2012 US Open QF Preview, Pt.4

Felicitations and salutations to all you tennis fanatics out there. This is the final part of the Quarterfinal preview on the men's side of the US Open. Welcome to the business end of the tournament.

After this comes the semis and then the final. I love Juan Martin Del Potro. I love his scary groundstrokes and his humongous serve and the fact that he looks so damn cool. He for me is all that is good about tennis. An offensive powerhouse that can blow you to bits at will. He is almost like the anti-Wozniacki or the anti-Ferrer, even though I respect both those players and love Ferrer to bits.

I don't like Djokovic at all. Too busy tryin' to make us laugh and be entertaining, and in the time it takes for him to serve I could make a very large multi-tiered wedding cake with icing. He just annoys me generally and it was bearable before when he wasn’t so good, but now that he's up there, he's even more irritating. Plus he doesn't even play a beautiful or elegant style like Fed's. And I'm annoyed that Berd took him out. In fact, I'm more than annoyed, but that's for when I review that quarterfinal tomorrow. For me, Federer is like Batman and Djokovic is the Djoker -- even his name is like the cartoon villains -- and even though the Djoker may secure some victories, eventually the good guy always comes back and wins anyway. Wow, look at me ramble. Onwards for Del Potro against the Antichr- erm, I mean Djokovic.

DEL POTRO vs. DJOKOVIC
...Djokovic leads 5-2 but who cares because Del Potro beat him for the Bronze medal at the Olympics. It's all about the ones you win and Del Potro won probably the most important one. They did meet at the Cincy Masters just before the Open and Djoko won 6-3/6-2. Full details here.

=Del Potro (7) Route Through=
R1: def. Serra
...This wasn't ever going to be just a walk in the park. But the tower from Tandil -- this guy even has the best nicknames -- came through 6-4 (42) 7-6(4) 6-4 (45) in over two hours, but that isn't too bad. With 19 aces and 48 winners, JMDP was just getting warmed up. He is one of the best in the game right now at holding serve and has at one time or another beaten every single member of the top ten. And so it was here, his opponent seeing only one break point and not converting even that one. With the Frenchman disposed of after an impressive match, the Argentine moved on.

R2: def. Harrison
...Ryan and his little bro Christian got to the men's doubles quarters. However, the fiery young -- well not that young, he's 20 and has a beard -- American was going nowhere fast against the mighty Delpo. In a pretty quick four set clash the Argentine won 6-2 (32) 6-3 (45) 2-6 (37) 6-2 (40). They keep saying that he's one for the future, but at 21 Delpo had won a slam and had done a demolition job on Nadal 6-2 6-2 6-2. I watched that match, he was fearsome although it was the longest match with a scoreline like that in my memory. But I digress, Harrison will be a top 30 player one day. JMDP had a really impressive 70 percent of first serves going in and 4 aces, though three double faults. He also had 29 winners to 32 unforced errors but his opponent had 5 less winners and 10 more errors. Delpo played a smart consistent match and Harrison missed far too many balls and in the end the Argentine came through.

R3: def. L.Mayer (not Florian Mayer)
…The man with the big frame and the big game -- don’t worry I'm not saying that again -- had a tricky third match against his Davis Cup teammate. However, he came through a tricky match 6-3 (42) 7-5 (72) 7-6(11-9) (86). As you can tell, Mayer improved steadily throughout the match and even broke Del Potro once. Del Potro had a good 65 percent of first serves going in and 34 winners against 21 errors, with 7 aces to three doubles, too. That is a solid set of stats. Mayer can be very dangerous, but this tournament Del Potro has played smart consistent offensive tennis. And, hey, that's more than some players still in the draw can say.

R4: def.Roddick
…I miss A-Rod already. I mean A-Rad's (Radwanska) nickname came from this guy. He was so funny and just such a great guy. But there are so many Andy Roddick tributes out there and really I was never a fan of him on court, so I will use this pargraph or so to describe the match. He led Del Potro in aces by 20-15 but had 6 doubles to Delpo's 3. JMDP had a FSP of 70 whilst Andy's was 65, but Andy broke just once whilst Delpo broke 4 times. Also, Delpo had only 31 errors to the American's 47 but, with 57, Roddick had 6 more winners. To be honest, though, this was a high quality and engaging affair between two amazing players and was the perfect send off to a guy who won the US Open 9 years ago and should have won Wimbledon, too. And that's what this match willl be remembered by: the fact it was the last match played by the last American man to win a singles slam and the last to be number one. And on that note, let us move on to Novak Djokovic.

=Djokovic (2) Route Through=
R1: def. Lorenzi
…blitzed at the Australian Open by the Djoker in a very early round, this match would be no different. Novak eased through 6-1 (26) 6-0 (23) 6-1 (24) in an hour and 13 minutes. Djokovic had 7 aces and no doubles but the Italian had no aces and six double faults. Djokovic also had an exceptional 79% of first serves landing in. He hit 32 winners to ten, too. Djokovic always seems to get the easy draws whilst Fedrerer gets the hard ones. I smell a conspiracy.

R2: def. R.Dutra Silva
...another simple match, as usual, for Djokovic. God forbid he ever get an easy draw. Well, he smashed the Brazilian 6-2 (28) 6-1 (39) 6-2 (32). With 29 winners and 6 aces, plus a FSP of 66, he played well this match although not against the most difficult of opponents. This match really isn't noteworthy. Djokovic got handed a minnow and ruthlessly dispatched him.

R3: def. Benneteau
…the French number five and world number 35 was the first 'test' Djokovic would face. But Djokovic, of course, won 6-3 (34) 6-2 (35) 6-2 (28) in a very routine match. With 13 aces and 41 winners Djokovic was supreme in this match. Just three double faults and only 12 errors. Add to that, he never faced a break point and the win was even more impressive. However, despite this being the first seed he faced, there really wasn’t anything that interesting about this match. So I'll just say that Djokovic is going to play a part in the upcoming "Expendables" movie. I'm sorry, guys, I'd write more on these matches, but nothing really happened in them and if not much happened then I can't write much.

R4: def. Wawrinka (18) Retired with Illness
...6-4/6-3/3-1, he was leading when Wawrinka retired.

=Why Del Potro Beats Djokovic=
…this guy is difficult to break, and even though Djokovic has a great return, I still don’t think he will be broken more than 3 or 4 times this match. Also, he has a big forehand and a nifty dropshot which he used well against Roddick. Also, I'm not sure the Djokovic forehand can take a heavy bombing and that's exactly what Del Potro will give it. He has also got decent hands at the net, too. And I think he's got a shot at not just the upset but at the US Open crown this year.

=Why Djokovic Beats Del Potro=
…because he's been playing well this year and he's got all kinds of confidence from making a pact with the Sith. He is in some serious form though. And he's been smashing his way through these matches in a very impressive way. He will serve consistently and he is so hard to put away. And he has more consistency then Del Potro, too. Plus, he's good at putting the ball in places where Del Potro isn't as effective.

=What I think will happen=
…the ultimate battle of good vs. evil. Offense vs. defense. Stunning Shots against whatever counterpunching rubbish Djokovic brings to the match. Grrrr, I really don't like Djokovic. I think he'll play well and win in four but Del Potro will have his chances.

Djokovic 7-6 (8) 3-6 7-6 (6) 6-4

Thank you all for reading this four part series and I'll be back with my semifinal predictions.

P.S. - For those of you curious about the Ferrer Cupboard story, try this.

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