David & Richard

In the story of David and Karlovic, top seed David Ferrer slayed the giant Ivo Karlovic 7-6(3), 6-3 to advance to his first final at the Japan Open in his second appearance. He lost in the first round in 2002.

Uncannily, by the exact same scoreline, right down to the points won in the tiebreak, Richard Gasquet upset No. 2 seed Tomas Berdych in a match featuring great rallies and scintillating shotmaking. And as in the other semi, the smaller player overcame the bigger game of his bigger opponent. This will also be Richie's first Japan Open final in his first appearance.

Both players are in the running to qualify for Shanghai. Richie would move into 7th place with a win. He lost to David on clay in Stuttgart back in 2004 the only time they've played. If they both bring their best tennis, this could be a great final. But I got a sense that Richie was a bit tired from his title run in Mumbai last week whereas David has been resting since his US Open semifinal run.