And now for the beat down...

I called it 3-0 into the first set - Roddick slapped his old roomie around 6-2, 6-2, 6-2. That's impressive. Part of me wants to say, "Well, it was Mardy Fish..." but a 2, 2, and 2 assault is what it is. He has to play Federer now, so we'll see how far he has come. They will both be amped up for it. Everyone is making such a big deal out of this match, but no one is going beyond the typical dialogue of "Well Roddick is playing better but Federer is Federer." I can. Roddick is confident and playing well, that's for sure. He also thinks he can beat Federer. Some of the matches he has gone into against Federer in the past, I'm sure he went in and said "Uhh...shit. What do I do!?" Now he has a little bit of an idea of how to play him. He wants to be aggressive, but he has started to learn that "being agressive" means more than "hitting hard." He's being creative, mixing up his approaches; he's volleying much better than I've seen him before. His serve has always been there. It has always been the biggest strength of his game, and if he holds serve every time and can focus enough to get a break here and there, he could do it. That said, I still think he will lose.

Gonzo and Nadal are going to go at it in a little while; they will need new balls every 6 points.

My hope is that Sharapova can beat down Williams in the final...if she gets that far. Serena has fought off some big challenges, but I'm not sure she can beat Vaidisova though, who is a hottie.

Also, does anyone else got a little annoyed by the constant conversation of "OMG!! Americans crashed out in the quarter-finals!! Why!?" Mary Carillo and friends are soooooo concerned that there be an American in every final and a loaf of white bread in every winner's cup. Damn. That's why I don't care if Federer wins.

Davydenko and Haas are going to grind it out this afternoon. I look for a Haas win either in straights or four sets. The Russian is solid, but I don't think he has the firepower to take Haas off his game.

And a final thought for now: I know that I will look silly if Roddick beats Federer. But with Federer's routine tooling of Robredo fresh in mind, I just don't think Roddick can do it. Now I kind of hope I'm wrong. Let's watch.