Federer finally finds route back on track: Lopez
NEW YORK — This was Roger Federer at his hard-to-beat best, a performance so unlike the pair of uncomfortable five-setters he labored through to begin the U.S. Open.
Federer’s back looked just fine, his movement precise, his strokes absolutely on-point. It all added up to a straightforward 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 victory over 31st-seeded Feliciano Lopez in the third round at Flushing Meadows that lasted all of 106 minutes under the roof in Arthur Ashe Stadium on a rainy Saturday night.
The most telling statistic was that the thirdseeded Federer was guilty of 16 unforced errors, which is not merely a remarkably low total on its own merits but also significant when viewed through the prism provided by his matches earlier in the week. He averaged 62 errors in each of those outings, against 19-year-old American Frances Tiafoe and 35year-old Russian Mikhail Youzhny.
That was the first time in Federer’s career that he opened a Grand Slam tournament with two consecutive matches that lasted five sets.
More relevant numbers: Federer was broken eight times total in those matches, but only once against Lopez.
Next comes a match against 33rd-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber, who beat John Millman 7-5, 6-2, 6-4. Federer’s headto-head record against Kohlschreiber is 11-0.
Looming further down the road is a possible semifinal matchup against No. 1 Rafael Nadal, Federer’s longtime rival. They have never met at the U.S. Open.
Nadal won earlier Saturday, although for the second match in a row, he needed to shake off a poor opening set that he dropped. Nadal advanced, though, defeating Leonardo Mayer of Argentina 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 to get to the fourth round.
“I overcame a tough situation today. That’s very positive for me. I am very happy about this,” Nadal said. “I know I cannot play very well always, and not the whole match.”
In women’s play, Karolina Pliskova kept alive her chance to win the Open and keep her No. 1 ranking thanks to a big comeback.
Pliskova fought off a match point in the second set and rallied to beat No. 27 Shuai Zhang of China 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to advance to the fourth round.
The runner-up last year needs to at least return to the final for a chance to remain atop the rankings when the year’s final major tournament is over.
Wimbledon champion Garbiñe Muguruza and No. 4 seed Elina Svitolina are the other women who can still get to No. 1. Svitolina advanced to the round of 16 with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over American Shelby Rogers, who won the longest women’s match in U.S. Open history Thursday when she beat No. 25 Daria Gavrilova in 3 hours, 33 minutes.
This one went 1:33, ending when Svitolina’s forehand hit the tape and barely fell over the net onto Rogers’ side.