Nadal to see of Youzhny in first US Open Semi-final
Rafael Nadal has yet to win a US Open and the World number one will be fancying his chances of putting that right this year. A Federer / Nadal final looks on the cards and Nadal has to beat Mikhail Youzhny in order to secure his place. The Russian overcame Stanislas Wawrinka in the quarter-finals in 5-sets and is a strong player, ranked number 12.
The head-to-head score stands at 7-4 to Nadal, although the Spaniard did lose their quarter-final clash at Flushing Meadows in 2006.
"I remember it was a painful match for me because I think I arrived at the US Open playing better than before," Nadal said. "I think I lost that match because I was too anxious for a few moments. He's a great player, very aggressive, very flat shots. This court I think adapts very well to his game, so he's playing very good tennis. It's going to be very difficult to beat him. I have to play aggressive, because if I am losing court (position) against him, it's gonna be impossible to come back. I have to play aggressive, serve well, and try to move him away from his right position with my forehand.”
Betting wise, it gets hard to find any value at this stage of a major tournament and odds as low as 1/25 with Ladbrokes are not appealing about the Spaniard. The same firm are offering 8/1 about Mikhail Youzhny and if the Russian is in the right frame of mind, that could be the value. That said, Youzhny can be erratic mentally on court and on balance and with a gun to my head, I would plump for the 1/14 widely available on a Nadal victory, with injury likely to be the biggest threat to the Spaniard’s chances.