Nadal, Federer stay on track for epic semifinal
They nearly bumped into each other — one leaving, one coming. Seemingly soon enough, they will be entering at the same time. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal remained on track for what appears for now to be an inevitable semifinal matchup at the U.S. Open, as each of the top two seeds was victorious Saturday in consecutive matches in Arthur Ashe Stadium. The top-seeded Nadal had a bit of a tougher time but pushed through to beat unheralded qualifier Leonardo Mayer, 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-1, 6-4. The match was the final one of the afternoon session, starting late and ending later with a handful of games going well over 10 minutes. It didn’t turn until Nadal finally converted on his 14th break point in the second set, running away from there. “You need matches like this,” said Nadal, who moves on to play Alexandr Dolgopolov in the fourth round. “Now I have the opportunity to compete again, to try to do it well. I am in the second week. That’s the important thing.” Federer had struggled early in this tournament while dealing with a lingering back issue but seemingly has hit his stride, coming in at night to dismantle No. 31 seed, Feliciano Lopez, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5. Federer, 36, needed five sets to win his first two matches, but the five-time Open winner and all-time leader with 19 Grand Slam titles now moves on to play No. 33 Philipp Kohlschreiber in the next round. “It’s always a great feeling to play out here,” Federer said on the court after the match, this being his first time playing under the roof after missing last year’s tournament with an injury. “Usually I play very well.”
This year’s men’s draw has been defined by all the big names who are missing due to injury, including Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka and Kei Nishikori. That has left Nadal and Federer to carry the load as the main attractions, but being on the same side of the bracket would make the most interesting match of the tournament come in the semifinal.
“I’m going to be very honest — I don’t think about that,” Nadal said. “I just think about my next match. I just think about [trying] to play well. Don’t think about who is there, who is not there.
“The end of the day, if I play well, I [am] going to have my chances to fight for things. If not, I will not. So doesn’t matter, the names.”
The 31-year-old Nadal collected his record 10th French Open title back in May and is looking for his third U.S. Open title, the most recent coming in 2013. In order to do that, he wasn’t thinking about a possible matchup against Federer or the field as a whole.
“I don’t feel extra pressure because some good names or good players are not here,” Nadal said. “My pressure [is] always the same. The motivation that I have to do it well in an event that I love, that I played well in the past, and I always had a great connection with the crowd, that’s my pressure. The rest of the things, I don’t think much about this.”
It wasn’t long ago when the thought of another epic Federer-Nadal match in a major tournament was farfetched, as Federer had not won a Grand Slam since the 2012 Wimbledon. But as could have been expected, the elegant Swiss master is going into the twilight of his career with grace and a few more moments of excellence. He won the Australian Open and Wimbledon earlier this season — he didn’t play in the French Open due to his back injury — and wants to make it 3-for-3 this season in the Grand Slams with another win in Flushing.
If that’s going to happen, odds are he’s going to have to go through Nadal — again — and tennis’ fortnight in New York will hit its peak one match before the final.