Verdasco loses then picks a winner: It ' s Roger
Rafael Nadal
After losing in straight sets to No. 1 Rafael Nadal on yet another semi-miserable  windblown night in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Thursday  Verdasco walked away more impressed by the conditions -- and by Roger Federer -- than anything Nadal did.
 Nadal wasn't so bad in them either  overcoming his first dropped service game of the tournament to scrub out eighth-seeded Verdasco 7-5  6-3  6-4 in the first all-Spanish quarterfinal in U.S. Open history.
 Like Federer  Nadal has yet to lose a single set in five matches at Flushing Meadows  and handles bad conditions well.
 In advancing to his third straight U.S. Open semifinal  Nadal improved to 11-0 lifetime against Verdasco -- victories scored around the world  on almost every kind of surface and in almost every kind of weather. But when it was over  Verdasco sounded less overwhelmed by his opponent than depressed that he didn't get Nadal on a better night.
 "For the game I need to beat Rafa  these conditions was very bad for me " he said.
 Meanwhile  told of Verdasco's early handicapping  Nadal took no offense.
 "Well  for sure Roger is the favorite of the tournament  especially because he's won five times " Nadal said. "And six finals in a row. No one doubts on that one. And I am in the semifinals  so I don't think about the final. Everybody free to think  and what Fernando says is completely fair."
 Indeed  there is still some business to be completed before the dream final -- a pairing that has taken place at every Grand Slam final except the U.S. Open. (Nadal is 5-2 in those meetings.)
 Nadal's next opponent will be Mikhail Youzhny  who defeated Stanislas Wawrinka 3-6  7-6 (7)  3-6  6-3  6-3 in a contest Thursday afternoon that featured 128 unforced errors. Youzhny made his second U.S. Open semifinal with a performance that  frankly  he'll need to pump up if he's going to pull off an upset against the world's top player.
 Nadal was the fourth and final man to punch his ticket to the semifinals  even as he dropped serve in the first set -- the first time he was broken in the tournament following 62 consecutive holds.
 Not to worry. Five games later  Verdasco double-faulted on the last two points to give the break back  then Nadal got another one to avoid the tiebreaker and close out the set  7-5. He got a break in each of the next sets to close out what will go down as a routine victory  nothing like their epic  five-set  5-hour semifinal at the 2009 Australian Open.
 "When I had the chance  I tried to play hard and go to the net to close the point " Verdasco said. "But when I had these balls  the ball was moving all the time and it was impossible to play the game that I think I need to try to have chances to beat Rafa."
 After his win over Robin Soderling on Wednesday  Federer said he liked playing in wind because of the challenge it provides.
 "The movements must be all the time high intensity and the concentration must be all the time full " he said. "So probably both those things are one of the best things about my game."
After losing in straight sets to No. 1 [TGT] on yet another semi-miserable  windblown night in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Thursday  Verdasco walked away more impressed by the conditions -- and by Roger Federer -- than anything [TGT] did.
 [TGT] wasn't so bad in them either  overcoming [TGT] first dropped service game of the tournament to scrub out eighth-seeded Verdasco 7-5  6-3  6-4 in the first all-Spanish quarterfinal in U.S. Open history.
 Like Federer  [TGT] has yet to lose a single set in five matches at Flushing Meadows  and handles bad conditions well.
 In advancing to [TGT] third straight U.S. Open semifinal  [TGT] improved to 11-0 lifetime against Verdasco -- victories scored around the world  on almost every kind of surface and in almost every kind of weather. But when it was over  Verdasco sounded less overwhelmed by his opponent than depressed that he didn't get [TGT] on a better night.
 "For the game I need to beat Rafa  these conditions was very bad for me " he said.
 Meanwhile  told of Verdasco's early handicapping  [TGT] took no offense.
 "Well  for sure Roger is the favorite of the tournament  especially because he's won five times [TGT] said. "And six finals in a row. No one doubts on that one. And I am in the semifinals  so I don't think about the final. Everybody free to think  and what Fernando says is completely fair."
 Indeed  there is still some business to be completed before the dream final -- a pairing that has taken place at every Grand Slam final except the U.S. Open. ([TGT] is 5-2 in those meetings.)
 [TGT]'s next opponent will be Mikhail Youzhny  who defeated Stanislas Wawrinka 3-6  7-6 (7)  3-6  6-3  6-3 in a contest Thursday afternoon that featured 128 unforced errors. Youzhny made his second U.S. Open semifinal with a performance that  frankly  he'll need to pump up if he's going to pull off an upset against the world's top player.
 [TGT] was the fourth and final man to punch [TGT] ticket to the semifinals  even as [TGT] dropped serve in the first set -- the first time [TGT] was broken in the tournament following 62 consecutive holds.
 Not to worry. Five games later  Verdasco double-faulted on the last two points to give the break back  then [TGT] got another one to avoid the tiebreaker and close out the set  7-5. [TGT] got a break in each of the next sets to close out what will go down as a routine victory  nothing like their epic  five-set  5-hour semifinal at the 2009 Australian Open.
 "When I had the chance  I tried to play hard and go to the net to close the point " Verdasco said. "But when I had these balls  the ball was moving all the time and it was impossible to play the game that I think I need to try to have chances to beat [TGT]."
 After [TGT] win over Robin Soderling on Wednesday  Federer said he liked playing in wind because of the challenge it provides.
 "The movements must be all the time high intensity and the concentration must be all the time full " he said. "So probably both those things are one of the best things about my game."