BEIJING, Sept. 4 (Xinhuanet) -- No. 1-ranked Roger Federer lost the first set Monday night against Spaniard Feliciano Lopez at the U.S. Open, struggled to win the second, trailed love-40 on his serve to start the third set, then won 35 straight points he served to put Lopez away 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-4.
Asked about that 35-point run, Lopez rolled his eyes and said, "I mean, it's tough. I'm playing against Roger Federer." His voice then trailed off, as if that should be explanation enough.
Federer's response when told of the statistic: "That's awesome."
The next player standing in Federer's path on the way to becoming the first man to win four straight Open titles since the 1920s is 2003 champion Andy Roddick. Roddick, No. 5, reached the quarterfinals with a 7-6 (6), 2-0 walkover when his fourth-round opponent, No. 9 Tomas Berdych, stopped playing because he had trouble breathing.
With No. 6 James Blake losing to No. 10 Tommy Haas in five sets earlier Monday, Roddick is the only American man left 鈥?making this the first U.S. Open since 1998 without at least two in the quarterfinals.
Federer has won his past 25 matches against the three men left in his half of the draw: Nine in a row against Roddick, nine against Davydenko, seven against Haas.
Worried they couldn't expect much interest in the two low-wattage women's quarterfinals coming Wednesday 鈥?2004 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova against 18-year-old Agnes Szavay of Hungary, and No. 6 Anna Chakvetadze against No. 18 Shahar Peer 鈥?U.S. Open officials changed things up. With both players'approval, they shifted the quarterfinal between six-time major champion Venus Williams and No. 3 Jelena Jankovic from Tuesday to Wednesday night.
