By Bill Scott Sep 3, 2008, 3:22 GMT
New York - Roger Federer kept his mindset strictly business as he fought out of an early deficit to emerge a five-set winner into the quarter-finals of the US Open over underdog Russian Igor Andreev on Tuesday.
The Swiss second seed calmly engineered a great escape to post a 6-6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, 6-3 win in three and a half hours over a man he last faced in 2004.
'Being down a set and in a tiebreak in the second set, obviously, there's danger written all over that situation,' the defending champion said. 'But there's not really that much time to waste thinking about that kind of stuff.'
'You just hope that it's going to turn your way - it did, so I'm happy,' Federer added.
The Swiss second seed desperately wants to lift a major title after a season plagued by viral illness and losses in the Paris and Wimbledon finals.
He found himself in a battle with a clay ace ranked 23rd and playing just his ninth match in New York. Federer notched his 31st consecutive match at the tournament he has won for the last four editions.
'I expected a tough one,' said the 12-time Grand Slam holder, 42-4 in New York. 'You always get ready for five-setters, they're fun when you play them.
'Sometimes they're hard physically and mentally and the pressure is huge on me - Igor doesn't have a whole lot to lose.
'For me it's way worse, so I'm very happy with the way we competed tonight,' he added.
Federer had to wrap up the victory by saving four break points for a 5-2 lead in the fifth. He neatly split his winners (67) and unforced errors (50).
Third-seeded Novak Djokovic overcame fitness dramas including ankle, hip, stomach and breathing problems to advance in another thriller, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 over Tommy Robredo.
Andy Rodick, 2003 champion, set up a date with Djokovic by beating Chile's Fernando Gonzalez 6-2, 6-4, 6-1.
Djokovic, never noted as a towering physical specimen, looked fragile at the end of the nearly four-hour marathon, leaning heavily on the net and breathing hard.
'I didn't feel well from the moment I stepped on the court,' said the 2007 finalist. 'I had less energy in the tank.'
'I really tried to forget about that. I had to take a medical timeout a couple of times, go to the bathroom. I wanted to do everything to win.'
Djokovic was seen by the trainer several times and also by the tournament doctor when the seed complained of an upset stomach. In addition, he nearly rolled his right ankle, was treated on a hip and appeared to be constantly out of breath.
Spain's 15th seed Robredo took the dramatic fourth set into a fifth as he broke Djokovic in the final game after saving three break points a game earlier.
But Djokovic found enough puff in the final stanza to advance on the strength of a break in the fifth game.
'I was not frustrated to go to a fifth set,' said the winner. 'He deserved to win the fourth.
'I didn't know how I was feeling to start the fifth, but I'm happy to get through.'
Luxembourg's 130th-ranked outsider Gilles Muller stunned two-time semi-finalist Nikolay Davydenko 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (12-10) with the Russian smashing all five of his match rackets in utter frustration.
'I just have trouble with my racquet, that's why I broke them all,' he said after going down to outsider Muller. 'I've never done that in my career.'
Elena Dementieva stretched her run of Olympic form, with the Russian gold medallist reaching the women's semi-finals of the 6-2, 6-3 over Patty Schnyder.
The fifth seed will test herself in a bid for a second final at Flushing Meadows against Serb second seed Jelena Jankovic, put out Austrian Sybille Bammer 6-1, 6-4.
Dementieva, who lost the 2004 final to Svetlana Kuznetsova, spent 76 minutes in defeating Schnyder as the Swiss player struck 29 unforced errors.
Dementieva could take over the WTA number one ranking for the first time with a tournament victory. She has won 16 of her last 18 matches dating to Montreal in early August.
'I'm very excited to be in the semis, but I'm sure I need to improve my game and play a better match if I want to go to the final.'
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