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It took a while coming, but when drama returned to Flushing Meadows, the 129th US Open Championships were set on fire by a fighting Swiss and a courageous Spaniard, leaving the fans shaking with excitement. The Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka fought off a determined American in a see-saw match that stayed on edge till the final game, with fortunes swinging one way and then the other. Finally the 25th seed prevailed over Sam Querrey - 7-6(9), 6-7(5), 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 in four hours and 28 minutes. Fernando Verdasco scripted a dramatic recovery against his close friend and compatriot David Ferrer to comeback from two sets down, winning the third and fourth to take the match into a fifth set. He fell behind an early break in the decider, before launching one last counter-offensive to clinch a place in the semi-finals with a 5-7, 6-7(8), 6-3, 6-3, 7-6(4) victory that took four hours and 23 minutes. In the final match of the night, Rafael Nadal showed how a champion takes care of business coasting past another Spaniard Feliciano Lopez in straight sets 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

On a day when everyone else seemed to be battling incredibly hard, the world no.1 showed exactly why he is the world no.1! Nadal turned in an exceptionally clinical performance against Lopez, picking up a solitary break in each set to wrap up his fourth round match in just a little over 2 hours. His 30 winners were well matched by Lopez' 27, but his 14 unforced errors when placed against the 41 of his opponent exemplified the gulf in class between the two players. Nadal broke Lopez in his very first service game, and the first set was wrapped up in 39 minutes.

Nadal had been forced to save 4 break points in the opening set, but faced no such resistance in the next two. He dropped just 2 points on his first serve in the second and third set combined, and showed impeccable timing by breaking Ferrer in the 9th game of the third set to give himself the opportunity to serve for the match in the following game. The top seed completed his formalities with the minimum of fuss and showed the maximum grace post match. You couldn't ask for a better ambassador for the game and a warning for his opponents, Nadal is getting better with every match and looks a strong favourite to win the only major title to have eluded his thus far in his career.

In the first match of the day in the Louis Armstrong Stadium, the Russian Mikhail Youzhny descended, looking like deceptively like a character from a Dan Brown creation, on court to battle the Spaniard Tommy Robredo. Both players were serving well, but Youzhny was clearly the more impressive of the two. While Robredo squandered a break point each in the second and sixth games of the match, Youzhny wasted no effort in converting the first opportunity he had to take a 6-5 lead, before serving out the first set with a flourish. The second set was a complete rout as Youzhny toyed with the Spaniard's serve, twice breaking it to take a two set lead.

With his fate in the balance, Robredo did his best to stay in touch with the 12th seeded Russian. After Youzhny missed a couple of break point opportunities early in the third set, Robredo's real test came in the seventh game, when he was forced to pull all stops in a lengthy game that constantly threatened to slip out of his grasp. Finally, he somehow managed to hold serve on the third attempt after saving two more breakpoints. It turned out to be an important hold for the Spaniard who went on to break Youzhny in the tenth game to clinch the set and get his foot back in the door.

However, that was to be the end of the road for Robredo - Youzhny took the third breakpoint in the fifth game of the fourth set with a fortuitous net cord. The Russian just had to hold serve from thereon to clinch the match 7-5, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 and advance to the quarter-finals. It lasted a tad over three hours, and while Robredo had just three breakpoints through the entire match, Youzhny deserves credit for keeping his game together by winning 68% of his second serve points. The 12th seed also had a good 50 winners to his name including 26 points from the net.

The American Sam Querrey started off his match against the Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka, serving with venom and finishing points in a hurry. On the other hand, Wawrinka had to save three breakpoints in the third game. And the early promise was fulfilled when the pair played out a contest that hung on edge to the very end. The first set tie-break was a classic, maybe the best this tournament, as Querrey ran away to a 3-0 lead before letting it slip as the breaker evolved into a seat edge thriller that lasted 20 points, both players having set points at different times. It was Wawrinka who wrapped up the set with a big serve at 10-9. In the second set, Querrey showed tremendous heart after losing his serve in the crucial ninth game. With Stan serving for the second set, the American volleyed his way back into the set to keep things even at 5-5. In the ensuing tie-break, Wawrinka ran off to a 3-0 lead this time, but it was Querrey who clinched it 7-5.

Querrey took a 3-1 lead in the third set, but Wawrinka broke back to win the next two games. And then broke again in the twelfth to steal the set from the American who had the better chances through it to take the lead yet again. As the match gained in intensity, both men were showing tremendous resolve - Wawrinka was playing the match with a heavily strapped thigh, to protect the quad he strained during his excursion with Murray in the previous round. Meanwhile, Querrey was waging his own battle to carry home hopes. With neither of them having ever made it past the 4th round of a Grand Slam, the prize was too great to ignore. Wawrinka's first serve failed to fire in the seventh game of the fourth set and Querrey stepped inside the court and piled the pressure on the Swiss who made three straight unforced errors to lose serve. It was all Querrey needed to clinch the set and send the match into a fifth and final set.

In a very fitting end to the match, the deciding game came in the tenth when Querrey was serving to stay in the match at 4-5. The Swiss set up a first match point with a sizzling forehand down the line passing shot, but Querrey came up with a big serve to the backhand to save the moment. But then he made an expensive mistake, dumping an easy forehand volley into the net. This time Wawrinka took the opportunity with a volley that was beyond the American's reach to clinch the match and advance to a quarter-final against Mikhail Youzhny. It will be interesting to see if the Swiss can cope with the Russian after the physical exertion of his matches against Murray and Querrey.

Even more fitting was the final point between the two Spaniards - Verdasco and Ferrer. Ferrer executed a drop shot that seemed out of reach for Verdasco, but he sprinted from behind the baseline to reach the ball inches from the ground before hooking a forehand around the net post up the line. It was arguably the best point of the tournament to end the finest match of this US Open. He fell on his back relieved that his battle for survival had finally come to an end. It was the thirteenth time that the 8th seed had won a five set encounter, advancing to a second straight quarter-final at the US Open.

Verdasco fell behind early in the match after losing the first two sets of his match with Ferrer. It was slim margins, but enough to put the tenth seed on the brink of a quarter-final berth. But then Verdasco unleashed the best of his forehand strokes to neutralise Ferrer's advantage and take control of the next two sets.

The thriller got even better in the final set, when Verdasco was trailing by a break. At 4-2 with the match on his racquet, Ferrer failed to hold serve in the seventh game - Verdasco was aggressive throughout the match and the rasping forehand winner that clinched the break was bleeding with the enormous power of the world No. 8, who delighted in producing such a high quality winner to bring the set back on level terms. Just for effect or so it seemed, Verdasco fell behind yet again in the final set tie-break. But trailing 1-4, he reeled off six straight points to finally put the match to bed with that exquisite winner that will stay in the memory of those electrified by that stroke for a long time to come. In typically Spanish style, "Just fighting," Verdasco said. "And don't think too much about first two sets and just trying all the time."

India's Rohan Bopanna partnered Pakistan's Aisam Ul-Haq Qureshi to defeat the No. 10th seeded pair of Wesley Moodie and Dick Norman 7-5, 7-6(2) to advance to the semi-finals of the men's doubles event. They will meet the all Argentine pairing of Eduardo Schwank and Horacio Zeballos in the last 4. The other semi-final will see the top seeded Bryan brothers take on the 12th seeded Spanish pair of Marcel Granollers and Tommy Robredo.

Wednesday will bring the fans to the stadium in droves as Roger Federer answers a few questions about whether he can survive the barrage of shots from Robin Soderling to keep his hopes of a sixth title alive. The No. 3 seed Novak Djokovic will take on the mercurial Frenchman Gael Monfils to complete the semi-final line-up from the bottom half of the draw.

Results

Singles - Fourth Round
[1] R Nadal (ESP) vs [23] F Lopez (ESP) 63 64 64
[8] F Verdasco (ESP) d [10] D Ferrer (ESP) 57 67(8) 63 63 76(4)
[12] M Youzhny (RUS) d T Robredo (ESP) 75 62 46 64
[25] S Wawrinka (SUI) d [20] S Querrey (USA) 76(9) 67(5) 75 46 64

Doubles - Quarter-finals
[1] B Bryan (USA) / M Bryan (USA) d [9] M Fyrstenberg (POL) / M Matkowski (POL) 63 75
E Schwank (ARG) / H Zeballos (ARG) d [5] L Kubot (POL) / O Marach (AUT) 63 76(3)
[16] R Bopanna (IND) / A Qureshi (PAK) d [10] W Moodie (RSA) / D Norman (BEL) 75 76(2)
[12] M Granollers (ESP) / T Robredo (ESP) d [14] S Aspelin (SWE) / P Hanley (AUS) 64 76(7)

File Photograph Copyright: Madrid Masters