ROGER FEDERER, STAN WAWRINKA ON COLLISION COURSE FOR 2015 U.S. OPEN TENNIS SEMIFINALS PICKS & POSSIBILITIES BY RICKY DIMON

Written by: on 8th September 2015
US Open Tennis
ROGER FEDERER, STAN WAWRINKA ON COLLISION COURSE FOR 2015 U.S. OPEN TENNIS SEMIFINALS PICKS & POSSIBILITIES BY RICKY DIMON

epa04918874 Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland hits a return to Donald Young of the US during their match on the eighth day of the 2015 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 07 September 2015. The US Open runs through 13 September, which is a return to a 14-day schedule. EPA/ANDREW GOMBERT  |

An all-Swiss showdown at the U.S. Open is potentially one round away. But first, Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka must contest their respective quarterfinal matches on Wednesday in Flushing Meadows. Federer is facing Richard Gasquet and Wawrinka is going up against familiar foe Kevin Anderson.

 

Previews and picks of the two men’s matchups:

(12) Richard Gasquet vs. (2) Roger Federer

Federer and Gasquet will be squaring off for the 17th time in their careers when they meet in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open on Wednesday. The head-to-head series stands at 14-2 in favor of Federer, who has won 14 of their last 15 showdowns and each of their last six. In fact, the Swiss has not dropped a set to Gasquet since the Frenchman prevailed in a third-set tiebreaker on the clay courts of Rome in 2011. Their last 12 sets–all in favor of Federer–have resulted in scorelines of 6-2, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4, 6-3, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2, and 6-1. The two veterans have faced each other twice in the last 10 months, with Federer dominating a Davis Cup final rubber before getting a second-set retirement from Gasquet earlier this season in Dubai.

 

Gasquet certainly is not catching his opponent at the right time in hopes of ending this recent stretch of futility. Federer, after all, is playing better tennis than anyone right now. The 17-time Grand Slam champion rolled to the Cincinnati title last month and he has not dropped a set this fortnight while taking out Leonardo Mayer, Steve Darcis, Philipp Kohlschreiber, and John Isner.

 

Gasquet is also in fine form, albeit not to the same extent. The world No. 12 has put himself in World Tour Finals contention thanks to a semifinal showing at Wimbledon, a quarterfinal performance in Cincinnati, and now this in Flushing Meadows. Gasquet got a fifth-set retirement from Thanasi Kokkinakis before raising his level to see off Robin Haase, Bernard Tomic, and Tomas Berdych.

 

“I’m not sure if I’ve seen Gasquet play as well as he has right now,” Federer assessed. “I really like the way he played in Wimbledon, and also now here. I haven’t seen that much. But the match I saw that he played against Stan and Novak (Djokovic) at Wimbledon was impressive. He had a good attitude. He was fighting. Good shot selection. Now he’s backing it up.”

 

The underdog has the baseline firepower to trouble Federer every now and then, but a merely decent serve will not allow him to hold often enough to make this one especially competitive. As Isner learned on Monday, dropping serve even once against Federer these days is a free ticket out of New York.

Pick: Federer in 3

 

(5) Stan Wawrinka vs. (15) Kevin Anderson

Earlier this summer on the grass courts of Wimbledon, Anderson came within one set of upsetting Novak Djokovic and reaching the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career. Instead, Djokovic roared back from a two-set deficit to prevail in five and ultimately capture the title. On Monday at the U.S. Open, there would be no blown two-set advantage for Anderson. The 6’8” South African held off Andy Murray 7-6(5), 6-3, 6-7(2), 7-6(0) to finally punch a ticket to the last eight of a major. A red-hot Anderson has now won nine matches in a row since getting double-breadsticked by Federer in Cincinnati. He captured the Winston-Salem title then kicked things off in New York with victories over Andrey Rublev, Austin Krajicek, and Dominic Thiem.

 

Up next for Anderson on Wednesday is an eighth career meeting with Wawrinka. The head-to-head series has taken a drastic turn of late, with Wawrinka winning the first three only to lose four in a row. All four of the world No. 14’s wins have come since the start of the 2014 campaign, including most recently via a 7-6(4), 7-6(11) decision at Queen’s Club.

 

“It’s going to be the first time at a major,” Anderson said of the head-to-head history. “Obviously I’ve played him a few times now; had some success against him the last few times we’ve played. Very close matches. I mean, Paris last year, he served for the match. I was able to come through and get that. At Queen’s this year it was two tiebreak sets, so very close.”

 

Wawrinka earned a place in the quarters by taking out Albert Ramos-Vinolas, Hyeon Chung, Ruben Bemelmans, and Donald Young. Needless to say, nobody else in the entire tournament has enjoyed a better draw. That is exactly what the fifth-ranked Swiss needed, too, following disappointments in Montreal and Cincinnati. This is a steep step up in competition for Wawrinka against an opponent who quite simply has his number.

Pick: Anderson in 4

 

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

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