The last time Roger Federer and Juan Martin del Potro dueled on Arthur Ashe Stadium, it was the 2009 final. Del Potro claimed a five-set thriller for his lone Grand Slam title and eight years later, Federer will finally have his shot at revenge at the US Open.
The five-time champion set the highly anticipated showdown after dismissing Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-4, 6-2, 7-5 on Monday night. He fired 39 winners, including 11 aces, while converting four of seven break points under the lights on Ashe.
Federer will feature in the quarter-finals in New York for the 12th time in his past 13 appearances, dating back to his maiden title in 2004. The third seed is in fine form after survivng a pair of five-setters to open the tournament, having been pushed the distance by Frances Tiafoe and Mikhail Youzhny. He has since rebounded nicely, not dropping a set in ousting Feliciano Lopez and Kohlschreiber.
Federer did not face a break point during his one-hour and 49-minute victory over Kohlschreiber. They remained on serve through the first six games of the opening set, before Federer broke for 4-3. He would take the opener after 38 minutes and converted two more break chances in the second set. Another break would prove decisive at 5-all in the third, connecting on a backhand winner, and he sealed the win in just under two hours.
After extending his FedEx ATP Head2Head advantage over Youzhny to 17-0 and to 13-0 over Lopez, Federer moved to an impressive 12-0 vs. Kohlschreiber. Against del Potro, he leads 16-5, with their most recent clash having come at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Miami earlier this year. The 36 year old prevailed 6-3, 6-4. Federer will have the fatigue advantage over Del Potro in their quarter-final clash, following the Argentine's stunning five-set, three-hour and 34-minute victory over Dominic Thiem.
The only thing that was concerning about this match was when Roger took a medical time out after easily winning the 1st two sets.
I really hope it was just him trying to sneak a peek at the Delpo/Thiem match and nothing more.
Next one is either gonna be a nail biter, or completely straight forward. Here's hoping it's the latter.
That Delpo vs Thiem match though. I mean.... the man has heart!. And he has won me over in proceeding years. I won't be surprised if he's a bit out of gas after all that though.
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