Two Swiss stars stand one win away from a semi-final showdown, but first they must defeat a pair of players on Wednesday who are coming off Top 10 wins. During the day session, reigning Roland Garros champion Stan Wawrinka faces first-time Grand Slam quarter-finalist Kevin Anderson, who knocked off No. 3 seed Andy Murray in the fourth round. The 15th-seeded Anderson has defeated the fifth-seeded Wawrinka in each of their last four meetings. Then, in primetime, five-time champion Roger Federer continues his quest for an Open Era-record sixth US Open title. The World No. 2 meets 12th-seeded Richard Gasquet, whom he has never lost to on a hard court (8-0). Gasquet is coming off a four-set win over No. 6 seed Tomas Berdych in the fourth round.
Wawrinka has been a model of consistency at Grand Slams, competing in 43 consecutive majors since debuting as a qualifier at Roland Garros in 2005. The 30-year-old Swiss is one of two players to reach the quarter-finals at all four Grand Slam events this season (also Novak Djokovic). In fact, he has advanced to the QFs or better at six major tournaments in a row, eight of the last nine, and nine of the last 11. Prior to reaching the Roland Garros quarters in 2013, Wawrinka had only been part of the ‘Elite Eight’ in two of his first 32 Grand Slam appearances.
In the fourth round, Wawrinka converted all four of his break point opportunities versus Donald Young. He will be hard-pressed to repeat that effort against the 6-foot-8 Anderson, who leads all players with 94 aces at the US Open and has saved 16 of 20 break points overall. Anderson is attempting to defeat two Top 10 players in the same tournament for the first time in his career, failing to do so the first five times he had the chance. Should Anderson beat Wawrinka, he will be the first South African semi-finalist at the US Open since Johan Kriek in 1980. The last South African to reach the semis of any major was Wayne Ferreira at the 2003 Australian Open.
Federer has not dropped a set en route to his 11th US Open quarter-final, highlighted by his 76(0) 76(6) 75 win over John Isner in the fourth round. The first set marked the first time Isner lost a tiebreaker 7-0 on tour (430 career tiebreakers). Federer has all the numbers going for him entering his 17th meeting with Gasquet.
o 6 straight wins (12 straight sets) over Gasquet
o 8-0 in hard-court matches (17-1 in sets) against Gasquet
o 35-2 vs. Frenchmen at Grand Slams since 2001 Australian Open
o 103 holds in 105 service games on hard courts this summer (US Open and Cincinnati combined)
Gasquet has not been ranked in the Top 10 since the week of April 14, 2014, but he’s spent the summer proving that he belongs among the world’s best players. The Frenchman’s win over Berdych on Monday was his third in the last two months over a Top 10 player (3-2 during that run).
o Gasquet d. No. 6 Tomas Berdych 26 63 64 61 in US Open 4R
o Gasquet d. No. 9 Marin Cilic 75 63 in ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati 3R
o Gasquet d. No. 4 Stan Wawrinka 64 46 36 64 11-9 in Wimbledon QF
Looking ahead to Friday’s semi-finals, reigning US Open champion Marin Cilic returns to the ‘Final Four’ at Flushing Meadows with a 12-match tournament winning streak. The No. 9 seed won his second five-set match of the event in Tuesday’s quarter-finals, beating No 19 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 64 64 36 67(3) 64 in 3 hours, 59 minutes. Four days earlier, Cilic defeated Mikhail Kukushkin 67(5) 76(1) 63 67(3) 61 in 4 hours, 11 minutes.
Cilic’s opponent in Friday’s semi-finals will be the winner of Tuesday night’s match between World No. 1 Novak Djokovic and 18th-seeded Feliciano Lopez. The 6-foot-6 Croat is 0-13 against Djokovic and 3-2 against Lopez. If Djokovic reaches the semis, the Serb will have played six consecutive opponents who have never beaten him entering the US Open (Cilic 0-13, F. Lopez 0-5, Bautista Agut 0-2, Seppi 0-10, Haider-Maurer 0-1, Souza 0-0).
(Courtesy of the ATP and original link – http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/us-open-2015-day-10-preview-wawrinka-faces-anderson)
Topics: Atp World Tour, Kevin Anderson, Richard Gasquet, Roger Federer, Sports, Stan Wawrinka, Tennis, U.S. Open tennis
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