Most signs point toward Rafa vs. Roger in the U.S. Open final. If that does come to pass, Fernando Verdasco knows who he’d pick. After losing in straight sets to No. 1 Rafael Nadal on yet another semi-miserable, windblown night in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Thursday, Verdasco walked away more impressed by the conditions — and by Roger Federer — than anything Nadal did.

Mikhail Youzhny beat 25th-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka 3-6, 7-6 (7), 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 on Thursday to advance to his second career U.S. Open semifinal. On yet another windy day at Arthur Ashe Stadium, No. 12 Youzhny handled the conditions better. He committed 57 unforced errors to 71 by his opponent. Wawrinka led 1-0 and 2-1 in sets but couldn’t hold the lead either time.

Whether it’s starting a family or starting a business, Kim Clijsters and Venus Williams have figured out how to make life about more than hitting a fuzzy yellow ball. As for that tennis part — well, things are going pretty well there, too. In the featured semifinal at the U.S. Open on Friday, Clijsters tries to stay on track for her second straight title after a 2 1/2 -year layoff during which…

Top-seeded Americans Liezel Huber and Bob Bryan won their second Grand Slam title in mixed doubles Thursday. The pair beat Kveta Peschke of Czech Republic and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan 6-4, 6-4 in the U.S. Open final. Bryan and Qureshi will face each other again Friday in the men’s doubles final, two competitors with much mutual respect.

Mary Joe Fernandez will captain the U.S. Fed Cup team for at least two more years. The U.S. Tennis Association said Thursday that it had extended her contract. Fernandez took over as captain last year and led the Americans to their first final since 2003. The United States faces Italy in this year’s final Nov.

On this evening, certainly, Roger Federer was back to his old self. Back to beating Robin Soderling, and back to being a Grand Slam semifinalist — two things he used to do as a matter of course. Treating the whipping wind and his familiar foe as only slight nuisances, 16-time Grand Slam champion Federer served his way to a convincing 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 victory over the fifth-seeded Soderling in the…

Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki stretched her winning streak to 13 matches by beating 45th-ranked Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 6-2, 7-5 in the U.S. Open quarterfinals Wednesday. Wozniacki, the 2009 runner-up at Flushing Meadows, will face No. 7 Vera Zvonareva in Friday’s semifinals. Playing her usual steady game, retrieving balls and forcing her opponent to hit shot after shot, Wozniacki handled…

The best measure of what India’s Rohan Bopanna and Pakistan’s Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi accomplished at the U.S. Open could be found in the stands, not the scoreline. The doubles team reached the U.S. Open final Wednesday, winning a match that brought the United Nations ambassadors from their long-at-odds countries to Flushing Meadows to sit in the stands together.

No. 7 Vera Zvonareva has moved a win away from her second Grand Slam final of 2010, defeating Kaia Kanepi 6-3, 7-5 at the U.S. Open. Zvonareva won the quarterfinal match by getting balls back and watching her 31st-seeded opponent self-destruct. Kanepi, a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon this year, made 60 unforced errors in windy Arthur Ashe Stadium on Wednesday.

Third-seeded Novak Djokovic beat No. 17 Gael Monfils 7-6 (2), 6-1, 6-2 Wednesday to reach the U.S. Open semifinals for the fourth consecutive year. With swirling wind topping 20 mph in Arthur Ashe Stadium, 2008 Australian Open champion Djokovic was the more aggressive player, and he won the point on 40 of 59 trips to the net.