Everyone is raving about the quality of Rafael Nadal's tennis at the moment. Indeed he has been in dominant form during this tournament, not dropping a set and coasting through to tomorrows semi-finals. His serve is looking good and his powerful groundstrokes are giving his opponents lots of trouble. Combined with a great return of serve, many pundits think Rafa is unstoppable. The 24 year old is eager to gain a career Grand Slam of winning all the four majors yet he is still never reached a final at Flushing Meadows, losing in the semis the last two years. His last two matches against his opponent tomorrow Mikhail Youzhny have been one sided affairs back in 2008, but Youzhny has won 4 out of his eleven matches against Rafa and will feel he has a chance to play well against the world number one. In fact back in 2006 Mikhail defeated Nadal in the US Open quarter finals in four sets, which should give him more confidence that he can at least do himself proud against the Spaniard. Youzhny had a terrific win against Wawrinka in the last round but played a few very poor service games. If he does this against Nadal, the Spaniard is less likely to be forgiving as Wawrinka. Mikhail needs to get a higher percentage of first serves in against Rafa, attack the Spaniards deceptive 2nd serve and try and outpower the number one seed with his brilliant backhand shots. I can't see Nadal losing this match, but if he does have a lapse then maybe Youzhny can at least win a set.
PREDICTION:
Nadal to win 3 - 0
Value Bet, Nadal to win 3-1
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