US Open: Men's Quarterfinalists/Women's Semifinalists

So after all the rain on Tuesday and Wednesday, the matches resumed today and we now have our eight men's quarterfinalists, plus our four women's semifinalists.  The USTA has also announced the schedule for the rest of the tournament, which will feature all 4 semifinals of Saturday with the women's final on Sunday and the men's final on Monday.  I think this was the move that had to made, and now let's hope for dry weather the rest of week into Monday.  It gives all the men a rest day before the final, to put the as close to "equal footing" as could be hoped for.  The men on the bottom half will have the three matches in three days, but at least all of them are in the same boat.  And I don't know how things could have been done much differently.  You could have a tried a "Super Sunday" before the finals on Monday, but that wouldn't have worked with the NFL and CBS, and the top half players would have had 2 days rest.  I think under the circumstances this is the best that can be done.

Anyway, back to the tennis.  The Americans still have two men alive in the draw, the first time that's happened in awhile (sorry but a quick google didn't find when) plus Serena still left for the women's semis. The big 4 have all managed to survive to this stage and we'll see if all 4 make it safely to the semis to copy what occurred at the French Open this year.  They come in alongside 2 players in their first quarter and two other dangerous players.  All players not from the big 4 are double-digit seeds.

Men's US Open Quarterfinalists
1) Novak Djokovic (SRB) - 18th major quarterfinal (5th at the US Open), 12-5 record (4-0), last '11 Wimbledon - 10 consecutive
2) Rafael Nadal (ESP) - 21st major quarterfinal (5th at the US Open), 16-4 record (3-1), last '11 Wimbledon - 9th consecutive
3) Roger Federer (SUI) - 34th major quarterfinal (8th at the US Open), 28-5 record (7-0), last '11 Wimbledon - 30th consecutive
4) Andy Murray (GBR) - 10th major quarterfinal (2nd at the US Open), 7-2 record (1-0), last '11 Wimbledon - 4th consecutive
11) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) - 6th major quarterfinal (1st at the US Open), 3-2 record, last '11 Wimbledon
20) Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) - 1st career quarterfinal
21) Andy Roddick (USA) - 19th major quarterfinal (8th at the US Open), 10-8 record (2-5), last '10 Aussie Open
28) John Isner (USA) - 1st career quarterfinal

The big 4 have now made all 4 quarterfinals this year.  Only Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer were still alive at this stage a year ago.  Tsonga has also been rising especially when he hasn't been injured, and will now see if he can beat Federer 3 times in a row.  Isner has now met one of his goals for the year in making his 1st major quarterfinal.

Here are the matchups for today and tomorrow:
-Djokovic def. Tipsarevic
-Federer vs. Tsonga
-Murray vs. Isner
-Nadal vs. Roddick

The women also held all four of their quarterfinal rounds, so here are the four players through to the semis.

Women's US Open Semifinalists
1) Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) - 4th major semifinal (3rd at the US Open), 1-2 record (1-1), last '11 Aussie Open
9) Samantha Stosur (AUS) - 3rd major semifinal (1st at the US Open), 1-1 record, last '10 French Open
28) Serena Williams (USA) - 20th major semifinal (6th at the US Open), 16-3 record (4-1), last '10 Wimbledon
Angelique Kerber (GER) - 1st career semifinal

The fairy tale continues for Kerber, who become the second unseeded German to reach a slam semi in as many slams (Lisicki at Wimbledon).  Serena still hasn't lost a set.  Who would have placed Wozniacki here just 2-3 weeks ago, but here she is, though Serena looms.  The Dane is the only player from last year's final four to reach the semis again.  Last year we had blockbuster matchups Wozniacki vs Zvonareva and Clijsters vs Venus, but this year we are left with Wozniacki vs Serena and Stosur vs Kerber.  These matches will be played on Saturday, and are somewhat unpredictable.  One would expect Serena and Stosur to come through (where you'd have expect Sam to have a shot) but I at least can't count out the world no. 1 or the unheralded Kerber after she dispatched a red hot Pennetta today.