Author: Susan DePalma

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Click here to discuss the Del Potro/Djokovic semifinal with fellow tennis fans.

Click here to discuss the Murray/Janowicz semifinal with fellow tennis fans.

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In the last shock of a tournament that has left many fans feeling as if they’d be tasered more than a few times, the men’s Number 1 and 2 seeds actually got through to the final. However, the outcome of today’s matches was about the only thing that went as expected.

That Juan Martin Del Potro would even play today against Novak Djokovic was in question, as late as this morning, due to a knee injured and re-injured in two previous rounds. If he did play, the conventional wisdom had it, he’d better serve big and get off the court in a hurry. Instead, they played the longest match ever in a Wimbledon semifinal, with Nole prevailing after 4 hours, 43 minutes: 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-7(6), 6-3. Surely, it was the best match of the tournament. In all of that time, there were only 5 breaks of serve.  The ace count was 22-4, but the surprise was that it was the Serbian ace who hit 22 winners, while the Tower of Tandil came up with only 4. Perhaps even more unexpected was that, of rallies that went 9+ shots, it was the 6’9″ Del Potro — he of the gimpy knee — who won more of them, over the fast and flexible Serb.  Glancing at today’s match stats, you’d have been forgiven for reversing the names.

In the “marquee” match of the day, when it finally started, many expected that the young Polish hopeful, Jerzy Janowicz, would be intimidated by the moment, in his maiden semifinal of a Major. But his display of nerves lasted about 3 or 4 points into Murray’s first service game. Then he settled in, taking on the Great Scot and the heavily partisan crowd with big serves, shot variety, and a more than a little aplomb. He got the first set to a tiebreaker and dominated it, surprising nearly everyone, it seemed, but himself, and putting all of Britain on its last nerve, after the nail-biter they’d endured against Verdasco on Wednesday.

The next three sets went Andy Murray’s way, but not without a fight. Or controversy. With Murray finding his A-game, and riding a huge wave of momentum to win the third set, the chair umpire decided to close the roof as a preventive measure against impending darkness, which was some 45-60 minutes away. (The only previous set that lasted longer than 43 minutes was the first, at 50.) While it only takes 10 minutes to close the roof, it takes another 10-15 to acclimatize the arena, and then the players have to warm up again — essentially all the time it might have taken to play a fourth set. Additionally, Janowicz had been seeming to campaign for closing the roof since around lunchtime. And no wonder…he had previously beaten Murray in Bercy last autumn, an indoor event. The sometimes curmudgeonly #2 complained, but there’s no getting an umpire to back down.

After carrying on, (and on…) Andy managed to keep calm, and came back to break early in the 4th and close it out: 6-7 (2), 6-4, 6-4, 6-3.

In all, there was much good news for men’s tennis today: Juan Martin Del Potro is still very much a danger; young Janowicz may be the brightest of the up-and-comers, fully willing to stick his chin out; and for the moment, at least, a little order is restored.

Here’s hoping that the final can live up to the semifinals that proceed it, and appropriately cap off a rather astonishing Wimbledon.

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Click here to discuss the Ferrer/Del Potro match with fellow tennis fans.

Click here to discuss the Verdasco/Murray match with fellow tennis fans.

Click here to discuss the Djokovic/Berdych match with fellow tennis fans.

Click here to discuss the Kubot/Janowicz match with fellow tennis fans.

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Andy Murray ran into an inspired Fernando Verdasco today at the Wimbledon, and had to overcome a 2-set deficit to avoid elimination in this upset-ridden tournament.  He eventually overcame the Spaniard in 3 hours, 27 minutes in the  (surprisingly) most hotly-contested match of the gentlemen’s quarterfinals.

Verdasco has been ranked as high as No. 7 in the world and has struggled the last couple of years, but he’s regained his form recently, and was having a very fine tournament.  He served superbly throughout the match, hit powerfully, and took his chances in a display of nerve and calm that isn’t often associated with him.  However, with the crowd in the stadium and on Henman Hill urging him on, Murray found his own nerve and eventually prevailed, 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-5.

Juan Martin Del Potro had to overcome a tumble in the first game of his match against David Ferrer, hyper-extending his knee and nearly ending a match that had barely begun.  Hard to know if the scare focussed his efforts to get through quickly, but the Argentine served very well, and mostly kept the scrappy world No. 3 out of rhythm.  Ferrer battled hard to take the match to 4 sets, but lost in the 3rd-set tiebreak.  Del Potro won 6-2, 6-4, 7-6(5), and earned the right to play the world No. 1, Novak Djokovic.

In a first-ever all-Polish quarterfinal, Jerzy Janowicz defeated countryman Lukasz Kubot, 7-5, 6-4, 6-4, to become the first Polish man to reach the semifinals of any Slam event.  (Another Pole is still in the tournament:  Agnieszka Radwanska will play in the women’s semifinals tomorrow against Sabine Lisicki, the German who ended Serena’s run yesterday.)   Janowicz is 22 years old, and one of the young players being scrutinized for bigger things.  He will face Andy Murray in the semis.

Djokovic got past the powerful Czech, Tomas Berdych in straight sets, though the scoreline is somewhat deceptive, as it could easily have gone longer.  After a razor-thin first set, Novak was down two breaks in the second, but fought back to take the set and the match:  7-6(5), 6-4, 6-3.  When he faces Del Potro on Friday, it will be knowing that neither of them has dropped a set in the tournament.  However, all attention will be on the tall Argentine’s knee.