US Open - Nadal brushes past Gasquet in New York semi-final

After Djokovic needed five sets to deal with a determined Stanislas Wawrinka in their earlier semi-final, second-seed Nadal's task was almost routine against an opponent he has now beaten in all 11 meetings.

Djokovic and Nadal will now meet for the third time in four years in the Monday final at Flushing Meadows with Nadal having triumphed in 2010 and holding a 21-15 record in their all-time meetings.

"Novak is an amazing competitor. His results say he is probably one of the best players I have ever seen," said the Spaniard. "He's a great champion and it will be a tough final for me but I hope to be ready for that."

Nadal, who missed last year's U.S. Open with a knee injury, heads into the final in rich form though with a 21-0 record on hard courts this year.

That streak never looked in danger of being ended by the 27-year-old Gasquet who has yet to reach a grand slam final.

Nadal swiftly broke Gasquet's first serve of the match, when the Frenchman found the net and he held his serve with relative ease to take the first set in 43 minutes.

The second-set had a different flavour as he was pushed hard by the Frenchman, who broke in the fourth game, ending Nadal's streak of 88 successive games of holding serve.

Playing disciplined and intelligent tennis throughout the second set, Gasquet forced a tiebreak but that decider was a one-sided affair which Gasquet started and ended with a double-fault as Nadal ran out a 7-1 winner.

Nadal then broke in the second game of the third with a magnificent forehand down the line. He took full command of the match when Gasquet ended the third set in disappointing fashion with two double faults on the final two points.

"It was very tough conditions out there today," said Nadal.

"The wind was very strong and that made it very difficult to play. I think I played solid first set and that's very important, to win the first in these kind of matches.

"Then in the second when it seemed I had the match under control, everything changed. Richard played better. I had a few games that I didn't play that well.

"So it was very important that I came back and then I think I played a great tiebreak. Winning the second set I don't say is done, but it is a big advantage," he added.

Gasquet said he felt a glimmer of hope in the second but was satisfied that he had at least raised the hopes of being the first Frenchman to reach the U.S. Open final since Cedric Pioline in 1993.

"Of course I'm a little bit disappointed. I think I was close to winning the second set. If could have made the break in the second, you never know what could happen in the third.

"But I think he was little bit better than me. No problem with that. Of course it's a very good tournament for me."

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US Open - Nadal brushes past Gasquet in New York semi-final

After Djokovic needed five sets to deal with a determined Stanislas Wawrinka in their earlier semi-final, second-seed Nadal's task was almost routine against an opponent he has now beaten in all 11 meetings.

Djokovic and Nadal will now meet for the third time in four years in the Monday final at Flushing Meadows with Nadal having triumphed in 2010 and holding a 21-15 record in their all-time meetings.

"Novak is an amazing competitor. His results say he is probably one of the best players I have ever seen," said the Spaniard. "He's a great champion and it will be a tough final for me but I hope to be ready for that."

Nadal, who missed last year's U.S. Open with a knee injury, heads into the final in rich form though with a 21-0 record on hard courts this year.

That streak never looked in danger of being ended by the 27-year-old Gasquet who has yet to reach a grand slam final.

Nadal swiftly broke Gasquet's first serve of the match, when the Frenchman found the net and he held his serve with relative ease to take the first set in 43 minutes.

The second-set had a different flavour as he was pushed hard by the Frenchman, who broke in the fourth game, ending Nadal's streak of 88 successive games of holding serve.

Playing disciplined and intelligent tennis throughout the second set, Gasquet forced a tiebreak but that decider was a one-sided affair which Gasquet started and ended with a double-fault as Nadal ran out a 7-1 winner.

Nadal then broke in the second game of the third with a magnificent forehand down the line. He took full command of the match when Gasquet ended the third set in disappointing fashion with two double faults on the final two points.

"It was very tough conditions out there today," said Nadal.

"The wind was very strong and that made it very difficult to play. I think I played solid first set and that's very important, to win the first in these kind of matches.

"Then in the second when it seemed I had the match under control, everything changed. Richard played better. I had a few games that I didn't play that well.

"So it was very important that I came back and then I think I played a great tiebreak. Winning the second set I don't say is done, but it is a big advantage," he added.

Gasquet said he felt a glimmer of hope in the second but was satisfied that he had at least raised the hopes of being the first Frenchman to reach the U.S. Open final since Cedric Pioline in 1993.

"Of course I'm a little bit disappointed. I think I was close to winning the second set. If could have made the break in the second, you never know what could happen in the third.

"But I think he was little bit better than me. No problem with that. Of course it's a very good tournament for me."

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UPDATE 1-Tennis-U.S. Open mixed doubles semifinal results

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David Willey's century in vain as Northants' place in YB40 semi-final proves elusive

Northamptonshire missed out on a place in the YB40 semi-finals in agonising circumstances despite David Willey plundering 167, his maiden senior century, in the rout of Warwickshire.

Northamptonshire were denied the Group A title by Nottinghamshire’s win over Kent at Canterbury and wins for Glamorgan and Somerset in Group C then dashed their hopes of progressing to the semi-finals as the best runner-up.

It was 40 minutes after Muhammad Azharullah yorked Recordo Gordon before Northamptonshire discovered their fate which meant an anticlimactic end to a day dominated by Willey, who hit 10 sixes and 12 fours in a spectacular 101-ball innings of clean hitting against a depleted and demoralised attack.

The left-hander had struck his first Twenty20 half-century and claimed a hat-trick in Northamptonshire’s Twenty20 final win over Surrey at Edgbaston nine days earlier and he again made the ground a home-from-home by racing from a 40-ball fifty to his first century in any competition in only 22 more balls.

Willey was surprisingly overlooked for England’s Twenty20 squad against Australia but his inclusion in the England Lions squad for last week’s match against Bangladesh A proves that he is on the selectors’ radar.

This innings was another reminder of Willey’s talents but it was made against a threadbare Warwickshire attack which included only three specialist bowlers and only one of them, off-spinner Jeetan Patel, a senior player. Only Patel, who took two for 32, escaped punishment from Willey who took four of his sixes off Darren Maddy, who was given the honour of leading out Warwickshire in his final one-day appearance at the end of a 20-year career.

Maddy was given a guard of honour by Northamptonshire’s players when he came out to bat, but little went right for him from the moment that Willey lifted his fifth ball over long on for the first in his fusillade of sixes.

Maddy managed only a single from three balls before he was smartly stumped by David Murphy down the leg side off Trent Copeland and departed to a standing ovation.

Willey failed by five runs to equal Wayne Larkins’s Northamptonshire record 40-over score of 172, also made against Warwickshire at Luton 30 years ago, when he scooped Tom Milnes to long on seeking his eleventh six.

But Northamptonshire easily reached their highest 40-over total with Rob Keogh, who gave Willey excellent support in a fifth wicket stand of 101, reaching his first senior fifty.

Keogh also timed the ball sweetly on an excellent batting pitch and reached his fifty with his only six, pulled off a Gordon full toss, before he skied the last ball of the innings to midwicket.

Warwickshire suffered the embarrassment of finishing bottom of their group, below minnows Holland, and without a home win just a year after they suffered a last-ball defeat to Hampshire in last season’s final.

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