Roger Federer Marches Into 4th Round Faultless

Written by: Staff on 1st September 2012

Roger Federer Marches Into 4th Round Faultless

epa03379453 Roger Federer of Switzerland hits a return to Fernando Verdasco of Spain during their match on the sixth day of the 2012 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 01 September 2012. The US Open runs through Sunday 09 September 2012. EPA/JASON SZENES |

Five-time US Open champion Roger Federer is through to the fourth round at Flushing Meadows without dropping a set, dismissing his latest challenger Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 on Saturday.

The Swiss recorded his 24th win in 26 matches as he struck 30 winners and won 26 of 27 net points to claim victory in just over two hours. He had beaten Donald Young and Bjorn Phau in straight sets in his first two matches.

“I had no clue my stats were that good coming in,” said Federer. “I really tried to play offensive against Bjorn Phau in my second match. I did lose more points than I was hoping to. I think that gave me the confidence to move forward today and conditions helped that because it was quicker during the day.”

World No. 1 Federer has reached the final in each of his past four tournaments, since falling to Rafael Nadal in the Roland Garros semi-finals. He reached the finals in Halle (l. to Haas) and the London 2012 Olympics (l. to Murray) and won his 17th Grand Slam title at Wimbledon (d. Murray) and triumphed at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati (d. Djokovic).

The 31-year-old Federer has enjoyed much success in New York during his career, winning five successive titles from 2004-2008. He finished runner-up in 2009 (l. to del Potro) and was beaten by Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals both of the past two years. He has a 64-7 tournament record since his debut in 2000.

Federer goes onto face either American Mardy Fish, the No. 23 seed, or 16th-seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon.

Topics: American tennis news, Fernando Verdasco, Roger Federer, Sports, Tennis News, US Open 2012, Verdasco