Federer to fight Murray possibly again at US Open semis

 FLUSHING MEADOWS, New York, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Top seed Roger Federer is possibly to meet Britain's Andy Murray again at the US Open semifinal after the duels¹ of Wimbledon and Olympics finals in which the two split victories.

According to Thursday's draw, defending champion Novak Djokovic will avoid Federer and Murray until the final while the Williams sisters could meet in the semifinals if Venus could go through the second round challenge from Germany's sixth-seeded Angelique Kerber, who ousted² Venus at the Olympics and ended the 19-match winning streak³ of Serena last week at Cincinnati.

On the men's side, where Spanish star Rafael Nadal is absent because of continuing knee trouble, the draw set up a possible rematch of the Wimbledon and Olympic finals in the semifinals with Murray and Federer in the same half of the draw.

World No. 1 Federer, who won his 17th Grand Slam title by beating Murray in last month's Wimbledon final, won five US Open titles in a row from 2004 to 2008.

Federer, who will start against American Donald Young, could face Czech sixth seed Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinals while Murray, the third seed who beat Federer for Olympic gold earlier this month at Wimbledon, opens against Russian Alex Bogomolov.

Murray could meet French fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the last eight.

Serbian second seed Djokovic, who opens against Italy's Paolo Lorenzi, could face Argentina's seventh-seeded Juan Martin Del Potro in the quarterfinals and Serb eighth seed Janko Tipsarevic or Spanish fourth seed David Ferrer in the semifinals.

Del Potro, the 2009 US Open champion, opens against compatriot David Nalbandian and could meet 2003 winner Andy Roddick in the round of 16.

"The draw is something you cannot affect. It's luck really. You try to focus on what's in your power. That's how you play. To think about the semifinals is not the best thing at this moment. There are 128 very motivated players," said Djokovic on Thursday.

On the women's side, seven-time Grand Slam winner Venus Williams lurked⁴ as a dangerous unseeded floater and ended up in the same quarter of the draw with Polish second seed Agnieszka Radwanska, the Wimbledon finalist, and her sister Serena.

Russian third seed Maria Sharapova and Belarus top seed Victoria Azarenka went to the opposite half.

Serena, who opens against US rival Coco Vandeweghe in a rematch of last month's Stanford final, might meet Danish eighth seed Caroline Wozniacki in the quarterfinals.

Top seed Azarenka opens against Russia's Alexandra Panova and could meet defending champion Samantha Stosur of Australia in the quarterfinals.

Stosur begins her title defense⁵ against Croatian Petra Martic and would meet a qualifier in round two but could face a fourth-round matchup against China's ninth seed Li Na or three-time US Open winner Kim Clijsters in the Belgian's farewell event.

"The first round of Grand Slams you are always a little nervous for sure," Stosur said. "I'm looking forward to getting out on the court. You have to make sure you don't take anything for granted."

Sharapova, the 2006 US Open champion, opens against Hungary's Melinda Czink and could meet Czech Petra Kvitova in the last eight.

The 2012 U.S. Open will commence Monday in Flushing Meadows.

1 duels   

n.两男子的决斗( duel的名词复数 )；竞争，斗争

参考例句：

• That's where I usually fight my duels. 我经常在那儿进行决斗。” 来自英语晨读30分（初三）
• Hyde Park also became a favourite place for duels. 海德公园也成了决斗的好地方。 来自辞典例句

2 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

3 streak   

n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动

参考例句：

• The Indians used to streak their faces with paint.印第安人过去常用颜料在脸上涂条纹。
• Why did you streak the tree?你为什么在树上刻条纹？

4 lurked   

vi.潜伏，埋伏（lurk的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The murderers lurked behind the trees. 谋杀者埋伏在树后。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Treachery lurked behind his smooth manners. 他圆滑姿态的后面潜伏着奸计。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。