Simon is playing amazing tennis...probably the best of his career. The outcome of this match all depends on whether Simon has enough left in the tank, after winning Indy last week and getting to the semis this week...the question still remains...is he fit enough to go out there and do it again?? I think he probably is. But will he beat Andy of Nadal in the Final?? I think not!

wats happened to djokovic.he was set to be world number one but now hes playing like a top ten player instead of a top three player.he needs to win the us open,thres no doubt about that.nadal will win this tournament or simon who i think could be in da top 5 the way he is playing.federer will never win a grand slam again,i think nadal will win the french open 6 times or 7times in a row and wimbledon 4 times in a row and maybe one or 2 australian or us opens.thats 13 grand slams in total.watch out federer and samprass.

Andy Murray has proven me - and a lot of other people - wrong. He actually beat Djokovic! Brilliant!!! It wasn't the best Nole, but it was the Nº 3 so nothing can detract from the victory. Congratulations Scotland

Good analysis James. I do think though that you'd have to make Nadal favourite against Gasquet for three reasons. Firstly, he's won all their previous meetings. Secondly, Nadal's mentality (which you mention) has always seemed better than that of the extremely talented, but ultimately underachieving Gasquet. The third reason I would make Nadal favourite is that old cookie, the looping left-handed forehand into the right-hander's one-handed backhand. Those playing one-handed backhands are more vulnerable to what by now is a classic Rafa strategy of pinning them down with looping balls, which they can't really get over and lean into. The natural cross-court bread and butter backhand brings the right-hander's backhand into the Nadal forehand again. To break the pattern they have to go down the line, which is obviously riskier. Having said that, I do think that Gasquet has a chance if he's playing well and his result against his most feared opponent (Ferrer) suggests that he's playing very well indeed. Also, as you mention, this is the best surface for him to pressure Nadal. I've posted my views on the Murray v Djokovic match at least twice under other articles today and basically they concur with your opinion, though I don't really think Djokovic will suffer from stage fright. Promises to be a great night of tennis. Enjoy. CHEERS

Fascinating line-up tonite: battle of the young bloods!! Gasquet and Murray up against their contemporaries, with everything to gain and nothing to lose. Of the two, the frenchman should have the better chance because of the surface factor: Nadal is adapting, volleying more (a good percentage against Andreev): obviously he knows he needs to evolve his game in this direction in order to get that Nº1 spot, which provides an unequalled motivation given the opportunity he has at this point. Gasquet will need to serve well, play flat and look for the angles. For me, there is no obvious favorite. Murray, on the other hand, has less chance on paper. The factor in his favor may be Djocovic's nerves. All the pressure is on him, and he has less mental strength than Nadal. If Andy wins the first set he will have a chance, but if not...curtains.

I'll second that congrats to Gilles Simon. He's having a great week to follow his win in Indianapolis. Not a spectacular match by any means, but Simon seems to have that ability to pick the right strategy, dig in and wear down his opponents. On the basis of his results and what I've seen, he's a hell of a match player.

Apparently Kieffer played a blinder in an excellent match against Davydenko yesterday. From the part of the match I saw today, he seemed to be hitting the ball really cleanly and taking a lot of Blakes serves on the rise, `thereby putting real pressure on Blake, who didn't seem to have the answers today. A blinder by Kieffer or an off day on the part of Blake? Maybe a bit of both, but this guy looks to be in great form. Interesting semi-final tomorrow by thes "surprise packets"

CHEERS

Simon's game looks so strang for me, he looks alaways waiting for his opponent's unforced errors, and Clic gave hime a lot!especially in the second set

looks like i'm first. congrats to simon! it was an interesting match. battle of the freshbloods is always entertaining to watch (i'm still watching) and especially at this level. and as those of you who've watched know they both deserved to be here. we should be reading: battle of the giantkillers!
apparently simon's the 2007 winner of our Bucharest shindig. he's come a long way! you could say he's killed another giant, considering cilic's height! btw, it's even more thrilling because he came back from a set down, mostly against the background of cilic's errors and low first serve percentage.
eventually, the heat and physical strain got to both players, i think. cilic was the first to lose his court aggression. that's what made it easier for simon, imho.
and blake really took a beating. i only caught the last set and a couple of sweeping points but he looked dominated.
take care