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.'
USA
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