TENNIS in DEPTH.

Roger Federer avenged his Wimbledon defeat with a 6-4 6-3 6-3 victory over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to set up a semi-final rematch with Novak Djokovic at the US Open. Frenchman Tsonga had come from two sets down to beat Federer in the last eight at the All England Club, the only player to manage such a feat at a grand slam, but in truth a repeat never looked on the cards in the night session on Arthur Ashe Stadium. A rain interruption, the first of the day, briefly held up the third seed’s charge but he did not allow Tsonga to take charge in the match and in the end it was a comfortable victory. The players came out as scheduled but after only five games the rain returned to Flushing Meadows. It looked like they may have to come back on Friday but eventually the sky cleared and the court was dried. There had been enough time for Federer to break the Tsonga serve but he promptly gave away his advantage on the resumption. However, the 11th seed was broken again for 5-4 when he netted a volley and that was enough for Federer to take the first set. Tsonga had also beaten the 16-time grand slam champion in their most recent meeting in Montreal last month but Federer was relentless in his attacking, not allowing his opponent to get into a rhythm on his huge groundstrokes. In the second set the Swiss moved two breaks ahead but Tsonga responded by retrieving one immediately and at last he was pushing Federer. The 30-year-old stood firm, though, and another break gave him the set. He would still have been wary, of course, given his Wimbledon experience, and Tsonga forced a break point in the fifth game of the third set – but he could not take it. Federer was serving superbly, much to the frustration of his opponent, and once again it was Tsonga was cracked in the eighth game. Three huge forehands took Federer to 15-40 but twice he missed his chance and on a third break point the Frenchman came up with an ace. But he followed up with a simple volley into the net and a double fault sealed his fate. Federer’s victory means he will play Djokovic in the last four for the second year in a row, with the Serb saving match points to triumph 12 months ago before losing in the final to Rafael Nadal.

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The U.S. Open men’s final has been moved to Monday and the women’s final has been bumped to Sunday, the USTA announced. The tournament lost two days of play on Tuesday and Wednesday due to rain. This is the fourth consecutive year that the men’s final will be played on Monday. The following is the revised schedule:

Men’s Singles Quarterfinals

The remaining men’s quarterfinals will be played on Friday, September 9th, with gates opening at 10am. The tickets from the originally cancelled Session #20, Wednesday September 7th night session will be honored for this rescheduled session.

Men’s Singles Semifinals

The men’s Semifinals (Session #24) remains as scheduled for Saturday day, September 10th with gates opening at 10am.

Women’s Singles Semifinals

The Women’s semifinals (Session #23) originally scheduled for Friday, September 9th are rescheduled to Saturday night, September 10th, with gates opening at 6pm.

Women’s Singles Final

The Women’s Final (Session #25) is rescheduled for Sunday, September 11th at 4pm with gates opening at 11am and doubles match TBD.

Men’s Singles Final

The Men’s Final (Session #26) is rescheduled for Monday, September 12th at 4pm with gates opening at 11am with doubles match TBD.

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The top seed will play the title favourite on Friday after beating her German opponent 6-1 7-6 (7/5). Wozniacki’s match was moved out to Court 13 at Flushing Meadows due to problems with the Louis Armstriong Stadium court following the rain of the previous two days. However, the Dane did not let the unfamiliar surroundings bother her as she swept through the first set in just 27 minutes, breaking her opponent’s serve three times. Petkovic simply made too many unforced errors in the opening exchanges but the 10th seed, playing in her third Grand Slam quarter-final of the season, improved as the match wore on. Wozniacki’s level slipped in the second set as she was forced to battle. Both players served for the set – Wozniacki at 5-3 and Petkovic at 6-5 after striking back – but the see-saw set was destined for a tie-break. In it, the world number one earned three match points at 6-3 and although Petkovic saved the first two she was unable to prevent Wozniacki booking her place in the semi-finals on the third.

Wozniacki, a semi-finalist in New York last year and the runner-up in 2009, is seeking her first Grand Slam title but she faces a big task in the last four against odds-on favourite Williams, who progressed earlier in the day with a straight-sets win over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Williams has won both their previous matches.

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The big-serving American won three tie-breaks as he posted a four-set victory over his French foe on Thursday. It was not a case of serve domination, however. Best known for his 11-hour marathon match with Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon in 2010, Isner lost his own delivery four times during the clash which had originally been scheduled to start on Tuesday. It finally got under way on Thursday morning out on Court 17 and the first set saw two breaks apiece before Isner moved in front. Simon, fresh from an impressive win over former champion Juan Martin Del Potro in the previous round, hit back in the second set though, showing Isner he would not have things all his own way despite the partisan atmosphere. The third set always looked like it would be crucial and after 12 service holds another tie-break was required, but Isner took control of it early on and refused to relent. Another tight set followed but again the tie-break king triumphed to record a hard-fought 7-6 (7/2) 3-6 7-6 (7/2) 7-6 (7/4) victory. Isner finished with a total of 26 aces and progresses to a last-eight showdown with Murray on Friday.

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Andy Murray says he faces an “incredible task” to win his first Grand Slam title at the US Open after being left stranded in the fourth round by two days of rain. Murray managed only three games of his last-16 match with Donald Young on Wednesday as Flushing Meadows was hit by a second successive day of heavy rain.

They will resume at 1600 BST on Thursday and the Briton could now have to play four best-of-five-sets matches in four days if he is to win the tournament. ”It’s an incredible task now,” Murray told BBC Radio 5 Live. “It’s incredibly difficult anyway with the guys who are at the top of the game but there’s not a whole lot we can do. ”The days are quite draining. Today, for example, we were told 4.30pm [to play] so we were warming for 4.30pm, then it was 4.45pm – and it’s every 15 minutes until 5.30pm. ”So we’re warming up, warming up and they’re putting it back, putting it back, then we get cancelled at 5.45pm. ”So that whole hour – getting in the right frame of mind, warming up, adrenaline going – it’s tough.”

Top seed Novak Djokovic and five-time champion Roger Federer are already through to the quarter-finals on the other side of the draw. Murray joined Rafael Nadal and Andy Roddick in an emergency meeting with the tournament referee after they played for 15 minutes in their respective matches on slippery courts. ”It was still raining when we went out,” said Murray. “You can’t play on a hard court when it’s raining because the lines are so slippy. ”They had towels along the back of the court, it was still soaking wet and the balls were going into puddles. ”The referee said it wasn’t in play but, if you chase down a lob or you’re pushed back, it is in play. ”They [referees] stand on the court and say it looks all right but, if you try moving at the speed we’re moving at and changing direction, it’s completely different. It just didn’t make sense. ”It’s a huge task for everyone on my side of the draw. We want to get on the court and play but we’re not going to go on there if it’s unsafe.”

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I used to bite my tongue when Wimbledon was in a rain delay, and the likes of Dick Emberg, Mary Carillo and John McEnroe made snide remarks about the English weather. But for two years in a row the weather in New York has ben much worse than anything that occured in the UK. At least they built a retractable roof at Wimbledon, and Roland Garros is getting ready to do the same. So everytime that clown Emberg brags about the biggest, the best, the ultimate tennis facility in the world, I know he must be thinking Wimbledon and not Forest Hills!

Playing 5 set matches back to back to accomodate the TV networks has always been a disgrace, but so typical of US sports. With no play yesterday, amd maybe limited play today with the weather forecast predicting more bad weather from the fringe of Hurricane Katia that could deluge the site of the US Open over the weekend, I am interested in hearing the NBC’s trio of experts resolution to the problem. For Embergs illucidation bigger means nought if it is nullified by the hand of god. Whoever wins the titles, it will be a battle of fitness and preparation and luck of the draw, rather than a test of tennis!

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Spain have picked world number two Rafa Nadal in their team to face France in this month’s Davis Cup semi-final as they bid for a third title in four years, captain Albert Costa said on Tuesday. The 25-year-old former number one, who was absent for last year’s 5-0 quarter-final loss to the French, will join regulars David Ferrer, Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez for the Sept. 16-18 tie in Cordoba, Costa told a news conference. As hosts, Spain have chosen to play the tie on their favoured red dust and with clay king Nadal on board Costa’s team will be firm favourites to advance to December’s final, where they would meet champions Serbia or Argentina.

Nadal has missed several Davis Cup ties through injury in recent years and the defending U.S. Open champion had a scare on Sunday when he collapsed during his post-match news conference because of severe cramping in his right leg. He had just beaten David Nalbandian on a hot and humid afternoon at Flushing Meadows. Spain and France have played each other seven times in the Davis Cup, with the Spaniards having won five of those encounters

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