US Open Tennis 2012 Draw: Semifinal Clashes We Would Love to See

While we wait for the draw of the U.S. Open to be released on Thursday, it's not too soon to start fantasizing about some dream matchups for my favorite round of the Grand Slam tournaments, the semifinals.

Sure, the finals get all of the hype, and other rounds have their merits. But nothing consistently showcases top talents doing battle for both genders quite like the semifinal rounds. 

Let's take a look at the most intriguing possibilities for semifinals.

Men's Draw

The dream final for the men's final is suddenly a matchup between Andy Murray and Roger Federer. Federer, of course, beat Murray to win Wimbledon, but Murray avenged that loss on the same court by winning gold over Federer at the Olympics.

But seeing them face off in the semifinals would be just as good.

As would any match that includes Novak Djokovic, who needs to capitalize on Rafael Nadal's absence from the tournament and take home his second Grand Slam of the year. It's likely there will be at least one semifinal featuring a match between two of these three men.

And that's the one I'll be sure I don't miss.

Women's Draw 

In one match, I want to pit the WTA's two most powerful hitters, Serena Williams and Petra Kvitova. I was expecting more from Kvitova this year and would love to see her regain some of her 2011 magic.

And Williams is having an epic 2012, with five singles titles including a Wimbledon championship, and of course her gold medals in the singles and doubles tournaments at the London Games. Kvitova versus Serena is a dream semifinal to me.

And how about a rematch from the Australian Open final in the other semifinal, with Victoria Azarenka facing Maria Sharapova? I know what you're thinking—LOUDEST MATCH EVER—but hey, at least you can crack jokes about it on Twitter.

Plus, I'm intrigued to see how long Azarenka can hold her top ranking, and whether Sharapova can maintain the form this year that saw her return to the WTA's elite.

It should be noted I would also love to see Maria Kirilenko advance as far in this tournament as possible, but I would be lying if I said that wish extended beyond, shall we say, shallow reasons.

Go get 'em, Maria!

Hit me up on Twitter—my tweets are cracking like a Ronda Rousey armbar.