So who had a Simon v. Kiefer semifinal in their bracket? Simon beat Roddick-killer Marin Cilic today and the freshly shorn German tore James Blake a new one, blasting him 61 62. On the other side of the draw, the side we shall now refer to as "the side that has players you actually know", Andy Murray finally beat Nole in straight sets and Rafa and Dickie Gasket played an extremely entertaining first set, which the Frenchman was able to pull out in a 14-12 tiebreak, and then Rafa reminded everyone of why he is almost impossible to beat on any surface. The tireless and ruthless bull took the next two sets 62 61, setting up a fun Wimbledon rematch with Murray.
As for the Ladies of LA, today pretty much went according to plan. Jelena Jankovic continued her march to #1 by beating Nadia Petrova, but she didn't look great doing it. Her movement looks fine but her game was off. The match was broadcast on ESPN2, and I cringed every time I thought of a new tennis fan tuning into the match and hearing that they were watching the potential new world #1.
Aside from JJ, Dinara Safina played a near flawless match in her 62 61 drubbing of Azarenka. Those two will play tomorrow and I put my money on Baby Beluga to stop JJ's run and keep her good friend Ana's ranking at #1. The other semifinal will see Flavia "Screw you Carlos" Pennetta vs. Bethanie "YouTube" Mattek. Pennetta gutted out a win over Bammer and Mattek showed Meng the door. I'm going with Bethanie to make it to her first tour final.
Lastly, top seeded Maria Kirilenko fell to Sara Errani in Potoroz. But in happy news, Caroline Wozniaki destroyed Vera Dushevina 60 61 in 53 minutes. Ski Boots has lost only 8 games in the entire tournament. She'll face Errani in tomorrow's semifinal for a shot at her first final.
