Rafa Still Unbeaten On Hard Courts, Azarenka Beats Serena

One thought it might happen sooner or later, and sure enough it did, but not until the Cincinnati final...Serena lost a match.  Victoria Azarenka did the deed for the second time this year (also Doha final) and it is just Serena's 4th loss of the year.  Rafael Nadal, however, did not suffer his 4th loss, despite Isner's best efforts (and Federer's and Dimitrov's as well, both men took a set off the Spaniard).  The American did not face a break point and squandered several set points in the first set only to fall in two tiebreaks.  So it will be Nadal and Azarenka with the momentum heading to New York.

4) Rafael Nadal (ESP) def. John Isner (USA) 7-6(8) 7-6(3)

-Nadal wins his 59th career title, 9th of 2013, last '13 Montreal
-It is his first Cincinnati win!
-It is his ongoing record 26th Masters title
-He passes Murray for the no. 2 ranking which is huge because he won't meet Djokovic until the final
-He is now 48-3 on the year
-He has tied Djokovic's 2011 record of 5 Masters titles in a season
-He is only the 4th player to win both American hard court Masters ('95 Agassi, '98 Rafter, '03 Roddick)
-He has now won 7 different Masters with ties him with Agassi and Federer behind Djokovic's 8.  He is only missing Miami and Paris

Honestly this was a pretty impressive win for Nadal given his lack of success in Cincinnati in the past.  He is putting together an amazing season despite skipping the Aussie Open and losing in the first round of Wimbledon.  Berdych had a nice over Murray (now leads head-to-head 6-4) and Isner upset Djokovic, then beat Del Potro, before giving Nadal all he could handle.  The US #1 is playing very well at the moment and is up to no. 14 in the rankings.  Federer and Nadal played a fantastic match in the quarters, with Spaniard improving his head-to-head to 21-10 with a 5-7 6-4 6-3 win.

2) Victoria Azarenka (BLR) def. 1) Serena Williams (USA) 2-6 6-2 7-6(6)

-Azarenka wins her 17th career title, 3rd of 2013, last '13 Doha (6-mon drought)
-It is her first Cincinnati win
-It is her 7th "Tier I" title, all of which have come on hard courts
-She is still 2700 points behind Serena and is defending finalist points at the US Open
-She is now 3-12 against Serena, but all 3 wins have come in finals and she has beaten her twice this year ('09 Miami the other)

Serena had no trouble with Halep to reach the semis then beat Li in a tight match.  Azarenka handled Wozniacki, then Jankovic both in straights.  Azarenka will now take some confidence into the US Open after not having the best of years since her Aussie Open win and subsequent Doha crown.  A rematch with Serena is a real possibility.

I will attempt to get a US Open preview post out late in the week, but am not going to guarantee it since my life is a little crazy at the moment.  One has to consider Nadal the favorite after Djokovic and Murray have both struggled a bit post-Wimbledon, while Serena and Azarenka will be favorites for the women.  Stay tuned.