Mikhail Youzhny advances to U.S. Open semifinals
Mikhail Youzhny advanced to the U.S. Open semifinals after defeating Stanislas Wawrinka in a tough five-set battle 3-6, 7-6 (9-7), 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Youzhny will now be appearing in his second career semifinal at a Grand Slam event having reached the semis at the U.S. Open in 2006. It also marks the first time that a Russian has advanced to a Grand Slam semifinal since 2008 when Marat Safin made it through to the semis at Wimbledon.
The 12th seeded Russian got off to a slow start, which the 25th seeded Wawrinka took full advantage of to win the first set easily at 6-3. Youzhny was able to rally in a tight second set, which went to a tiebreaker. Wawrinka was able to save three set points before the Russian finally put it away at 9-7 with a forehand winner.
The third set and fourth sets mirrored one another, as Wawrinka was able to regain his form from the first set winning 6-3 thanks to a strong service game. Youzhny was then able to turn the tables in fourth taking the set by the identical score.
Youzhny was able to build on a strong fourth set and was able to get an early break to take the lead in the fifth set. However, Wawrinka came right back with a break of his own to tie the set at 2-2. Just when it looked like the match was headed for a tiebreaker, Youzhny was able to get another break and then held serve to take the lead 4-2. Wawrinka was clearly frustrated after the crucial sixth game and was not able to get the break back. With the score 5-3, Youzhny then broke serve again to take the set 6-3 and the match in four hours.
After the victory, Youzhny admitted he was happy with the result but still had some work to do.
“I’m happy I won that match and reaching the semi-finals is a good result, but now that I’m here I want more. I’m ready to be the bad person [who prevents Rafael Nadal from advancing to a possible final with Roger Federer]. I’d love to be the bad person in this case.”
Wawrinka, who was playing in his first Grand Slam quarterfinal was disappointed after the loss, but was happy with his overall performance when reflecting on the tournament.
“If I go back, I'm very pleased with the tournament,” he said. “That's true, but just an hour after losing in five sets it's always difficult to find all the positive things. I know especially against Andy Murray was I think my best match, and I was playing really, really strong. For the rest of the season and for sure next year, it's gonna be, I hope, more tournaments with that level.”
Youzhny will now face Nadal in the semifinals on Saturday. In 11 career matches, Nadal holds a 7-4 edge. The other semi will feature Roger Federer taking on Novak Djokovic.
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