Five-time champion Roger Federer set up a US Open quarter-final blockbuster against eccentric French star Gael Monfils on Tuesday as the hugely hyped new generation once again flopped.
Second seed Federer reached his 10th US Open quarter-final in the past 11 years with a comfortable 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 win over Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut, while Monfils, the 20th seed, reached his second New York last-eight by stunning seventh-seeded Grigor Dimitrov 7-5, 7-6 (8/6), 7-5.
Federer, a 17-time major winner, leads Monfils 7-2 in career meetings, including their most recent clash in Cincinnati last month.
Photo: AFP
Federer was barely troubled by Bautista Agut, the 17th seed who was trying to make a Grand Slam quarter-final for the first time.
He broke in the third and fifth games for a 4-1 lead and despite surrendering one of the breaks in the eighth game, two successive aces sealed the opening set and there was no looking back for the 33-year-old.
Crowd favorite Monfils overcame a dramatic loss of composure in the second set to reach his second US Open quarter-final, four years after his first.
Photo: AFP
“It’s my first-ever win on the Ashe stadium, which is great,” said Monfils, who turned 28 on Monday and whose best performance at a major remains his run to the semi-finals at the 2008 French Open, where he was defeated by Federer.
Wimbledon semi-finalist Dimitrov, 23, was hoping to reach his third quarter-final at the majors this year, but despite occasional breathtaking shot-making, he was undone by 38 unforced errors.
Monfils, who has not dropped a set at the tournament, raced through the first set on the back of a break for a 6-5 lead.
The Frenchman was another break to the good at 4-2 in the second before he got embroiled in a brief war of words over distractions on the court.
Still seething, the Parisian surrendered a break point by not returning the ball in the eighth game.
However, he bounced back in impressive style, saving two set points in the tiebreak before winning four points in a row to open a two sets to love lead.
Czech sixth seed Tomas Berdych reached the quarter-finals with a 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 win over Austria’s Dominic Thiem.
Berdych, a semi-finalist in 2012, saved seven break points in the first set against the 20-year-old Austrian, but it was plain sailing after that mini-scare as he wrapped up victory in just 98 minutes.
He is next to tackle Croatia’s Marin Cilic for a place in the semi-finals, after the 14th-seeded Croatian reached his third US Open quarter-final with a 5-7, 7-6 (7/3), 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win over France’s Gilles Simon.
The quarter-finals in the top half of the draw were scheduled to take place yesterday, with world No. 1 Novak Djokovic to take on fellow former champion Andy Murray and Australian Open winner Stan Wawrinka to face Kei Nishikori of Japan.
Nishikori is the first Japanese man since Zenzo Shimidzu in 1922 to reach the quarter-finals.
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