Federer Win Over Tsonga Sets Up Saturday Showdown With Djokovic in U.S. Open Semis
Roger Federer of Switzerland, a five-time U.S. Open champion, held off the 11th-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France in straights sets Thursday night under the lights at Arthur Ashe Stadium, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3, to advance to the semifinals. Their quarterfinal match was delayed by rain for more than 90 min. after its 7:00 p.m. start time, with Federer still putting Tsonga off with a victory. This will be Federer’s eight straight year in the semis at the U.S. Open.
Awaiting Federer is the top-seeded Serbian Novak Djokovic for a Saturday afternoon, Sept. 10 semifinals showdown. This will mark the fifth consecutive year Federer and Djokovic will play each other at the U.S. Open, with Federer holding a 3-1 record to date against Djokovic.
In last night’s matchup, Tsonga was down two sets to Federer in the 2011 Wimbledon quarterfinals. Tsonga battled back to win the next three sets to upset Federer where this would be the first time that Federer lost a Grand Slam match after being up two sets to none. Last night, Federer had his revenge.
"It’s pretty straightforward, you know. I think we’re both going to play aggressive," said Federer of his semifinal opponent, Djokovic. "He’s moving well for years now and has taken his game up to a bit of a higher level. When we do play against each other, it’s always exciting. We have great rallies against each other. I like playing against him because it’s a battle of the baseline. He’s been having an amazing season so far, so it’s a challenge right now in the men’s game, and that’s what I like."
Credit all photos to Kenneth B. Goldberg
France’s Jo Wilfried-Tsonga, the 11th seed, was defeated under the lights at Arthur Ashe Stadium Thursday night by Roger Federer of Switzerland
Roger Federer’s Thursday night win sets up a Saturday afternoon semifinals showdown with top-seeded Serbian Novak Djokovic
