Haas V Federer
As I had thought, Haas tested Federer, but never really threatened him. Don't get me wrong, Haas played very well and did not run out of steam. Just that he was unfortunate enough to meet a Federer who is nearly back to his best, I say nearly because I believe his best is yet to come and that will be when he plays a fully fit Nadal...WITHOUT the choking this time, please God.
The highlight of the game had to be the Slam Dunk at matchpoint...one for Pete, no doubt!!
7-6 7-5 6-3 is not a scoreline to ashamed of when playing the GOAT on a roll (or should that be on a graze?!) in his house/field...whatever! Come on, he did a darn sight better than Jonas Bjorkman did a couple of years ago!! So, einfach klasse, Herr Tommy! Du hast gespielen sehr Schön!! He can leave with his head held high...
(Did anybody else see Mirka rolling her eyes when Frau Haas was cheering her man on?! I am assuming it is his wife...)
Murray V Roddick
Another very even match for the first three sets. Roddick snatched a cheeky break at 5-4 in the 1st set, Muzza broke him fairly early on in the 2nd and held serve then onwards to take the set. Murray got broken early in the 3rd, then broke back, forced a tie-break and lost it 9-7. The 4th set was deadlocked all the way to the breaker and one could see towards the end of that set that Muzza was running out of steam. Roddick was also getting tired, but he noticably had more of a spring in his step and movement. So all in all, a very high standard of tennis by both, just that it had reached the point where it became more of a mental game. Roddick showed emotion and great humility when he won. He didn't triumphantly raise his arms, he clapped and I think he even apologised to the crowd!!!
One thing I did get rather sick of (not sick) was Muzza and Mumzy continuously shouting fist pumping. The former shouting 'come on' at points such as going 15-0 up in a game! I must say it peeved me off to the point that I found myself wishing for 1 of 2 things. The first being that he gets beat right here, right now! The second being that he gets OWNED by Fed should he get through to the final!! One would have loved to see the expression on the face of Mother Dearest...
The fact of the matter also remains is that none of these two are as good as Federer when it comes to volleying. Having said that, Murray did some fantastic punching from the net and so did Roddick today. Although Agassi and Nadal proved otherwise, one rather needs to volley to win Wimby. And Roddick also smacked a fair few 79-87mph second serves just to prove my point that he will not win Wimby serving like that - thanks A-Rod!
As for the final, taking into account all we have on paper, past history, current form etc (I guess what Dootsie might call 'rationality'), I think we ALL know who the clear favourite is. That said, on the day, what can happen on the court can upset even the safest prediction. Now, since 2005, Roddick has given his game more depth, he has a stronger net game, a bit more touch etc but surely not enough to threaten Fed! Looking back at their 2007 US Open encounter, which was 7-6 7-6 6-2, losing the first 2 sets on breakers and the prospect of having to take 3 sets off one such as Fed is an arduous task for anyone except probably Nadal, who gets fazed by nothing!
So, let the finals begin...
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