The U.S. Open for men will come to its conclusion on Monday (now that’s history in the making) as Federer will face the winner of Murray-Nadal (Murray up by 2 sets and dominating) for his 13th grand slam title. This was the tournament that everything was supposed to come unglued for Federer, but to his credit the King bounced back from a miserable 4th round against Andreev to beat Novak Djokovic in a dominating fashion today and erase any thoughts of his demise. Federer was very consistent today and didn’t shank many balls which was very surprising to see. In the end, he had too much game for a grumpy Djokovic and won 6-3, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2.

Murray defied the odds at Armstrong court to take a two set lead over Rafael Nadal (6-2, 7-6). Nadal had his chances in the 2nd set even though he should’ve easily lost it. The only good thing going for Nadal at this point is his one break lead in the third set (3-2), but he needs to win 3 straight sets against a red hot Murray who is poised to win his first slam title.

The stars seem to be aligned for a new star to be born and I believe if Murray gets over Nadal, he will go on to beat Federer in 4 or 5 sets to take the title. He has beaten Roger before and is not just a good match up for Federer. But he has to beat a Nadal who is an expert in coming back from two set to love down situations. Matches to be continued on Sunday. Stay tuned.

Novak Djokovic had it so easy in the first two sets. Breaking Roddick four times and winning 6-2, 6-3 despite dropping his opening service game. But things went down as Roddick finally broke Djokovic to win the third set 6-3. Things went from bad to worse when Roddick broke and served for the 4th set at 5-4. But inexplicably Roddick dropped 4 straight points after going up 30-0 and then got beat in the tie-break to bow out.

The match was very interesting but even more interesting was the boos that Novak got after the match for talking about how Andy accused him of faking injuries. The crowd booed and booed, but Novak didn’t have any of it. He explained that it’s not “nice” for Andy Roddick to bring these accusations to public. He certainly didn’t make any friends tonight.

To be fair to Novak, the crowd was disgraceful tonight. The constantly tried to disturb his serving routine, and they clapped his bad mistakes. Considering the bad blood between these two, a fifth set would’ve been explosive. Novak now will be the favorite to reach the final as Federer has been off color this year. But it seems all paths point to the title for the winner of Nadal-Murray.

What an spectacle was last night’s match between Mardy Fish and Rafael Nadal. For the first forty minutes or so, Mardy looked like he was going to beat Nadal in straight sets like he did Federer earlier this year, and Blake and Monfils just a few days ago. He served bombs and put pressure on Nadal. Fish won the first set 6-3! But then the real Nadal showed up. Slightly adjusting to his opponent’s strategy, he broke Fish down one piece at a time until nothing was left at the end when he won it 6-2 in the fourth.

Fish played out of this world and came in even in a better shape than he was against Federer at Pacific Life Open. Unfortunately for him, Nadal is the master of tactics, and he got it right again by making Fish hit volleys and passing Fish time and time again to win it comfortably in the end. Next up for Nadal is Murray, but with the way Nadal dissected Fish’s strategy this morning, I wouldn’t be surprised if he put a beat down on Murray like he did at Wimbledon (especially as Murray wasn’t impressive enough against Del Potro to suggest he can beat Nadal in 3 sets).

Djokovic - Roddick is up for today. Let the bad blood spill!

What a day it was at the U.S. Open. First we had Federer beating down a stunningly bad Stepanek in straight sets (6-3, 6-3, 6-2). Then we had Roddick beating Seppi without too much trouble as expected. We also saw the end of Tsonga’s campaign tonight as he was dominated by Tommy Robredo in a stunning fashion. Finally, we had Gonzo take out the Fin Niemenen in 4 sets.

But the story of the night was the Djokovic Cilic match which was surprisingly close with Djokovic winning in 4 tight sets 6-7, 7-5, 6-4, 7-6. Djokovic was really struggling at the end facing break points and losing break leads left and right. He came through though, so the Roddick - Djokovic quarters match is still on.

If you were hoping for a Nadal - Blake rematch at the U.S. Open this year, you are going to be sadly disappointed. While Nadal was in his ruthless form in dismantling Victor Troicki 6/4, 6/3, 6/0, Blake was busy losing to Mary Fish in straight sets 6/3, 6/3, 7/6. With Ferrer losing to Kei Nishikori, and Del Potro winning against Simon, We are going to have a very young finalist this year.

Roddick, Federer, and Djokovic will all be hoping to join Nadal, Murray, and Monfils in the round of 16 today. They will face Seppi, Stepanek, and Cilic respectively. But whatever happens today, we have officially seen the start of the changing of the guards in the men’s tennis. So many young brilliant players, one shouldn’t be surprised if the top 10 got a major make over early next year.