The 2012 US Open
Reuters

The 2012 US Open is down to its last couple of days, with two women and four men left in contention for the final Grand Slam title of the year. The 13th (unlucky for somebody, certainly!) day of tennis will consist of the women's singles final and the men's singles semi-final, along with semi-finals for the junior boys' and girls' sections.

Day 12 Review

The previous day saw two intense matches - the women's singles semi-finals - produce very different score lines.

In the first semi, world number one and top seed Victoria Azarenka, of Belarus, fought her way past third seed and 206 US Open champion Maria Sharapova. The Russian took the opening set 6-3, to spark hopes of what would be a win against the run of recent head-to-head records, but Azarenka rallied to claim the match in three sets; she won 3-6, 6-2, 6-4, in 2 hours and 42 minutes.

Victoria Azarenka
Reuters

The world number one has had the measure of Sharapova in recent games. This win takes her career record against the former champion to 6-4 (she has won the last four matches) and has five consecutive wins on hard courts... a staggering comeback.

Meanwhile, the second semi-final was, as expected, an easy one for fourth seed and firm local favourite Serena Williams. The 30-year-old three-time US Open champion waltzed past 10th seeded Italian Sara Errani 6-1, 6-2, wrapping up the match in 64 minutes.

Day 13 Preview

In the 2012 US Open women's singles final, world number one Victoria Azarenka will take on fourth seed, America's Serena Williams. Both players have been in brilliant form throughout the tournament and we should be in for an absorbing contest.

If Azarenka is not worried about facing Williams, maybe she should be.

Serena Williams
Reuters

The American has been in bone-crushing form since her dominant run to the 2012 Wimbledon Championships and gold in the London Olympics 2012. Based on these performances, it is difficult to see how Azarenka can hope to stop the former world number one. It cannot help the Belarusian that Williams leads them in head-to-head counts... a devastating 9-1 record... and worse still, that solitary win came back in 2009.

Azarenka will face Williams at midnight BST, in the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Also scheduled for the day are the men's singles semi-finals.

The first match will see sixth seed, Czech Tomas Berdych, who fought his way past world number one Roger Federer in the quarter final, take on Great Britain's Andy Murray. The third seeded Wimbledon 2012 finalist (he lost to Federer) and men's singles gold winner in the London Olympics 2012 (where he, rather appropriately, beat Federer), has been in steadily improving form and could be set, in the absence of Federer and Rafael Nadal (out with a knee injury), to claim his first Grand Slam title.

The Scot will have to overcome a poor head-to-head record, though. Berdych leads 4-2 in meetings between the two and has triumphed in both recent encounters. The edge, however, could be that Murray has won two of three times the pair have met on hard courts.

Andy Murray (L) and Novak Djokovic
Reuters

The second semi-final will see second seed and defending champion Novak Djokovic take on fourth seed David Ferrer of Spain. The Serbian top seed is in inspired form this season, having already claimed the French and Australian Open titles and will want the US Open to establish a second consecutive three-slam haul.

The head-to-head record is in the Serb's favour, with Djokovic leading 8-5 since their first meeting in 2007 (incidentally, also at the US Open). The wins have been fairly evenly traded, with the pair exchanging victories throughout their careers. If the sequence is maintained, Djokovic will win; the last time they met, Ferrer beat him.

Where to Watch Live

The 2012 US Open women's singles final and men's singles semi-finals will be broadcast live from 5pm BST on Sky Sports 2 and Sky Sports 2 HD.