Federer and Fish Ease into Fourth Round

Andy Murray Fought off a determined Feliciano Lopez in hot, humid conditions while Roger Federer had an easier time of it to reach the fourth round of New York.

By Erik Gudris

Ryan Harrison speaks to Brad Gilbert after his first-round win at the 2012 US Open

(September 1, 2012) The top half of the men's draw at the 2012 U.S. Open started to take shape for second-week action as both top seed Roger Federer and No. 3 seed Andy Murray advanced into the fourth round, albeit in very different fashions.

Taking on No. 25 seed Fernando Verdasco, Federer took comfort going into the match that he had never lost to the Spaniard in four previous meetings despite not having played each other in over three years. While Federer didn't look his best at time, especially on his backhand wing, Verdasco was unable to trouble the World No. 1 for most of the match. Federer saved the only break point against him in the second set and went on to earn a rather routine 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory.

When told that he won 26 of 27 points at net, Federer seemed surprised.

"I had no clue my stats were that good coming in. Fernando did have some good chances for good passing shots. Looking back, I don't remember missing too many volleys and overheads, all that stuff. Probably half the time I didn't have to volley because it was hard to hit a good pass. It was windy. Usually when I do come in, it's probably on one I can be very offensive on."

Murray Survives Tough Test Against Lopez

What looked like a possible routine win for No. 3 seed Andy Murray was anything but as he was forced to battle for over three hours in the hot, humid conditions on Louis Armstrong Stadium versus No. 30 seed Feliciano Lopez.

After Murray won the first set in a tiebreak, Lopez forced another tiebreak in the second set and held a 4-1 lead before careless shot selection from Lopez allowed Murray back into the tiebreak that he eventually won. When Murray broke serve early to go up 2-0 in third set, the match seemed his.

But Lopez raised his all-court game while Murray began looking sluggish on court and at times seemed bothered by a hip issue. Though both men broke serve midway through the set, it was Lopez who used his serve and volley game to take the set 6-4.

Lopez had more chances to break Murray's serve in the fourth set, but it was Murray who stopped Lopez, including by winning a 23-shot rally to hold for 6-5. Lopez held serve to force yet another tiebreak, but it was Murray's return game that allowed him to get the edge and eventually win the match, thanks to a failed drop shot attempt from Lopez, 7-6(6), 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-6(4).

"It was tough," said Murray afterwards. "It was physically challenging. I actually felt better towards the end of the match than I did maybe halfway through it. I think it was probably down to a combination of things, you know, having not played that much in these conditions. It's just taking a while to get used to it.

U.S. Open Hopes End for Blake, Querrey, and Sock as Fish Marches On

Young American hope Jack Sock used his powerful serve and forehand to split a pair of tiebreak sets with No. 11 seed Nicolas Almagro. But a combination of poor shot selection when Sock had 0-40 on Almagro's serve at 5-all in the third set and then an arm injury for Sock later that allowed Almagro to squeeze into the fourth round with a 7-6(3), 6-7(4), 7-6(2), 6-1 win.

After playing some vintage tennis in his previous round, veteran James Blake had a rough first two sets against Milos Raonic who consistently bombed serves for every angle to take the first two sets. Blake did manage to stay close with Raonic in the third set, including having several set points, but it was the Canadian's big serve that once again saw him through as he won 6-3, 6-0, 7-6(3), making his best showing at a Major since Melbourne in 2011.

Despite having a great summer on the U.S. hard courts, Sam Querrey couldn't quite keep up with No. 7 seed Tomas Berdych. After winning a close first set tiebreak, Querrey faded to the Czech in the last three sets 7-6(8), 4-6, 3-6, 2-6.

Though hitting a whopping 75 unforced errors, Mardy Fish somehow managed to hold of France's Gilles Simon in a slog of a night match on Arthur Ashe Stadium 6-1, 5-7, 7-6(5), 6-3. Fish will now play Federer in the fourth round.

Other winners in the day session saw No. 12 seed Marin Cilic outlast No. 17 seed Kei Nishikori 6-3, 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-3. Cilic now faces Martin Klizan who once again upset a seeded French player, this time No. 32 seed Jeremy Chardy 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.

(Photo Credit: Andy Kentla)