WORLD NO. 1s SERENA AND DJOKOVIC ADVANCE TO U.S. OPEN SEMIFINALS BY RICKY DIMON

Written by: Staff on 1st September 2014

WORLD NO. 1s SERENA AND DJOKOVIC ADVANCE TO U.S. OPEN SEMIFINALS BY RICKY DIMON

epa04383181 Serena Williams of the US reacts after defeating Flavia Pennetta of Italy during their quarterfinals round match on the tenth day of the 2014 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 03 September 2014. The US Open runs through 08 September, a 15-day schedule. EPA/DANIEL MURPHY |

The No. 1 players in the world had to work a little bit of overtime thanks to a five-set marathon between Kei Nishikori and Stan Wawrinka earlier in the day on Wednesday. In the long run, though, it hardly mattered for Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic. Both players won their night-session matches to earn spots in the U.S. Open semifinals.

Nishikori finished off his victory over Wawrinka well after Williams vs. Flavia Pennetta was scheduled to begin, but Williams did not start her match like she was in a hurry to make up for lost time and get off the court. The top-seeded American dropped the first three games of the encounter, but righted the ship and eventually stormed past Pennetta 6-3, 6-2.

“[Pennetta] was playing really well and she was playing very aggressive,” Serena said after winning 12 of the last 14 games. “So I had to just step up my level of game, as well. I was thinking that I’m down two breaks. But I felt like it’s not the end of the world. You can just win one game at a time. That’s all I tried to do.”

Djokovic also got off to a bit of a slow start in his quarterfinal clash against Andy Murray that ended past 1:00 in the morning. The top-seeded Serb dropped serve to begin the match but recovered to win the first set in a tiebreaker. Murray answered to take the second in an another ‘breaker, which also featured a lopsided 7-1 scoreline.

In the end, though, it was Djokovic who physically outlasted Murray. The Scot’s back acted up during the third and fourth sets and Djokovic powered his way to a 7-6(1), 6-7(1), 6-2, 6-4 victory.

Novak Djokovic of Serbia hits a return to Andy Murray of Great Britain during their quarterfinals round match on the tenth day of the 2014 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 03 September 2014. The US Open runs through 08 September, a 15-day schedule. EPA/JOHN G. MABANGLO

“It was very physical,” the 2011 U.S. Open champion assured. “I’m happy that I managed to pull it through physically in the end and to kind of stay strong, even though it was frustrating in moments. We always push each other to the limits.”

“I played well,” Murray reflected. “Especially the first couple of sets was some good tennis. I’d say definitely physically he was fresher, but towards the end I tried to hang in as best I could.”

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Topics: Andy Murray, Flavia Pennetta, Kei Nishikori, Novak Djokovic, Ricky Dimon, Semifinals, Serena Williams, Stan Wawrinka, Tennis, US Open tennis

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10sBalls_com says:

September 4, 2014 at 11:04 am

WORLD NO. 1s @serenawilliams AND @DjokerNole ADVANCE TO @usopen #SEMIFINALS BY @RD_Tennistalk- http://t.co/st7FGbQSoa #tennis #USOpen
RD_Tennistalk says:

September 4, 2014 at 11:07 am

RT @10sBalls_com: WORLD NO. 1s @serenawilliams AND @DjokerNole ADVANCE TO @usopen #SEMIFINALS BY @RD_Tennistalk- http://t.co/st7FGbQSoa #t…