1805: Del Potro's power and depth from the baseline is causing Nadal problems and he gets
two set points at 15-40... but Nadal recovers to deuce, only to net a forehand for
set point three... and
Del Potro bludgeons a succession of forehands until one gets past Nadal to give him the set
6-2. Any earlier suggestion that it was 5-3 is purely in your imagination. And
Heather Watson has taken the first set 6-4 against Yana Buchina in the girls' singles final.
1800: "Kim must feel quite at home on the tennis court, with Serena throwing her toys out of the pram."
From Rachel Tyrrell, Lincoln, via text
1800: "Del po looks like wolverine..."
From anon via text
1758: "Vamos!" indeed. We get the full Nadal fist pump as he races to smack a cross-court forehand winner past Del Potro for
break point.... but he then misses with the return. Del Potro helps him out with a surprise double-fault and it's
break point two... but this time it's the Argentine who's shouting "Vamos!" when a big serve gets him out of trouble. It's a fantastic game and Nadal misses a great chance at deuce with another missed volley before Del Potro holds for
5-2. And
Watson now leads Yana Buchina 5-3 on Court Seven. Told you.
richards_8 on Twitter:
"With Nadal running round and playing like this i find it hard to believe he's that badly injured. It's also odd how Nadal managed to secure the 1st semi final even though he played last. I suspect uncle Toni is behind it!"
1749: Charlize Theron is in the house. With her boyfriend, whatever his name is. Anyway, Nadal gets a much-needed love hold to trail
4-2, and Watson trails Buchina
3-2 by a break.
1745: Whoops. Del Potro skips back to make room for a forehand and slips over. Fortunately he's OK, meaning it's officially alright that I laughed. He gets up, whacks a couple of aces and it's
4-1.
1743: Fantastic stuff from Del Potro, who is matching Nadal from the back of the court and earns another
break point... but cannot make the return and it's deuce. Del Potro gets a second
break point... and takes it when Nadal floats a backhand volley long. It's
3-1 to the Argentine.
1740: " These semis are as good as finals for me, depending on who the finalists are there are certain combinations where the winner seems easy to predict ... Of course, this is tennis, you never know (especially after last night!)."
From anon via text
1738: "In response to 1709- a foot fault is a foot fault whether it is on the first point of the match or the last. That's how rules work."
From Tim bidey, york, via text
1738: Buchina has broken Watson to lead
3-1 on Court Seven. Long way to go though, hold your nerve Britain.
1733: And a manual refresh will take you back to the correct time. Ill get it together soon, promise. Fortunately, Rafa and J-Po (any takers for that one?) are looking considerably sharper than me and some great hitting on the forehand side takes Nadal to
break point... but the Spaniard hooks a forehand wide and he would have expected to make that. Del Potro serves his way to
2-1.
1732: "If it's a fault, it's a fault, no matter what point you are on. What next? Not calling the ball 'out' on match points? The official got it spot on."
From David , in sunny Glasgow, via text
1729: I'm too confused to have any cogent thoughts so let me know yours with a text to
81111 or a message to
Twitter.
1726: Del Potro gets back from 40-15 down to deuce with some deep returns and after two deuces earns a
break point.... but Nadal pushes him back with a good serve and a heavy forehand and the Argentine nets. Del Potro frames a forehand moments later and it's
1-1.
1717: 5 live's Jonathan Overend on Serena: "She'll be fined - no doubt about that. The big penalty, though, was the code violation she received which lost her the match - and the tarnishing of her reputation. It will influence the way people think about her. It didn't look like a foot fault on the replays - but that's not the point."
1717: Nadal opens with a great drop shot but Del Potro recovers to hold for
1-0. Meanwhile, Britain's
Heather Watson is
1-0 up against Yana Buchina in the girls' final.
1715: Back to the present and, as you all know, it's
Nadal v Del Potro up first and not Federer v Djokovic as I said at the start. My brain hurts. The players are knocking up on a sun-drenched Arthur Ashe Stadium.
1709: Try as I might, it's hard to concentrate on the men's semis just now as everyone is still talking about
Serena's outburst last night.
Jeff Tarango on 5 live sports extra was not impressed with her behaviour but suggests officials should not be calling foot faults on such important points. Any thoughts on that? Thought so.
1700: Good afternoon, and welcome to the wacky world of the US Open. I have very little idea what time or even day it is, but I do know we've still got a tournament to finish. First up today is
Rafael Nadal against
Juan Martin del Potro, before
Roger Federer plays
Novak Djokovic in the men's semi-finals.
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