Womens Semifinals Today at US Open, Hantuchova Wins Mixed Career Slam

Federer has now won three in a row against Nalbandian, breaking a bugaboo where the Swiss had lost their first five meetings in the two-year span from 2002-03.

It was the 33rd consecutive hardcourt win for Federer, who is now two matches from becoming the only man in the Open Era to win Wimbledon and the US Open in two straight years.

In the semifinals Federer will replay last year's final when he faces Lleyton Hewitt, who looked lethargic and uninspired in a five-set 2-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 win over unseeded Finn Jarkko Nieminen.

Hewitt appeared to be either having difficulty with Nieminen's lefty spin or was asleep during the first set, and was eventually forced to rally from 1-2 sets down for the win. It wasn't until the fifth set that Hewitt got fired up with the trademark "C'mon!", breaking the Finn early and rolling to a 6-1 win.

"Maybe I should have used them a bit earlier," Hewitt said of his shouts that were incessant in his run at the Australian Open in January, but have mellowed during the year with marriage and a child on the way. "It was nice just to get through the fifth set...Every match gets tougher."

It is the fifth career US Open semifinal for the Australian.

Federer says he doesn't expect anything different from Hewitt in the semifinal.

"He's good enough with his base, you know, to beat me on a day when I'm not on," Federer said. "But the thing is, I've always been playing so well against him over the last few years now. So I don't think he'll change much. If he does, I would feel it, that he would play maybe little bit more aggressive. But again, that's also maybe a hard thing to do. So I expect him playing the same way like he did the last few times...He could, you know (change things up). But then again he could even run into the knife more brutally."

In the men's doubles semifinal (1) Bjorkman/Max "The Beast" Mirnyi defeated (4) Black/Ullyett 5-7, 7-5, 6-2, and in the mixed doubles final Hantuchova/Bhupathi beat Srebotnik/Zimonjic 6-4, 6-2.

Today is the men's doubles final with (1) Bjorkman/Beast vs. the (2) Bryan brothers.

US Open Womens Semifinal Betting Lines

by Tennis-X Staff

(1) Maria Sharapova vs. (4) Kim Clijsters

The Belgian has won all three meetings with the leggy Russian for one reason -- Clijsters scrambles with the best of them, while Sharapova, who has reportedly grown another two inches this year, at times lunges and lurches like a baby deer. Clijsters defensive skills are simply amazing at times, while Sharapova is for the most part limited to hitting topspin forehands and backhands, which have admittedly served her well against most opponents.

Neither player is coming in on a good note, with Clijsters struggling against Venus Williams, and Sharapova coming off an error-fest with fellow Russian Nadia Petrova. Clijsters won earlier this season in a tight one in the Miami final, and look for this result to be the same.

(6) Elena Dementieva vs. (12) Mary Pierce

The Russian with the shaky serve has won both their previous career meetings, and Dementieva has shown improvement on her delivery, mixing things up effectively as shown in her quarterfinal win over Lindsay Davenport. Even if Pierce can give another clear-headed performance, Dementieva is more tenacious off the ground than anyone she has faced thus far. The two levellers for the meeting will be the Dementieva serve, which is averaging over 12 double faults per match at the Open, and Pierce's ability to take charge of points quickly and fend off the ghosts of choked slam matches past (see French Open final earlier this year). The fact that Dementieva could barely beat the uber-struggling Davenport was not a good sign -- give the slight edge to Pierce in a match not worth losing cash over.

DAILY TENNIS-X E-NEWSLETTER
Read what tennis industry insiders read each morning to get the latest news, insight and opinion on pro tennis. Get the Tennis-X Daily Dish in your e-mail in-box, even before it's posted on the web, by signing up for the net's most complete daily e-newsletter at http://www.tennis-x.com/subscribe.php

TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Could you get anything more morbidly curious Thursday at the Open than the senior match on Court 6 between the Jensen brothers and Brad Gilbert/Jeff Tarango?...James Blake made an appearance on the David Letterman show Thursday night...According to the Las Vegas Sun, the Vegas area is in the running for the relocation of the former ATP Scottsdale Tennis Channel Open: "Las Vegas' newest tennis complex could host a large professional men's tennis tournament in February 2006, which would be televised on the Tennis Channel cable network. The Mayor and City Council on Wednesday voted 6-0 to give city staff the authority to continue working on an offer for an ATP men's tennis tournament. Councilman Larry Brown said landing the tournament would be like the city getting another major professional golf tournament, or the NBA All-Star Game, which the city will host in 2007."...Roger Federer on staying up to watch the Andre Agassi-James Blake match: "Watching this, I was -- my pulse was just like (pounding his chest). I couldn't believe it, how the match turned out, because it was looking so one-sided. It's definitely nice to play them, but I almost prefer to watch them, to be honest...It's not that late for me (to watch). I always go to bed around 2 or 3 in the morning. So for me, that was perfect timing, you know...In my eyes, James gave it away, so...James should have locked it up many times. But happens, you know. It's for him also first time he's in this position, and obviously against Andre it doesn't make it easier. But Andre did incredibly well to come back, that's for sure. And staying cool, you know, all the way through, that was incredible. But I thought James had him and let it go."...Maria Sharapova will return to the No. 1 ranking, overtaking Lindsay Davenport on Monday...Daniela Hantuchova has won the mixed doubles career grand slam...From the LA Times: "Because of a dispute between CBS and the USA Network, which is owned by NBC Universal, DirecTV subscribers on the West Coast were deprived of seeing most of the final set of Wednesday's dramatic U.S. Open match between Andre Agassi and James Blake. According to Brian Walker, NBC Universal-USA spokesman, CBS denied a request from USA for permission to continue televising the Agassi-Blake match past 12:37 p.m. EDT (9:37 p.m. PDT). CBS has exclusive rights to US Open highlights beginning at that time."