Rogers Cup Final

The two semifinal matches today were both very interesting, but for different reasons. The Murray-Nadal match was not really much of a contest, as Murray played absolutely lights-out tennis in order to keep Nadal stifled from the very first ball. He played the way he played in Australia, rather than the way he played at Wimbledon. It was the best performance I've seen from Murray in a long time, and it was Nadal's first significant loss essentially since the clay season started.

On the other hand, Federer started out just as dominant - if not more so - against Djokovic, only to falter after he got up a set and a break. Djokovic won five of six games straight, then broke again to take the set, 6-3. The third set was a tight affair, with Djokovic having chances to break and serve for the match. But Federer held on, and the Serb finally wilted when he was trying to serve his way into a deciding tiebreak.

It was a mish-mash from both players, with neither one showing very much consistency at all. But when they were both on, it looked like a match two of the best players in the world, there was no question about that. But both guys were also making really strange unforced errors, as well. An exciting match, even the tennis may not have been of the highest caliber.

It should be fascinating to see how Federer and Murray match up tomorrow - Murray may lead the head to head, but Federer has won their last three meetings, and he could get back to even with a win tomorrow. Fed hasn't won a title since the Aussie Open, whereas Murray hasn't won one since last year. There is an enormous amount on the line for both guys - as far as rankings are concerned, Federer will bump back up to number two next week no matter what, but I think that Murray is in danger of dropping back down to number five, if you can believe that. This is a massive match for both of these guys' hard-court seasons, and for their rivalry.

If Murray plays the way he did against Nadal, and Federer plays the way he did against Djokovic, I give Murray the edge. He was more consistently the better player. It will be fun to see what happens, no matter what the result.