Day 8 at the U.S. Open

I want to take a minute to toot my own horn. If you read the "Day 7" blog and my predictions you will see I pretty much called every match exactly to how many sets. Yes, I'm that damn good.

So heres a recap:

Roger Federer thrashed Tommy Robredo in easy straight sets. Robin Soderling was up 2 sets to 1 when Nikolay Davydenko retired due to a bad leg, which he had heavily taped before the match. So now Federer will face Soderling, with the winner getting to the semifinals.

Novak Djokovic as I predicted smoked Radek "enemy mine" Stepanek in straight sets. The highlight of this match was after the match when the "Djoker" was being interviewed he made a sly comment to John McEnroe in the booth about coming down and hitting some balls, and Johnny Mac obliged. McEnroe came down in khakis and dress shirt with sneakers on and hit a few balls with Novak. It was a pretty cool moment......Djokovic will now face Fernando Verdasco who beat John Isner in thats right 4 sets. Who said it was going to go 4? Thats right, ME!! Anyways this is the first time EVER that no American male will be in the quarterfinals. And I say GOOD!!

On the womens side "Flying" Bondarenko sister Kateryna got revenge in the worst way over Gisela Dulko by "double bageling" her and downright embarrassing the Argentine. Kateryna will now face Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium in the round of 8 for the crown of "biggest jobber to reach the semis" A great honor and career highlight for either of these ladies.

17 year old Melanie Oudin's improbable streak continues. She dispatched another Russian Natalie Petrova in a tough 3 set victory. Oudin has made a habit out of losing the first set easily, just to come back and snatch victory from another Russian. ::beavis laugh:: I said snatch. Melanie will now face Caroline Wozniacki who continues to defy the "curse of Verdasco's weiner" by defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova in what is probably the match of the day. The score line said 2-6, 7-6, 7-6. How shitty for "Kuz" to lose both sets by tiebreaks. Pretty lame.

Lets get to my picks for Tuesday.

Na Li vs. Kim Clijsters: Kim Clijsters continues on out of retirement by rolling over the top Chinese women's player.

Flavia Pennetta vs. Serena Williams: I'm rooting for Pennetta, but my head tells me that Serena will unfortunately win this match. Pennetta has been playing a ton of tennis this summer, and no one would blame her if she starts showing some fatigue. Look for Serena to win this in straight sets.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. Fernando Gonzalez: This will be the match of the day. Well atleast on paper it looks like an even matchup. Gonzalez is always steady, but seems to flame out at about this point in tournaments. He does well against lower competition, but when he plays the big boys he just folds. Tsonga seems to have that problem as well, but Tsonga beat Federer in his only loss of the hardcourt season, and has been playing on top of his game the past week in New York. I like Tsonga to win in 4 sets. Look for the "cheating Chilean" to possibly pull an injury excuse and retire at some point in the match.

Gael Monfils vs. Rafa Nadal: Rafa has been dealing with a nagging stomach injury. Monfils is so inconsistent and seems to flake out of matches with imaginary injuries. It allcomes down to how bad is Rafa's stomach strain. I'm thinking it will be good for one more round and he will be on his game for a big night match. Rafa to win in 4 sets.

Juan Martin Del Potro vs. Juan Carlos Ferrero: On paper Del Potro should steamroll over Ferrero. Ferrero has good fitness and that is the one thing that is Del Po's kryptonite. Del Po's skills should be enough to pull out a tough straigh setter. Maybe a tiebreak or 2 in a couple sets.

Andy Murray vs Marin Cilic: Cilic hasn't been playing that great, and Murray seems to be getting on top of his form. This will be an easy victory for Murray.