley, forehand winner, service winner), and won these sets after tie-breaks – Del Potro has suffered a third loss this year losing two tie-break sets… Simon goes on to face John Isner, whose third win over Alex Bogomolov was questionable only in the 1st set, in which the shorter American had two set points in a tie-break – Isner saved them with a forehand winner (the ball landed on the baseline) and a 2nd serve ace. It’s a good tournament for Americans – better than the last two editions, besides Isner to the fourth round after convincing 3-set wins advanced: Donald Young (for the first time in majors in the last 16), Andy Roddick and Mardy Fish. The latter luckily escaped a 4th set against Kevin Anderson because the South African held two set points on serve in the 3rd set (that match was unusually long for a 3-setter with two big-servers involved – 3 hours 20 minutes). “I thought it went very well,” certified Fish, “It got a little dicey in the second set, he stepped up his game, started playing a lot better and being more and more aggressive.”
“It’s bad luck it happened here and not in the locker room,” said Rafael Nadal after his post-match conference (had defeated David Nalbandian in three sets) at which strange thing happened. Nadal was answering the questions when suddenly began to grimace in pain, covering the face with his left hand, he called a trainer and disappeared under the table! “I just have cramping in my leg, that’s all.”
I guess it’s worth mentioning that Ivo Karlovic was broken more than five times for the first time in his Grand Slam appearances – Alexandr Dolgopolov broke him six times, either of players served 22 aces in that match!

Longest match:
3 hours, 57 minutes: Gilles Simon d. Juan Martin del Potro 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-2, 7-6(3)

Most aces:
23 aces – Gilles Muller, defeated Igor Kunitsyn in three sets

# Number of retirements and walkovers at the US Open year by year:

1968 – 1; 1969 – 2;
1970 – 1; 1971 – 4; 1972 – 4; 1973 – 4; 1974 – 7; 1975 – 0; 1976 – 2; 1977 – 2; 1978 – 2; 1979 – 6;
1980 – 4; 1981 – 3; 1982 – 2; 1983 – 1; 1984 – 2; 1985 – 3; 1986 – 0; 1987 – 1; 1988 – 3; 1989 – 2;
1990 – 4; 1991 – 6; 1992 – 7; 1993 – 7; 1994 – 4; 1995 – 4; 1996 – 4; 1997 – 6; 1998 – 7; 1999 – 5;
2000 – 3; 2001 – 2; 2002 – 10; 2003 – 4; 2004 – 7; 2005 – 4; 2006 – 2; 2007 – 8; 2008 – 6; 2009 – 4;
2010 – 7; 2011 – 8

A couple of years ago Donald Young [84] was considered as a future American star. He had very tough transition from juniors to the professional tour and bogged down in mediocrity, perhaps until this season. In March this year he unexpectedly ousted in straight sets Andy Murray at Indian Wells, today has notched second big scalp overcoming Stanislas Wawrinka [14] in five sets on fresh court No. 17. The “wild card” Young saved luckily a set point in a first set tie-break with a tentative behavior at the net and came back from a *1:4 deficit in the 5th set to build a 6:0 lead in the final tie-break, which allowed him to stresslessly win the longest match of the day. I’m surprised that one of the most experienced 5-set active players like Wawrinka, was so extremely passive in the final stages of the match against an opponent who had played just one 5-set (losing) match before. “It was quite tough for me to put together two, three in a row. That’s a big thing. When you put matches together in a row against players of this calibre, it gives you confidence and you feel like you belong,” Young said, “It definitely helped. I just had to grow up a little bit. I think everybody’s light comes on at their own time. Hopefully mine is coming on now.”
There were two other dramatic 5-setters. On court No. 6, Igor Kunitsyn [62] won second five set match in a row, upsetting Jurgen Melzer. The Austrian led 5:4* in the final set tie-break but lost three straight points. On Louis Armstrong Stadium, Andy Murray survived a tough test against an in-form Robin Haase [41]. The Dutchman surprisingly won the 1st set tie-break despite a 0:3* down (broke Murray’s 8-tie-break winning streak) and showed fantastic tennis in the 2nd set breaking the former finalist three times in seven games! Very aggressive play caused some physical problems with the back of Haase, and the cutthroat Murray found another gear to get 13 straight games – he led 4:0 in the 5th set after 4 aces in a row! The match seemed over, but Haase somehow came back to the match and leveled at 4 games apiece! Murray broke immediately to ’15’ and finished the match 6-7, 2-6, 6-2, 6-0, 6-4 in 3 hours 20 minutes, in the following game on third match point (Haase had a break point on second serve – missed backhand return). Murray improves his great 5-set record to 12-5, coming back from a two-set-to-love deficit for the sixth time in career, which places him among the biggest specialists of these victories in the Open era #. In the next round he will play against Feliciano Lopez, who survived a 4-set battle with a newcomer Vasek Pospisil (the Canadian youngster had his chances in sets No. 3 & 4). Also a 4-set match with two winning tie-breaks notched the other big-serving left-hander – Gilles Muller. He began abysmally his first encounter with Ernests Gulbis, losing 3 of the first 6 service games, but saved a break point at 0:3 in the 2nd set, later on a set point in that set and the things turned around in his favor to give him a 3-6, 7-6, 6-4, 7-6 win (both players served 19 aces).

Longest match:
4 hours, 20 minutes: Donald Young d. Stanislas Wawrinka 7-6(7), 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(1)

Most aces:
21 – Andy Murray, defeated Robin Haase in five sets

5-set barometer:
15-10 Stanislas Wawrinka
13-12 Jurgen Melzer
12-5 Andy Murray
3-6 Robin Haase
3-2 Igor Kunitsyn
1-1 Donald Young

# The most comebacks from two sets down:

10 – Aaron Krickstein (1983-1995), Boris Becker (1987-1999)
9 – Todd Martin (1993-2004)
6 – Kevin Curren (1981-1991), Michael Chang (1988-1991), Wayne Ferreira (1997-2003), Andy Murray (2006-2011)

An epic battle at Louis Armstrong Stadium was made by 31-year-old Juan Carlos Ferrero [105] and six years younger “birthday boy” Gael Monfils [7]; there were five grueling sets, and the entire match lasted 4 hours 48 minutes, which is the longest match of the season and the longest one in career for both players. Monfils saved mini-set points in both winning sets, and the usually calm Ferrero broke his racquet, upset after an awful forehand dropshot on set point down in the second tie-break. He got hold himself in the 4th set, fought off a break point at 1:2 and the things turned around in his favor. Monfils was too defensive again, it’s a tactical mistake especially against an opponent like Ferrero who knows how to create punishing angles from both sides. The Frenchman was running from side to side (the most interesting example of it occurred at the end of the 1st set as he almost won a point diving on the baseline!) and it took its toll in the 5th set – his legs didn’t work normally, and only with risky 2nd serves he owed hanging in the match since *0:2 (15-40). Ferrero had his physical problems as well, needed a treatment three times (both feet and middle finger in the left hand).
It was a good day for veterans in general, to the third round advanced also Ivo Karlovic [94] and Tommy Haas [475]. Dr. Ivo had boosted his confidence on Wendesday in doubles eliminating the Bryans, and stunned Monfils’ fellow countryman – Richard Gasquet 6-4, 6-2, 2-6, 7-6. The Croatian giant came back from a 2:4* (30-40) deficit in the 4th set to get the two vital points in the tie-break thanks to short backhand slices! He now faces Alexander Dolgopolov, who made the biggest comeback so far, recovering from a *1:4 (deuce) in the final set against Flavio Cipolla. ‘Dog’ won five straight games in the end. Haas won two matches in a row for the first time since Australian Open 2010 (he played 11 tournaments in the meantime) as he outplayed in three sets Alejandro Falla.
“The first two sets were ideal. I could not play better. I was getting a lot of balls back, I was ending the points when I needed to, I was making a lot of winners. I felt fantastic on the court. Everything seems fun and enjoyable when you are playing such good tennis“. said Novak Djokovic after a demolition of Carlos Berlocq in 90 minutes. ‘Nole’ won the first 14 games of the match, but was broken twice in the 3rd set (twice to ’30’). It is the most lopsided “the best of five” match in Djokovic’s career (he beat Nicolas Massu in Melbourne 6-1, 6-1, 6-o four years ago) and the fourth match in the history of US Open with such a scoreline #. There was one “triple bagel” in New York, 24 years ago made by Ivan Lendl. Other strongest guys in the top half of the draw, Tomas Berdych, Roger Federer, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga & Mardy Fish, also won their matches without any troubles, respectively in 103, 77, 105 & 113 minutes. The latter outplayed in night session at Louis Armstrong Malek Jaziri – the first man in history in the Grand Slam event from Tunisia.

Longest match:
4 hours, 48 minutes: Juan Carlos Ferrero d. Gael Monfils 7-6(5), 5-7, 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-4

Most aces:
29 – Ivo Karlovic, defeated Richard Gasquet in four sets

5-set barometer:
23-17 Juan Carlos Ferrero
9-3 Gael Monfils
4-1 Alexandr Dolgopolov
1-2 Flavio Cipolla

# Four US Open matches with ‘6-0, 6-0, 6-2’ scoreline:

1981, 1R: Bruce Manson d. Danny Saltz 6-0, 6-0, 6-2
1981, 1R: Jimmy Connors d. John Lloyd 6-0, 6-0, 6-2
1988, 1R: Darren Cahill d. Lawson Duncan 6-0, 6-0, 6-2
2011, 2R: Novak Djokovic d. Carlos Berlocq 6-0, 6-0, 6-2

In one of the most entertaining matches, at Louis Armstrong Stadium, John Isner [22] needed only one break of serve to battle past Marcos Baghdatis 7-6, 7-6, 2-6, 6-4. It was their third encounter in August, each time Isner became a winner. This time he had to work harder than in the previous meetings, in the 2nd set he saved three set points in the tie-break (5:6, 7:8, 9:10) – each of them with a second-serve winner on Baghdatis’ backhand! It was their second ’13-11′ tie-break won by Isner, the previous one occurred two years ago in Los Angeles, and had a weird progress – Isner saved only 1 s.p. at 10:11.
It was a good day for American players overall, besides Isner their matches won local pupils Andy Roddick, Ginepri, Bogomolov Jr., and 18-year-old, last year’s junior champion – Jack Sock [555], in his second Grand Slam appearance. Isner and Roddick have quite favorable draw, Fish has been playing tennis of his life, and it allows to suspect that at least one American player will advance to the quarter-finals (in the last two years none American player participated in the last eight, it had never happened in the Open era before). “It was okay… I’m still trying to find myself,” assessed Roddick after his 4-set victory over Russell, who now has eight first-round losses in his eight career appearances at the tournament, “I’m certainly still short on match play this year. I’ll keep fighting because it’s what I do. I don’t care if it’s ugly; I’ll try to get through“. The good American day was spoiled though, on Court No. 17, an experimental pair Karlovic / Moser ousted 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 the three-time US Open (2005, 08, 10) champions – the Bryan brothers; Dr. Ivo fired two consecutive aces in the end.
Andy Murray was struggling in the 1st set (lasted 70 minutes) with Somdev Devvarman, but prevailed in a tie-break (he’s won 8 straight tie-breaks) and took full control in the following two sets.  The unknown Brazilian Rogerio Dutra Da Silva [114] is a grantee of amazing luck, first he replaced Robin Soderling in the main draw (pulled out due to illness), then his first round opponent, Louk Sorensen [618] retired in the 4th set due to forearm injury (the match was played at Louis Armstrong, the biggest court Da Silva ever entered); the 27-year-old Da Silva next faces Bogomolov, so it’s for him a decent chance to continue a fairytale… 16 matches were played on Wednesday.

Longest match:
3 hours, 57 minutes:
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez d. Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-3, 1-6, 7-6(1), 1-6, 7-6(4)

Most aces:
23 – Steve Johnson, lost to Alex Bogomolov Jr. in five sets

5-set barometer:
6-4 Gilles Simon
5-3 Ricardo Mello
4-3 Guillermo Garcia-Lopez
2-3 Alex Bogomolov Jr.
1-2 Daniel Gimeno-Traver
0-1 Steve Johnson