Four Quarters Pay Day 10 Dividends

Four quarters add up to one whole lot of excitement on this Day 10 of the 2008 US Open. On the men’s side, top-seed Rafael Nadal takes on American Mardy Fish, while great Scot Andy Murray goes head-to-head with the hottest player in men’s tennis, Juan Martin Del Potro. The women’s quarters feature Olympus US Open Series women’s champ Dinara Safina against Italy’s Flavia Pennetta, as well as the highly anticipated sisterly summit featuring Venus and Serena Williams.

Through the better part of their pre-tournament press conference and on ubiquitous TV ads airing throughout this event, Venus and Serena Williams have spent a lot of time extolling the virtues of making Oreos an important part of everyone’s lives. As a long-time Double Stuff man myself, I certainly can’t argue the merits of that message, nor can anyone argue that the sisters haven’t been the toughest cookies in the women’s draw. Venus, the No. 7 seed, and Serena, seeded No. 4, have played their way to this quarterfinal engagement without dropping a set. Venus has lost just 15 games in four rounds, one more than her younger sister. The luck of the draw puts this re-match of this year’s Wimbledon finalists on a Wednesday evening, but any time these two luminaries come together, you can expect the sort of brilliance normally associated with a prime-time Saturday night. Venus, winner of back-to-back titles here in 2000 and 2001, has taken seven Slam singles titles in her career. Serena, US Open champ in 1999 and 2002, owns eight. The sisters are even at 8-all in their career meetings, seven of those meetings coming in Grand Slam finals. Only once before have the two come together at an earlier stage in this tournament—that was a fourth-round meeting in 2005, won by Venus. This should be a good one, as to this point in the tournament, the Williams sisters have been the best ones. Both women have been near-perfect to this point, but I always feel that when these two come together, Venus is more capable of separating herself. After all, the cream isn’t always in the middle—sometimes it rises to the top. In three, Venus moves on to the semis.

Nadal, playing his first-ever Slam event as the top seed, has never before been past this point at the Open in five previous tries. Now, he figures as a very real favorite for a second-Sunday showing, coming here on the heels of a sizzling summer in which the 22-year-old Spaniard captured his fourth consecutive French title, his first Wimbledon crown, an Olympic gold medal and a first-place finish in the Olympus US Open Series. A win here would make Nadal only the fourth man in the Open Era to win three Slams in a row. The top seed owns the top record among the men on hardcourts this year, with a 40-7 record through round four. Fish is playing in just the second Grand Slam quarterfinal of his career; this is his best-ever US Open showing. He’s unseeded here, but he’s not without hard-court credentials, reaching the final of two cement events this year—at Indian Wells and New Haven. Fish was especially impressive in a straight-sets pounding of No. 32 seed Gail Monfils in round four, playing an aggressive style that saw him come to the net 69 times, winning 45 of those points. In that efficient two-hour tilt, Fish won 80 percent of his first-serve points, broke Monfils six times, and effectively shut down one of the most athletic players on the tour. He’ll likely employ that same style against Nadal, but Nadal is much more likely to be able to poke holes in Fish’s advances with his lethal, precise ground assault. It’s tough to pick against the American after his formidable fourth-round performance, but it’d be tougher to pick against Nadal in a match of this magnitude. Fish gets a set; Nadal gets the semis.

No. 6 seed Murray is playing here with his highest career Grand Slam seeding. The 21-year-old is making his fourth US Open appearance, and this is his best-ever Flushing run. Murray also reached the quarters at Wimbledon this year and has taken three tournament titles in 2008, including hard-court wins at Doha and Cincinnati. Five of his six career titles are hard-court crowns. The 2004 US Open junior boys’ champion has often been heralded as the game’s the next best thing, but in Del Potro, he’s facing the game’s hottest man, the only player in the history of men’s tennis to win his first four titles in four consecutive tournaments. The 19-year-old Argentine is riding a 23-match win streak into this quarterfinal and shows no signs of slowing his surge. This will be a fun one to watch, as two of the game’s coming talents come together. This one goes the distance, and in five, Del Potro goes on.