World No 1 Roger Federer has had all the testing he wants
heading into the US Open quarterfinals even if next opponent Andy
Roddick cannot say the same.
Roger Federer of
Switzerland yells after winning the second set against Feliciano
Lopez of Spain during their match at the US Open tennis tournament
in Flushing Meadows, New York on Monday. Federer won the match 3-6,
6-4, 6-1, 6-4. (Reuters)
The 26-year-old Swiss star, battling for a 12th Grand Slam title
and fourth US Open crown in a row, beat Spain's Feliciano Lopez
3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-4 on Monday to reach a rematch of last year's US
Open final against US fifth seed Roddick.
Federer, who also dropped his first set against US giant John
Isner in the third round, could have done very well without another
challenge from 60th-ranked Lopez, whom he has beaten in all five
career meetings.
"I thought I was pushed against Isner. I really didn't need
another match," Federer said. "When you do lose a set you start to
wonder, 'Maybe this is the night it's not going to work out for
me.'"
Lopez, Federer's first foe of the fortnight ranked above 120th,
said there is a huge gap between the rest of the best and the man
at the top.
"Everything, the way he hits the ball and the way he moves, it's
special," Lopez said. "Everybody plays good tennis in the world,
but compared to Roger, something is missing."
What has been missing for Roddick are victories. The only one he
managed was in a 2003 Montreal semi-final. He has lost nine ATP
matches in a row to Federer including an Australian Open semifinal
in January and last year's final here.
"I hope I'm going to win but I don't expect myself to win. I
know the danger of Andy," Federer said.
"I've had some difficult quarterfinal matches over the years.
I'm in great shape and moving great. Mentally I'm doing well. I'm
ready for a great match."
Roddick has never met Federer so early in a Slam and not in any
event since 2001 and 2002 in Basel on Federer's home soil.
"You feel the extra weight of most big matches. That's just the
way it is," Roddick said. "But I'm excited. I expect a lot of
myself. I don't think anybody else really expects much from me. I'm
excited about the opportunity."
Roddick, coached by five-time US Open winner Jimmy Connors, has
won two of his four matches this week on retirements, playing only
an hour Monday before Czech ninth seed Tomas Berdych quit and sent
Roddick to practice for an hour.
"I haven't been tested much this tournament so far. I haven't
really played a long extended match," Roddick said. "This is a lot
better than being dead tired. Given the two options, I'll take this
one."
Two retirements could disrupt Roddick's mental readiness for
Federer, but then again, maybe not.
"You could say I could be fresh mentally or maybe I haven't been
freaking out enough over the past two weeks," Roddick said. It's
kind of out of my hands. I'm going to just focus on the task at
hand."
Roddick has his plans for defeating the Swiss maestro, provided
Federer gives him a chance to use them.
"Strategy matters but you have to have your strategy and then
you have to be able to execute it," Roddick said.
"A big thing against Roger is making sure you get something on
your approach shot. If he is set he is going to take a swing at it
and he's going to hit it more often than not."
No US man has won a Slam since the 2003 US Open triumph by
Roddick some 16 Slams ago. The longest US men's Slam drought is the
17 between John McEnroe's 1984 US Open victory and Michael Chang's
1989 French Open crown.
Teenage tide stemmed
Former champion Svetlana Kuznetsova moved smoothly into the Open
quarterfinals on Monday, profitting from a bottom half of the
women's draw that has been blown wide open.
The 22-year-old Russian, who was an upset US Open winner in
2004, defeated fast-rising 18-year-old Victoria Azarenka of Belarus
6-2, 6-3.
Next up is another 18-year-old in the shape of Agnes Szavay of
Hungary, who defeated Julia Vakulenko of Ukraine 6-4, 7-6 (7/1) in
another early fourth-round tie.
Also through to her second Grand Slam quarter-final went
Israel's Shahar Peer, who defeated defending champion Maria
Sharapova's conquerer, Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland.
Peer won comfortably 6-4, 6-1 and will play Russian sixth seed
Anna Chakvetadze who saw off 16-year-old Austrian prodigy Tamira
Paszek 6-1, 7-5.
Kuznetsova is the highest-ranking player left in a lopsided
lower section of the draw which has seen the early departures of
defending champion and second seed Maria Sharapova and seventh seed
Nadia Petrova, both Russians.
In contrast, the top half contains most of the big names with
the quarterfinals already set opposing top seed Justine Henin
against Serena Williams and third seed Jelena Jankovic against
Venus Williams.
(China Daily via AFP September 5, 2007)
