Murray, Djokovic, Sharapova, Jankovic Advance
 
Andy Murray finally caught up to Mardy Fish in the Western & Southern Open semifinals here yesterday in a 6-3, 7-6 (8) victory which was his first over the 29 year-old American in nearly two years. Coming into this match, Mardy had won the last three matches, all of which occurred last year. Fish was the one who sent Murray packing here last year in a quarterfinal victory, 6-7 (7), 6-1, 7-6 (5), which was also the last time these two players met on court. Mardy had the overall lead in the series by a 4-3 count before their semifinal appearance. Mardy had a -4 on his plus / minus (35 winners vs. 39 unforced errors, most of which came off his forehand; he had 20 of his 39 errors on that wing). Murray really cut down on his unforced errors and had a +13 (28 winners and only 15 unforced errors). Neither player did especially well on their first serve with Fish having a slight edge in that particular category (52% vs. 51% for the young Scotsman) but where Andy made a lot of progress against Fish was in his first serve points won (75% on 30 of 40 points) vs. Mardy being able to only post a 63% figure in first serve points won (29 of 46).
 
In the first set, Murray recorded the only break of serve to go up 3-1 and that was enough to win the set. One of the more interesting things of this match was that each player broke the other one three times in the second set, which ought never to happen to either player at this level. Having said that, Fish had problems with his serve all match long. At one point, Mardy was down love-40 in the second on his serve but managed to wiggle out of trouble. Murray noted, "I broke three times in the set, which should be enough, you know. But, yeah, I mean, one game, I think maybe the 5-All game, he came up with two very good serves. That's best part of Mardy's game. He's got a very good serve. He played two good points on his serve; one of them was an ace," Murray explained. "The other point (is that) I think I had a chance (to break his serve) and didn't take it. But I converted a lot of my chances. I broke him, yet he hadn't lost serve all week. I broke him four or five times, so I returned well. Serve I'll need to improve because I got broken a few times in the second."
 
Murray showed signs of increasing frustration as the match wore on and he said that was because "I was struggling physically. That's frustrating for me, because that's something I haven't struggled with for quite a long time," Murray explained. "When you're kind of in control of a match and then you start to physically get a little bit tired, it becomes frustrating, because rather than concentrating on just playing the match, which I was in the first set, you start thinking about the physical side, which you shouldn't really be having to. So that's why I was getting frustrated. I'm glad I managed to finish it off in two sets," Murray concluded. More on that point, was it just a general sense of fatigue or something more specific that was bothering him as the match wore on? "I don't know exactly what it was I felt. Like right now I don't feel that tired, I don't feel that drained. My legs just need to get stronger. I've not played that many matches at all since Wimbledon," Murray thought. "I think it's just getting back to playing matches in these conditions at that intensity, because the first set there was a lot of long rallies, long points. I thought it was a pretty intense match, especially the first set and towards the end," Murray said.
 
Three years ago, these same two guys met here for the 2008 title which Murray won, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5). Did that particular encounter mean anything for Murray, perhaps give him some confidence that he could win against the hottest player on the men's tour at the moment? "I think both of our games have probably improved a bit since then. I've played Novak in a few finals and big matches over the last few years, and won some of them and lost some of them. I'll need to play well to get it tomorrow, but it's a good test (either way, win or lose) to see exactly where my game is before the US Open, because he's the No. 1 in the world just now," Murray thought. Andy certainly did not believe that, in spite of Djokovic's incredible season to date, that he was invincible. And you would expect that from such a highly competitive, professional athlete such as Andy Murray. If he felt he had no chance to win tomorrow, why bother even playing the match? The key is believing he can win and then executing his game plan to give him the best shot of doing so. And it probably didn't help him that Novak had a very brief match today against Tomas Berdych, who had to retire with a right shoulder injury after losing the first set, 7-5. "He was only on the court a half hour, 35 minutes today. He'll be fine for tomorrow. I'm sure he'll be up for the match. I think it'll be a good match for both of us at this stage. I mean, I feel like I can beat him; I've done it before and had quite a lot of chances. I probably should have won against him in Rome earlier this year on clay. But I'll have to play well," Murray explained.
 
I asked Mardy Fish what positives he took out of his match today; granted, he was disappointed not to be able to play in the finals tomorrow, but he has been playing a lot of tennis lately. "I mean, just I'm right there; Murray is 4th in the world. I played great yesterday and really, all week long. I mean, I beat a lot of good players this week. I am just trying to solidify my spot, make guys think that I belong, and convince myself that I belong as well," Mardy explained. "It's been a great; getting to the semifinals of a huge event like this is a good result for anyone. So it's been two great weeks (with his finals appearance in Montreal last week in a losing effort to Djokovic in three tough sets). I'll take two, three, four days off and regroup and get away from the court and then get back mid next week," Fish continued. For me, tennis isn't the issue. It's just mentally getting away from having to come back day after day and keep playing match after match. Look, it's a great problem to have, but eventually mentally you want a little bit of a break. I'll have that now, and that's exciting for me. You know, I've played a lot of tennis this summer," Fish explained.
 
As far as the positives go, Fish won the U.S. Open Series title which puts him in position to get some nice bonus money there depending on how far he goes in that tournament. A first round loss at the Open would give him an extra $15,000; a fourth round loss like he did last year would mean an additional $70,000 which is almost like a winner's check at some smaller events like the 250 and 500 series on the ATP Tour. His best finish at the U.S. Open was a quarterfinal showing in 2008 and if he gets that far this year, the bonus will be $125,000. Obviously, Mardy does not play for the money on the tour and I only bring that point up about the bonus because winning the U.S. Open series was a big deal to him. Yesterday, he said that "it feels like a tournament win. I think it's the epitome of what the US Open Series is, and that it's not just coming over and playing two events and the US Open," Mardy opined. "It's about grinding it out all summer long and playing well throughout the summer. "Whoever wins here, even if it is Novak, it's 100 points for him. I've still got a nice cushion, even if I lose tomorrow (against Andy Murray) and he wins the tournament. So, winning the series doesn't necessarily feel like a fluke. I've played well. It's an honor," Fish thought.
 
The second men's semifinal matched Novak Djokovic against Tomas Berdych. The concern coming into this match was whether or not Berdych would even play the semifinal since he injured his right shoulder in playing Roger Federer yesterday. We asked him after the Federer win if he would pull out and he explained that he was going to take a wait and see attitude and do everything he could to play given the fact that it was a semifinal of a very important tournament leading up to the U.S. Open. Still, he did pull out of the doubles competition in order to give him the best chance of winning against Novak. The first set took 52 minutes and Tomas lost that 7-5 and at that point decided to retire. It became apparent that the shoulder was not giving him much of a chance because in the first (and only) set alone that he played today, he committed 22 unforced errors (as compared with only 14 winners) for a negative plus / minus of -8.
 
I asked Tomas how his shoulder injury affected his play, beyond the obvious as being the reason he had to retire from his match. "In the beginning, (I only felt the shoulder) only when I had to stretch to reach a volley, especially for the backhand side and some short balls that bounced high in the air. After the match started, I felt the pain more on my serve, which is for me the worst," Berdych explained. "(When I started the match) it was okay. I mean, (I had to play) completely different than I wanted to, especially from the baseline. I started to play much more aggressively and take riskier shots in order to try and end points more quickly. Otherwise, I would have had to play longer and longer rallies which would have made the pain worse and made me retire sooner than I did," Berdych explained. He then confided that if the pain was as bad yesterday (in his match with Roger Federer) and he had to play a 3rd set, he would have been unable to continue.
 
The women's semifinals got underway in the evening session with Maria Sharapova playing Vera Zvonareva; Maria led their head-to-head series 6-3. This match went three full sets and it looked like Sharapova was going to lose as she lost the first set rather easily, 2-6. Part of that had to do with being broken three times which is a lot for anyone in one set of professional tennis' she did manage to get one of those breaks back but it was over in 33 minutes. Then, as all champions tend to do, when the original game plan was not working, she switched gears mid-match. It helped that she called her coach out on to the court after the first set (as the WTA Tour allows) and "I didn't do a lot of talking. He talked most of the time. I think when I called him I just felt like I needed a little bit of energy, something that was really missing in the first set," Maria said. "I was late on a few shots, and when I had a few chances to put pressure on her in 30 All or deuce games on her serve, I made an unforced error. I really didn't let her think out there. I felt like the second set, if I could just be more aggressive, move my feet a little bit more, I could change a few things around," Sharapova explained. After listening to her coach, she played totally differently in cruising to an easy win, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3. "I felt it in my footwork a little bit. I felt like even some points I lost I felt like I started moving a little bit better. It's not like one point you say, Oh, wow. Now I'm really going to turn things around. I mean, it's pretty tough to do in the middle of the match. If you do, that's great self confidence. It's more about just starting to feel good and get in a good groove," Sharapova opined.
 
The last match of the day had enough drama before it even started. Andrea Petkovic had torn the meniscus in her right leg in her quarterfinal match against Nadia Petrova yesterday. It was the same leg in which she had torn her ACL three years previously. The first question I asked her was to walk us through her decision-making process in terms of even deciding whether or not to even play her match against Jelena Jankovic, especially this close to the start of the U.S. Open. "Well, when I talked to you yesterday, I was still in my cool down period with my stretching and I was still sort of warm, so I didn't feel a lot of pain. Once I got back to the hotel, my knee started swelling up and I had to have a massage," Petkovic said. "So I told myself, okay, get some ice, use some electrical stimulation and get some rest. When I woke up today, my knee was really swollen and I couldn't walk at all. So I started crying for one hour at first because I thought it's my ACL again. The thing was, last time I tore my ACL I had the swelling immediately," Petkovic continued. "So, since that didn't happen this time I still had some hope somewhere in the back of my mind that it's (her injury) not that. But it was the same feeling when I was walking, the same pain, and everything was exactly the same. So I was really scared. Once I got to the doctor, he did the tests that you do when you have ACL, and what I found out later, my ACL (the restructured one) is not vertical but a little more horizontal. That's why the test does not work (to determine if she tore the ACL or had some other type of knee injury). They did it to me ten times once I tore my ACL back three years ago, so I knew immediately when he did it that it's not right, it doesn't feel right," Petkovic said. "So I cried for like three or four hours, because I was absolutely sure that my ACL was torn. Then I went to get an MRI done. I took like one hour and they sent the pictures to radiologist and to another radiologist (for a second opinion). Finally they saw the restructured ACL is not vertical and that's why the test did not work. I have a tear in the inner meniscus. So I felt reborn again and I wanted to play. I hit for an hour before the match and it was fine. I tried to hide the taping (laughing at the absurdity of that notion since her whole right leg was taped heavily), but it was a little tough because it was like two meters thick. Yeah, I felt fine. I mean, I didn't feel too stable, but it was okay. I played fine. I felt okay. I played well the first set. I should have won maybe the first set, but Jelena played a great match, so I think it was okay. I hope I'll be ready for the US Open," Petkovic related.
 
At this point in the narrative, I have to interject my opinion on this issue since I believe that Petkovic should be applauded for gutting it out and choosing to play this match, despite the pain, especially since it was so close to the start of the Open. It's no wonder why so many people like her on tour; she gives you good, honest answers and seems to approach things from a fan's perspective. In answering another question about why she didn't pull out of this event, despite having a very good reason to do so, she replied with this: "You know, when I go to concerts and the band comes two hours late and plays for 45 minutes and then they leave, then I'm really, really pissed. I just tried to put myself in their (the fans') position. The moment that I knew I'm probably going to be fine for the US Open I knew I'm going to play. And I would rather die than retire, so the decision was quite easy for me. If it had been my ACL, I would have had to withdraw," she explained. Then she continued with this "The audience came out and wanted to see two semifinals and they paid a lot money (so it would have been unfair to them had I not played if I was able to do so). I talked to the doctor, and he said, listen, with the tape it's not going to get worse. I'm not the type of person to just withdraw and leave the audience out there," she said. Finally, I asked if there was any disagreement with her team on her decision to play. "Well, my team was basically on my side. They supported me in playing. The problem was my parents," Petkovic said. "They called like 700 times. They called the WTA, they called the doctors of the WTA, they talked to the physios, which is quite embarrassing. They called everybody and really didn't want me to play. Obviously they had to go through much more when I was injured than myself. People who are parents probably can understand them. So that was the biggest fight. Actually I didn't call them until I didn't know what was happening, so they thought I was lying to them when I told them nothing serious. It's just the meniscus, a little tear. They thought I was lying and just want to calm them down. So this was the biggest fight, my parents calling my coach ten hundred times and trying to shut down the whole tournament. But otherwise it's fine," Petkovic said.
 

 

 
[4] Andy Murray (GBR) {blue shoes} d [7] Mardy Fish (USA) 63 76(8)
 

 
 
[1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) {red shoes} d [8] Tomas Berdych (CZE) 75 ret (shoulder)
 

 
 
[4] [WC] Maria Sharapova (RUS) d [2] Vera Zvonareva (RUS) {white visor} 26 63 63