Holy. I love Muzz’s expression too. No LOOK AT MY MASCLES, no pelvis thrust Fed-jump, no 10 time VAMOS court fuck. Just a blank face. Of course everyone will get on his case for being boring. But his mom’s celebration says it all. And from there he was only 2 points from the win, it really wasn’t necessary. (Thanks to Curtis for the video.)

Muzz dropped the first set, but then hopped on his horse and reeled off the next 3 sets. He’ll be going into the final with a day of rest and only having dropped one set all tournament. Damn son. And he just looks comfortable and in control out there, really. I’ll have more on his chances in the final once we figure out who the hell he’s playing.

Just seeing him do that makes me feel like I’m on top of the world.

Let’s be honest though, the problem here was Nole’s stomach, and you really got to feel for the guy. He had diarrhea before the match, had to vomit during it and was at points dry heaving on the court. He said what he ate was pasta and “routine” and he wasn’t really sure. Talk about frustrating. The good thing for Nole is that he’s feeling confident and knows he’s playing well, he just got hit with a freight truck of bad luck.

For Jo it’s a solid win, and he DOES have a winning record against Nole who beat him in the 2008 AO final. Next he gets Fed who, yes, he beat in 3 sets in Montreal last year in dramatic fashion. Unfortunately for him he’s had back to back 5 set matches though neither of them have been 5 hour marathons. He gets today off too, of course, which is good. And hell, he looks trimmed down, the power is still there, he’s as fast as all hell… rest up Jo, rest up.

So much for that. When we saw the draw, we got excited… but we all REALLY knew it wasn’t going to happen. And there was the first set… and then it totally didn’t. Oh those Russians. Not that it messed with Kolya like it did Igor. Not in the slightest.

Q. You had three brilliant points to save the match in the 11th game of fourth set. There were two returns that were particularly breathtaking.

NIKOLAY DAVYDENKO: Yes, I have chance again. If you see in fourth set 4‑3 for me and I have Love‑40 of serve Federer, but I have no chance. He have all five serves so good. But like say, bad luck for me again in the fourth set.

Yes, I again have chance by 5‑All. I lost my serve fighting. But, again, bad luck. I don’t know why. Maybe Federer was really lucky today. (Laughter.) Again.

Q. What was going through your mind as you were losing all those games?

NIKOLAY DAVYDENKO: Pissed off. (Laughter.) What else? Yeah. Like say I’m pissed off of my serve. Pissed off. I didn’t realize this point, I didn’t realize this point. It’s like everything was shit (laughter.)

But what else? Bad luck. Go home tomorrow, relax.

You, you’re awesome. Also, when you retire in 2 years, can you coach Ana? Maybe full time? Bring some of that humorous hippy attitude with you.

Well that was painful.

In one of the most epic collapses in slam history, Vika was up a whopping set and 2 breaks at 4-0… and then Serena got angry. And it was not pretty. There was just about everything but blood on the court as Serena started hammering the ball, playing with purpose, and actually moving (*gaspshockgasp*). Vika was able to stop the bleeding to get things to a tiebreak, and was even up a mini-break, but Serena just overpowered her and steam rolled all the way through the set and the win.

It was messy, to say the least. It was strange, seeing Vika have Serena’s number after she hadn’t even been broken all tournament. At the same time, Serena looked oddly flat and sort of content to die away with a whimper. And let’s be honest, were this a non-slam tournament (especially outside of the US) Serena probably would have gladly eaten a bagel in the second. But something clicked, for sure, and it was bombs away. Methinks she may be out for blood. Specifically Justine’s.

The other semi actually happened before but is barely worth mentioning. 3 sets of tired tennis that I’m pretty sure exhausted its viewers faster than its players. Nails finally took it in the third set that had next to no service holds… the rest is history. Specifically history not worth re-mentioning. The good that DOES come out of it, however, is that Nails is the first ever Chinese player to crack the WTA top 10, which is pretty damn epic, so congrats to her on that!

Ah yes, the classic Marin post title.

According to unofficial MTR consultant AKA my roommate, and lover of all things Dick, Marin came out serving huge… however he was getting under 50% of his first serves in. But it didn’t much matter, cause Dick couldn’t deal with them, and he was winning nearly every point on his first serve. Andy also had some arm problems going on, and according to him his bottom two fingers were numb most of the match, giving him obvious problems. Still, the guy fought back to win the third and fourth set, which is mighty impressive.

Dick commented in his post-match presser that Marin really dictated play, much like Delpo or Agassi used to, by planting himself in the middle and just directing traffic. In other words, he conserves energy while his opponent is forced to work extra hard and keep up with that smokin’ backhand of his.

Personally, I have to take the time to give mad props to Marin. Sure, Elf and Dick were injured and maybe not on top of their game (apparently that’s the case with everyone these days…) but he outlasted them both and is playing solid tennis. I didn’t think that Marin would the ability to be a top 10 guy, but with that serve and growing consistency he may be dominating on hard courts a whole lot sooner than later.

Justine in the semis? OK. But JZ? I hope whoever guessed that one pre-tournament put some serious money down on it.

Justine squeaked past an error prone Nads once again, 7-6, 7-5, and JZ more or less dismantled Kiri, who I’m guessing is probably exhausted by now since she had to play two doubles matches yesterday… and you know, isn’t used to even playing this many singles matches.

This is one excellent match-up, as both players are rather small and compact. JZ doesn’t have the power that Justine has, but she can drive players absolutely bonkers by getting balls deep, and her speedy recovery after shots. Watching her give Serena problems last year in Miami was some sort of wonderful.

If you’re curious, they’ve met once before, back in 2005 in Toronto. Justine won 2 and 4.

Kim has pulled out of the first Belgian Fed Cup tie of the year against Poland, citing the need to have a “fresh period to build up training,
” obviously unimpressed with her results from AO. Clearly she hasn’t taking the drubbing at the hands of Nads lightly. Justine has already said that the tie is too early in her return for her to play, which will mean the reigns will be thrown to Wicky and presumably Flipkens. I have no idea if the Rad sisters are playing for Poland or not, but that would actually be a lot of fun to see.

In other non-interesting Fed Cup news, the Czechs announced their team which will be headed by Lucie, along with Hradecka, Kvitova, and dubs specialist Peschke. They take on Germany in the first round.

Edit: Thanks to Beata for the comment. Apparently U-Rad is out with a back injury for 5 weeks minimum. Does anyone else in Poland even play tennis? Maybe they can get Caro as an honourary Pole to play with Agi.

Both players put on clinics last night, as Serena dropped only 9 points on serve and has yet to be broken all tournament. Fed took out hometown hero in straight sets.

The number ones have looked solid, particularily Serena, who dismantled Sam who was playing generally pretty well. Her draw is also looking pretty do-able, Vika and then either Nails or her sister. Fed on the other hand gets Kolya, who seems to be losing a bit of focus and a bit of gas, and then either Novak or Jo, which would be quite the throwdown.

If you’re not keeping a serious eye on Serena yet, might want to get on that. Because that train is not slowing down any time soon.

Ohs noes. Caro just looked flat against Nails and was getting destroyed on the second serve, and really just struggling on serve overall. Unfortunately the bane of Caro’s existence is those with the power, especially with big forehands which put serious holes in Caro’s game.

Caro also had a medical timeout at the beginning of the second set, and got the wrapping put back on that she had at the end of the year in Doha. It likely explained a bit of her bland play considering her footwork is key. Solid forehands and ballsy shots all around, and she DID beat Caro in Sydney, so she clearly knows what she’s doing. She’ll play the winner of Serena/Sam, which should be a pretty entertaining quarterfinal either way.

RAFAEL NADAL: I don’t think Andy have to show nothing to nobody, no? He have enough results to be confident of win a Grand Slam or win everything. No, for me is not a test for him, no? He can win, he can lose. But, anyway, he gonna have a lot of chances to win a Grand Slam, and he gonna do for sure.

Q. You talked about Murray being a very difficult opponent. What is the hardest part about playing Andy Murray?

RAFAEL NADAL: First thing is he is very good. Yeah, he’s one of the most talentest players on tour. He can play offensive, he can play defensive. He can do a lot of things during the same match. So that’s a most important thing.

Q. You played Rafa a few years ago. Obviously, should he win, do you watch videos of recent games? Do you have a style you know can beat him?

ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, it changes every time. You know, you have to kind of adjust to the match. Obviously, surfaces, I’ve played him indoors, hard courts, clay courts, and grass. Each time obviously it’s a bit different.

Played him some really good matches on hard courts. I think I’ve got some tactics that work well against him.

Q. Do you remember that last game well here?

ANDY MURRAY: Here? I don’t remember it that well, no. It was quite a long time ago. But it was a great match. You know, it was the first time I had, you know, played a top‑two player in the world in a Grand Slam. It was a great experience.

All things considered, this promises to be one hell of a match. Muzz had 75% first serve and only 8 unforced errors against Tree. While Rafa has dropped 2 sets, it’s not very important. Rafa is going to be up for this match big time, and of course his mental strength is unlike that of anyone else on tour. Muzz’s accuracy has been ridiculous and his fitness and ability to track ball’s down has been mighty impressive.

Overall, Rafa leads the head to head 7-2, and their meetings on hard courts 3-2. Quite honestly, I really have no idea who the favourite is for this one. Muzz has been playing better tennis, bur Rafa is the defending champ… and, well, it’s Rafa. Will NOT be missing this, regardless of sleep deprevation.