The US Open is down to the final four in both the Men's and Women's draws and the change in recent years means we now have the Semi Final matches of both tournaments played on separate days.
This at least allows players to have as much time as they need to recover if they make the Final rather than in the recent past when the second Semi Final winner would be under immense pressure to be as fit as possible for the Final.
It was a particular concern for the Men's Final, but we shouldn't hear any excuses now.
From what we have seen it would still be a real surprise to see a new Grand Slam Champion in the Women's tournament with three of the four making the Semi Final being previous winners. Two have won at the US Open before, but the Men's tournament has shaped up very differently with all four remaining in the draw looking to win a maiden Slam and perhaps then be able to see their own careers move upwards significantly.
On Day 11 it is the turn of the Women as the Semi Final matches are played back to back on Ashe from Midnight United Kingdom time. I will be keeping an eye on those matches in the background, although the main focus may be on the NBA PlayOffs and the start of the 2020 NFL season.
The second Semi Final certainly looks more intriguing than the first on paper, but all four players left in the draw will be confident in their own abilities having won five matches at the US Open already.
Naomi Osaka - 3.5 games v Jennifer Brady: The first of the Women's Semi Finals looks like being a big hitting encounter as Naomi Osaka takes on underdog Jennifer Brady. While Osaka is a former two time Grand Slam Champion, Brady had never been beyond the Fourth Round at a Grand Slam in her carer and that experience could be key.
You can't ignore the fact that Naomi Osaka has only ever twice reached the Quarter Final at any Grand Slam, but she clearly builds the confidence as both times she has gone on to win the tournament. The scoreline might not have shown it in the last two Rounds, but Osaka has been dominant in the wins over Anett Kontaveit and Shelby Rogers and looks to be peaking towards Saturday's Final.
The serve has been a potent weapon for Naomi Osaka and she has only dropped serve twice in the last four matches having dropped it twice in the First Round win. In the last two matches she has only faced a single break point and is winning at least 76% of points behind the serve in each match which gives her the freedom to attack the return.
While I would think the serve would be tested by Jennifer Brady and the ability she has shown on the return so far in this tournament, I also have to accept that the American has simply not faced a serve like the one she will see on Thursday. Caroline Garcia is arguably the best server she has faced in the tournament, but Naomi Osaka is another step up from that level in her current form and I do think it will be difficult for Brady to really get her teeth into this serve.
That is going to put some pressure on the home hope in her bid to reach her maiden Grand Slam Final, while Jennifer Brady is also going to have to deal with her nerves. She did win a title in Lexington last month, but Brady is not someone that is overly familiar with the business end of tournaments and admitted that she was having to deal with some nerves in her Quarter Final win.
There is a big serve that Brady can look to rely on, but in the last couple of Rounds it has been one that opponents have been able to get a read on. With Naomi Osaka likely going to be in control of her own service games, I do think the Japanese star can hit with some freedom on the return and has shown she is very strong in that aspect of her game.
Naomi Osaka has been creating plenty of break point chances, but she needs to be a little more productive when the chances come up. You can't really allow Jennifer Brady to hang around as Osaka did with the last two opponents faced, but I do favour the higher Ranked player to work her way through and most likely in two sets.
It has been a very good tournament for Jennifer Brady and the last month will have given her confidence, but I do think Naomi Osaka will wear her down with the pressure of her own serve making Brady go for a little more. Eventually I would think Osaka is going to have the majority of break points and she can crack through the Brady defences and cover what looks like a considerable mark.
Serena Williams-Victoria Azarenka over 22.5 games: So suffice to say I might have gotten the Victoria Azarenka-Elise Mertens Quarter Final a little wrong- instead of the underdog showing any kind of grit, it was one way traffic for Azarenka who only dropped a single game to take her place in the US Open Semi Final.
The Belgian is going to face some serious questions internally about her performance on the day as she continues to be battered by the better players on the Tour on the hard courts, but overall it was a productive month for Mertens.
But onto the actual Semi Finalist.
Over the last couple of weeks there has really been a turn in the Azarenka form and she is playing at a very high level here at the US Open. Even then I was somewhat surprised that she would be set as the favourite against Serena Williams if only for the sole reason that I thought the layers would continue to overrate the American chasing her 24th Grand Slam title.
Serena Williams needed three sets for the third match in a row and it was also the second time in this tournament that she has had to come from a set behind to move through the Round. There is clearly a decline in the levels being produced by Serena Williams, but the raw numbers don't factor in a Champion's heart which has seen Williams come back from difficult positions already in the last eleven days.
She is going to need to dig in and use her aura to help overcome Victoria Azarenka, but there should be no real fear from the other side of the court despite the largely one-sided head to head record. They last met in March 2019 when Serena Williams was able to beat Victoria Azarenka in straight sets on the Indian Wells hard courts, but it was not an easy match for her and I would suggest that Williams is not at the level she was back then and Azarenka looks to be playing as well as she has at any point since returning to the Tour.
Three of the last four meetings between these players at Grand Slam level have gone the distance and even though Azarenka looks to be playing a lot better than Serena Williams here this week, I would not be surprised if we see this one going three sets too.
The strengths of the players look to be going against each other with Serena's serve coming up big at key times, while the Azarenka return has been crucial to her winning a title ahead of the US Open and her run here. The Azarenka serve always feels more vulnerable, but Williams has not been returning as well as she would have liked and I do think the match is going to be a competitive one.
We have seen enough from Serena Williams to think she won't go down easily if she does, but I also think Victoria Azarenka is playing well enough to not lose hope even if she falls behind. The Belarusian has already come from a set down once in this tournament and I would be disappointed if this Semi Final doesn't have the twists and turns that the previous US Open Finals between these two players have had.
It is a big number of total games, but, if the match goes the distance as I believe it can, it should be one that is surpassed.
US Open Update: 41-35, + 1.79 Units (152 Units Staked, + 1.18% Yield)
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