Nadal had little trouble on his way to his first U.S. Open (Getty Images) After Novak Djokovic's shot sailed wide of the boundaries, top-seeded Rafael Nadal fell to the blue hard-court in jubilation. At 24, he's had a tennis career that would make most players 10 years his senior green with envy.

Stanford looks for its first win in South Bend in 18 years (Getty Images) The last time that Roger Federer faced Robin Soderling, he went down in defeat. This time around, the five-time champ left little to doubt. The second-seeded Federer overcame a slight challenge in the third set to dispatch the No. 5 Soderling in straight sets 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 in little less than two hours to reach the semis late last night at the U.S. Open.

Rafa gets through to Quarters (Getty Images) Venus Williams is one step closer to reaching U.S. Open glory. The two-time champion and No. 3 seed reached the semis by defeating French Open champ and No. 6 seed Francesca Schiavone in straight sets. 7-6 (5), 6-4. There were nine breaks of serve in the quarterfinal and Venus had to break Schiavone in the final game to reach victory.