Federer Handles Isner for Spot in Quarterfinals

Roger Federer took care of 13th-seeded American John Isner late Monday night, beating Isner 7-6, 7-6, 7-5 to reach the U.S. Open quarterfinals for the 11th time in his career.

This match was much different than the ones Federer had played in his previous matchups in Flushing. He was unable to break Isner’s serve in any of the opening two sets, but raised his level in the two tie-breakers.

He won the first set tie-breaker by winning all seven points in a dominating showing. In the second set tie-breaker, Isner had a chance to square this match up. He was serving at 5-3, but missed an easy overhead volley into the net, missing the chance at a mini-double break.

Federer then showed his brilliant return game to get back a couple of heaters from Isner, nailing the line with a beautiful backhand on his first set point to take the commanding two sets to love lead.

In the third, Federer would secure his only break of the match, but it would turn out to be the only one he needed, as he would move into the quarterfinals with a straight-set win.

“Of course, I think that first set is always going to be key, especially in a serving contest,” said Federer. “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. I picked the right sides. 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 maybe didn’t have as much energy anymore. But still, it was nice to break and win at the same time.”

Federer will take on 12th-seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet with a chance to reach the semifinals.

Gasquet dropped the first set on Monday night, but recovered nicely to dispatch sixth-seed Tomas Berdych 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-1.

“I started bad. I wasn’t feeling confident on the court. But he was playing great,” said Gasquet. “I think the second set was really important for my confidence. I started to return better, serve much better than I was in the start of the match. It was a great match for me and a big victory.”

Federer is 14-2 all-time against Gasquet and has won the last six meetings.

“I'm not sure if I've seen Gasquet play as well as he is right now,” said Federer. “I really like the way he played in Wimbledon, and also now here at the Open. I haven't seen that much. But the match I saw that he played against Stan and Novak at Wimbledon was impressive. He had a good attitude. He was fighting and had a good shot selection.”

Credit all photos to Lee Seidner