In a battle of superb serving, Federer moves on
NEW YORK – As the holiday weekend came to an end on Monday night, Roger Federer and John Isner labored through a three-setter in which neither managed to break until Federer finally did so in the final game.
Federer moves on to the quarterfinal with the 7-6, 7-6, 7-5 win.
The 17-time Grand Slam champion has not lost to an American at the U.S. Open since Andre Agassi beat him in the fourth round in 2001. Overall, he’s now 14-1 against them. The the fourth round, more than any, has been Federer’s nemesis in New York. He’s lost four times in this round – but most of those came early in his career.
At 1-all in the second set, Isner stood at the baseline, banging his racket into the ground. He was clearly frustrated. Federer took the advantage, then Isner erased it with an ace. It was Federer’s fifth missed break point opportunity. Seven points later, Isner closed out the game with a towering forehand volley at the net. It was the first true battle of the match.
In the next game, Isner earned his first chance to break, at 0-40. But less than a minute later, Federer had taken the game to deuce. Six points later, a Federer forehand caught Isner moving cross court. He tossed his racket behind him, but there was nothing to do. The match went to 2-2. Isner had another shot to break at 4-3, but again failed to convert his two opportunities.
Isner built a 5-3 lead in the second tiebreak, but Federer came roaring back. At 7-6, he hit a blistering forehand that barely caught the line. Isner challenged. The call stood. With a two-set lead, Federer had control of the match. Isner had only once won a match in which he dropped the first two sets.
Federer served 17 aces, Isner served 19. Both men double faulted once. Isner's serve reached 140mph, while Federer's came in at 124mph. Federer hit 55 winners, Isner 53. The match was even in so many ways. But in unforced errors, Isner had more than double Federer's 16.
"That first set is always going to be key, especially in a serving contest," Federer said. "I think especially the second one was massive just because I wasn't feeling that good going into the second-set tiebreaker like I was going into the first. I had to fight off some tough serves. I thought John was going really big then, like with some massive pace. It was just tough, you know."
"I think confidence helped me to get through that one. Then the break clearly was nice. But I kind of felt it was coming. He was maybe not having as much energy anymore. But still it was nice to break and win at the same time."
Federer has not dropped a set in this tournament. He'll next face No. 12 Richard Gasquet, who upset No. 6 Tomas Berdych, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 shortly before Federer wrapped up his own win.
"I feel like this could be one of the tougher Gasquets I've played in previous years, so I expect it to be difficult," Federer said. "I'm not sure if I've seen maybe Gasquet play as well as he has right now."
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Danielle Elliot is a writer for Yahoo Sports. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.
