Western and Southern Open 2015: Saturday Tennis Scores, Results, Latest Schedule

The tennis gods were smiling on Cincinnati Saturday, with four semifinal matches featuring a headline-worthy showdown between Roger Federer and Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic on the verge of another title and Serena Williams looking to keep her strong play going. 

Djokovic got the biggest scare of the higher seeds, needing to win a second-set tiebreaker and third set against Alexandr Dolgopolov to earn his spot in the final. He will get a matchup with Roger Federer in the championship, after FedEx knocked off Andy Murray in straight sets.  

Williams continued her strong rebound with another straight-set victory over Elina Svitolina in her semifinal match. The top-ranked female player has now reached her fifth tournament final this year, winning each of the first four. 

Tennis is a humbling sport, as Williams found out last week at the Rogers Cup against Belinda Bencic, so for Djokovic to hang in long enough for the win, all the drama is set up for something special on Sunday. 

Saturday Results

Men's Semifinals	Score
Women's Semifinals	Score/Start Time (ET)
No. 1 Novak Djokovic def. Alexandr Dolgopolov	4-6, 7-6, 6-2
No. 2 Roger Federer def. No. 3 Andy Murray	6-4, 7-6
No. 1 Serena Williams def. No. 14 Elina Svitolina	6-4, 6-3
No. 3 Simona Halep def. Jelena Jankovic	6-1, 6-2

Championship Schedule

Men's Final	Start Time (ET)	Network
Women's Final	Start Time (ET)	Network
No.1 Novak Djokovic vs. No. 2 Roger Federer	1 p.m.	ESPN2
No. 1 Serena Williams vs. Simona Halep-Jelena Jankovic Winner	3 p.m.	ESPN2

Recap

Williams struggled last week against Bencic, eventually losing in three sets, so it was good to see her win this match playing at less than her best. The 33-year-old had a 9-8 aces-double faults ratio against Svitolina. 

Even with some brief hiccups, Williams made sure to end the match in style, via WTA:

The fact Williams won is hardly a surprise considering she is playing on hard surface. She doesn't lose under those circumstances, per ESPN Stats & Info:

Of course, Williams doesn't lose a lot, period. She's got a 44-2 match record in 2015 and has four singles titles, three are majors. 

Williams has mastered the art of finding her game after starting slow. She's become so effective at doing it, no one thinks she will lose even if she drops the first set and falls down a couple of games in the second set. 

It takes a rare, special talent to reach those heights. Williams has earned that right through her performance, especially in 2015 which could end up being her best year ever depending on what happens at the U.S. Open. 

Djokovic's performance against Dolgopolov immediately raises some eyebrows. Everyone is entitled to have an off day, but being the top-ranked player does carry a level of cache in which every match will be scrutinized. 

This was certainly not a vintage Djokovic performance. He had six double-faults, won his first service games 64 percent of the time, had 40 unforced errors and missed saving two break points in the first set. 

There may be an explanation for Djokovic's performance, per Live Tennis on Twitter:

"

Djokovic looks like he might be having a problem with his stomach. Trainer summoned. pic.twitter.com/eojR6fJrMM

— Live Tennis (@livetennis) August 22, 2015"

Dolgopolov had a chance to win the match, up 5-4 in the second-set tiebreak, but he couldn't put Djokovic away. 

Now, with Djokovic in the final against Federer, everything starts from scratch. These two future Hall of Famers know each other very well, having met four times in 2015 and 40 times in their storied careers. 

Djokovic has won three of the four matchups this year, but the overall series is tied 20-20. ESPN Tennis did provide an illuminating stat that could make all the difference for Federer on Sunday:

"

Federer downs Murray in straights to reach Cincinnati final where he'll face Djokovic. Records in Cincy finals: Federer 6-0 Djokovic 0-4

— ESPNTennis (@ESPNTennis) August 22, 2015"

The other reason Federer should be optimistic is he's looked better than Djokovic on Saturday against a more difficult opponent. There was nothing wrong with the way Murray played in the loss, firing nine aces with no double bogeys on serve, but Federer was tremendous in the return game. 

Ben Rothenberg of the New York Times even compared some of the things Federer was doing to a video-game character:

There always seems to be an expectation that Federer will slow down. He just turned 34 on August 8, making him ancient by normal tennis standards, yet small wrinkles and developments in his game have allowed him to maintain his game. 

Djokovic is a better player at this point in their respective careers, but Federer has been better in this tournament. He hasn't dropped a set in the first four matches, while Djoker has been taken to the three-set limit twice. 

Ideally, Djokovic and Federer will be healthy and playing their best tennis because a matchup between the top two men's players in the sport is often epic.