Day 10 at the US Open was a mixed bag for tennis fans. The much-anticipated match of every Grand Slam between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will not happen at this year’s Grand Slam as Federer crashed out of the tournament after losing to Juan Martin Del Potro in the quarterfinals. However, Rafael Nadal had an easy outing in his quarter-final clash as he defeated Andrey Rublev.
In the repeat of 2009’s US Open final Roger Federer (3) faced Juan Martin Del Potro (24) of Argentina in the quarterfinals. And just like the last eight years ago this match was also expected to be a high-intensity clash. And the match lived up to its expectations. Although the game ended in four sets, there was no shortage of drama in the match. Del Potro won the 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(10-8), 6-4 in a match which lasted for almost three hours. Del Potro defeated Federer for the first time after the final in 2009. With this defeat, any chance of Federer facing Nadal in the semi-final was also over.
In the other quarterfinal, Rafael Nadal steamrolled over a young Russian Andrey Rublev in straight sets. Nadal won 6-1, 6-2, 6-2. Rublev, who was just seven years old when Nadal won his first ever Grand Slam, was dominated throughout the match by Nadal. The Only highlight for the young Russian was in the first set after his serve got broken in the second set and he was trailing 2-0. Rublev broke Nadal’s serve in the very next game to make it 2-1. After this, there was nothing to cheer about for the Russian in the match. Nadal will now face Del Potro in the semi finals on Friday.
In the women’s category, it was all smiles for the American crowd. For the first time 36 years, all four players in the semifinals are Americans. The biggest upset was in the third quarterfinal when CoCo Vandeweghe defeated top Seeded Karolina Pliskova 7-6(7-4), 6-3. With defeat Pliskova also lost her top ranking and will be replaced by Wimbledon champion Gabrine Muguruza.
In the last quarterfinal, Madison Keys completed the all four spots for America in the semifinals. The 15th seed Keys cruised to the semifinals in 69 minutes when she defeated 418th ranked Kaia Kanepi 6-3, 6-3.
Keys will face Vandeweghe in the semi-final whereas Venus Williams will Face Sloane Stephens in the other semi-final.