The men kicked off the semifinals action at the Western and Southern Open on Saturday in vastly contrasting styles. World No. 1 Novak Djokovic would continue seeking that elusive Cincinnati Masters to complete a career Masters set.

Elusive was almost the watchword of the day as Alexandr Dolgopolov made sure that his swiftness of approach caught Novak Djokovic by surprise, swiftly building up an advantage and earning glares of consternation to his box.

Things were not helped by a particularly boisterous fan calling out just prior to Dolgopolov’s serves, earning a stiff rebuke by umpire Carlos Bernardes, who reminded him that the good people in the crowd had come to watch the tennis and not listen to him. Either way, to be honest this 4-6 7-6 6-2 victory was the epitome of winning ugly, even by Djokovic’s own admission.

“I managed to dig deep and refused to give up. That's how I won,” said Djokovic. “Basically last 16 match against Goffin, and that's how I won today. Very similar matches in terms of quality of tennis from my side. I was not very happy the way I played. But, again, a win is a win. I managed to do that because I was all the time there fighting.”

As the baton was passed to Andy Murray and Roger Federer to conclude the line up for tomorrow’s final, we expected a very different match. We were not to be disappointed, for the pair set a cracking pace. What caught our eye was Federer’s new trick of standing well inside the baseline for second serves.

Federer explained, “I did it in practice more as a joke, and I tried it again and again and again, and it just seems like it's not that hard for me to do. Plus, it makes you play very committed. Up there, is no room for not being committed, otherwise you'll lose the point every single time.  It's very much all about timing and reaction.

“It was fun for me today. I've still got to understand when I can do it and when I should and shouldn't do it.  But it can break somebody's rhythm. Maybe it can play with the mind a little bit.”

This felt like a more competitive encounter than their Wimbledon battle, maybe because Federer’s serving was good but not as obliterating as it had been that summer’s day in London. Still, the Swiss prevailed 6-4 7-6(6) without dropping his serve.

Murray will now head to New York knowing that the US Open seeding situation is out of his hands, since Federer needs to defend his title to claim the No. 2 seed.

In the evening came the women, as Serena Williams overcame a feisty start by Elina Svitolina to eventually prevail. It is probably not worth reading too much into this, but Williams has been troubled on and off by an elbow injury that has hampered her serving, and she admitted the other day that it is in her best interests not to have everything in perfect synchronization this far ahead of New York.

She noted, “I’ve felt better, but I'm in the final playing the way I've played, so I feel like I'm okay with that.  I know I can play so much better. Some matches I've played better here, and I really felt the connection and that was really good to feel.”

Rounding out the day was Simona Halep comfortably dispatching Jelena Jankovic, who probably just ran out of steam. With her advancement to the final, in light of Maria Sharapova’s withdrawal, Halep is projected to pass her for the world No. 2 ranking and US Open seeding.

The Western and Southern Open finals will start with the men at 1pm.