THE MISSING LINK

Super Saturday at the U.S. Open, while not completely void of drama, was most notable for who or what was missing in action.  Three or the top four men in tennis were present in the semifinals, with Andy Murray being the lone exception.  Thinking Murray was primed to capture his first Grand Slam title, I picked him to win the tournament before it started.  Instead, the fourth-seeded Scot went down in the third round to Switzerland's second-best player, Stanislas Wawrinka.  Wawrinka then lost a heartbreaking five-setter to Russian Mikhail Youzhny in the quarterfinals.  Completing the chain, yesterday an exhausted Youzhny was overwhelmed by Rafa Nadal in the semifinals.  Tweaking his grip just before the start of the U.S. Open, Nadal has bumped up the MPHs on his serve and is clearly on a mission.  Perhaps Murray would not have been up the task of giving Rafa a real run for his money in the semifinals, but his absence was duly noted, and Rafa rolled in straight sets to reach his first U.S. Open final.

Kim Clijsters deserved to win the women's title.  Her monster semifinal against Venus Williams was the women's match of the tournament.  Vera Zvonareva played well to reach her second Grand Slam final, taking out the #1 seed Caroline Wozniacki (who is looking supremely fit and gorgeous these days).  But, again, what struck me most was the fact that Serena wasn't there.  Last year's memorable final between Kim and Serena included the famous blow-up at the lineswoman who called a foot fault on Serena, but Kim was already on the verge of defeating her fair and sqaure when the incident occurred.  Unfortunately, Serena sustained a foot injury which kept her from seeking revenge on Kim this time around.  Thus, the women's tourney really climaxed with Kim vs. Venus.  Taking nothing away from Clijsters, now a three-time winner at the U.S. Open, things may have been different if Kim was forced to get past both Williams sisters.

Without a doubt, the match of the day was Roger Federer vs. Novak Djokovic.  For three years in a row, Nole has suffered his U.S. Open fate at the hands of the Swiss maestro, he last two years in the semis, the year before that in the final.  You knew The Serb didn't want to lose to The Mighty Fed four years in a row.  But Fed hasn't been quite as mighty this year as in year's past.  In the spring, I was present in the Indian Wells Tennis Garden to witness Roger squandering match points and losing to Marcos Baghdatis.  Uncharacterisically, Federer did the same against Tomas Berdych in Miami.  Those were losses to guys he previously owned.  Soderling took Fed out in the quarters at the French to snap his unbelievable Slam Semi streak, then Berdych beat him again at Wimbledon.  In the press conference following the loss to Berdych, Roger revealed he had been struggling with some nagging injuries.  It seemed to explain why we weren't seeing the Greatest Player of All-Time at his usual awe-inspiring level.  But yesterday was different.  Federer didn't have the same mastery of his forehand and appeared to tank the second and fourth sets to conserve energy.  Djokovic was not only the hungrier, more determined man on the court, he was the braver one, too.  It's hard to say something was missing from a five-set epic, but indeed there was something... Federer's killer instinct.  Once again, Roger Federer had match points against an opponent he has dominated throughout his career and ended up losing the match.  Although the tennis season began with Roger winning the Australian Open and banking his 16th Grand Slam, 2010 will be remembered as the year when Federer lost his invincibility.

Today could be a historic day in tennis.  Rafael Nadal has the opportunity to capture the only Grand Slam title that has eluded him.  By winning the U.S. Open, Nadal would complete the Career Grand Slam at the ripe old age of 24.  Or Novak Djokovic could play spoiler and accomplish something even more rare... defeating Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in the same weekend to win a Grand Slam title.  Either way, someone is going to find something they've been missing.