dreamy semi

It would be hard to imagine a more appealing semi-final for the men then friday's matchups of Nadal/Djokovic and Federer/Monfils. On one side is a rematch of the great encounter between Rafa and Nole in Hamburg -- once again with the #2 ranking on the line.

On the other is Roger and the freakishly charismatic home favorite Gael Monfils. There has been a lot of talk this week about the 2006 US Open 1st round match between Monfils and Djokovic. In the fifth set a very tired Djokovic (having lost the 4th 6-0) stretched the rules of tennis as far as they could go to stay with his friend: bathroom breaks, multiple "injuries," and at one point simply laying down on the court and not moving for 10 minutes. You can read about it here.

Despite having arms a bit like Nadal's, you rarely see Monfils put his full strength behind the ball. His shots to Ferrer today seemed to float toward the corners, inviting the tired Spaniard to hit errors. Those floaters should give Roger plenty of time to line up his shots and fire away, especially if the conditions continue to be wet and slow.