Nadal, Murray on collision course
Source: Agencies |
September 5, 2010, Sunday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
IF you blinked, you might have missed it but Rafael Nadal gave the tennis world another look at the weapon he hopes will help him win the US Open and complete his collection of grand slam titles.
The world No. 1 has been working hard on his serve in the belief that it holds the key to his chances of finally conquering New York. If his performance on Friday night was any guide, the wait may soon be over.
Playing his second round match against Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan at the Arthur Ashe Stadium on Friday, Nadal produced an extraordinary display of serving.
It was a high-quality match of power-hitting from both players but he never once lost serve, which flew fastest across the net at 216 kilometers per hour, during his 6-2, 7-6 (5), 7-5 victory.
"For the moment, it's working really well," Nadal said without any sense of understatement. "I will try to keep playing like this."
Nadal is on course for a semifinal showdown with Britain's Andy Murray but the top professionals never like to talk about possible match-ups. One match at a time is their mantra.
But both are in great form and are yet to drop a set in the tournament. If either was beaten before the semifinals it would be a surprise.
Murray's second-round opponent on Friday was an unorthodox Jamaican called Dustin Brown. The Briton knew little about him but was warned to expect the unexpected. It was good advice but not a great contest, the Scotsman winning easily, 7-5, 6-3, 6-0.
With his dreadlocked hair, sleeveless shirt and baggy shorts, Brown was an instant hit with the center court crowd but apart from a few fleeting moments in the first set, he was blown away.
Murray, warned that Hurricane Earl was about to dump gallons of rain on the national tennis center, was in such a hurry to beat the wild weather that never came, that he had to head back out to the practice courts again because he wanted another workout.
Friday was not a day for the underdogs. They gave the seeds moments of trouble but the big names in action all prevailed. It has been a tournament bereft of upsets but that has only set the stage for a crackerjack second week.
Venus Williams, wearing a sparkling evening dress that would not have been out of place at a cocktail party, trounced qualifier Mandy Minella of Luxembourg 6-2, 6-1.
The defending women's champion Kim Clijsters reeled off 12 games in a row to win her match with Czech Petra Kvitova while French Open champion Francesca Schiavone and grand slam finalists Elena Dementieva and Samantha Stosur cruised to straight-set wins.
Clijsters lost the first three games against 27th seed Kvitova but quickly turned it all around and won the next 12 on the trot in her 6-3, 6-0 win.
Stosur, runner-up at the French Open and seeded fifth at Flushing Meadows, beat Italy's Sara Errani 6-2, 6-3.
Dementieva, a finalist at the US Open six years ago, booked her passage into the fourth round with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova.
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