Day 12 and the men’s semi-finals. The first semi-final was between 2nd seed Medvedev and 12th seed Auger-Aliassime. Medvedev managed to take the first set after breaking his opponent. A little surprisingly Medvedev didn’t take charge in the second set. Felix picked up his game and broke Medvedev and led 5-3 and he was serving. 2 set points were saved before Medvedev brought up a break point which he immediately took. A comfortable service game and it was 5-5. Medvedev then broke to love before serving out the set. There was no stopping him after that as he raced away in the third set. He was through to another US Open final but who was going to be his opponent?

Djokovic was up against 4th seed Zverev in a mouthwatering encounter. Both players started off well with 4 service games each. Zverev then turned up the heat and broke Djokovic at 4-4 which meant he had a chance to serve it out. And that is exactly what he did. Djokovic had lost another 1st set. Djokovic then had a very tough service game to begin the 2nd set but thankfully for him he managed to hold. He then used that momentum to break Zverev for the first time in the match. It then went on serve until Djokovic broke to win the set 6-2. An impressive fight back by the world number 1. The third set had some tough service games, more so for Djokovic. 8 service holds and it was 4-4 in what felt an important 3rd set. Djokovic held to 15 and then had 0-40 on Zverev’s serve. 2 break/set points saved but Djokovic converted the 3rd chance and the world number 1 was a set away from another major final. The 3rd game of the 4th set was an extremely long game and was a momentum changer. Zverev managed to take his 2nd break point and he led by a break 2-1. That was all he needed as he took the 4th set 6-4 and we headed into a decider. Zverev started off nervy in the 5th set and that cost him as he went down an early break and trailed 3-0. Djokovic then broke again and the match was running away from Zverev as Djokovic led 5-0. Zverev held serve and forced Djokovic to serve it out. Another long service game for Djokovic as he fended off 4 break points before Zverev took his 5th chance and the score was now 5-2. Sadly for the German he couldn’t hold serve and Djokovic was through in 5.

Onto the fantasy league. With the loss of Zverev and Auger-Aliassime we lost 9 teams from the US Open fantasy league. The best pick was Medvedev who scored 9 points on day 12.

‘Lorna’s Leaderboard’ continues to lead the way on 232 points a further 12 points ahead of 2nd placed ‘Guys and Dolls’ who are on 220 points. 1 point behind in 3rd is ‘Chalk Dust’ on 219 points. ‘Sets on the Beach’ is in 4th with 213 points and ‘Not the Djok’ has been eliminated but still sit in 5th on 211 points.

Results on day 12:

• Medvedev(2) beat Auger-Aliassime(12) – 6-4; 7-5; 6-2
• Djokovic(1) beat Zverev(4) – 4-6; 6-2; 6-4; 4-6; 6-2

Ladies Final:

• Raducanu vs Fernandez – (22:00)

Jared

Jared matriculated in 2020 from Wynberg Boys High School in beautiful Cape Town, South Africa. His passion for tennis afforded him the opportunity of travelling to Europe. He is a quizmaster and a fantasy organiser.