Federer Fends Off Blake, Davy Downs Haas at US Open
Posted on September 8, 2006World No. 1 Roger Federer and No. 7 seed Nikolay Davydenko advanced to a semifinal meeting at the US Open Thursday, winning matches that were marked not so much by shining play but by their opponent's inability to close a lead.
The Swiss master was noticeably off his game against No. 5-seeded American James Blake, who failed to convert on three set points in the opening tiebreak en route to a 7-6(7), 6-0, 6-7(9), 6-4 loss, while Davydenko trailed two sets behind Tommy Haas before the German allowed him to crawl back into the match and prevail 6-4 in the fifth.
"It's tough, you make mistakes and he plays well and the momentum shifts," said Federer of dropping his first set of the tournament against Blake. "That's what I expected, he is a tough opponent."
The bright-side seeking Blake said taking a set off Federer for the first time was a step in the right direction.
"To a certain extent I take pride in the way I fought," Blake said. "I almost did it. I didn't play my absolute best, but he probably didn't either. It's a good feeling to know that I'm close to Roger. A wise man -- or, well, maybe not a wise man, just Todd Martin -- told me if you win one set, you can win two. If you can win two sets, you can win three. I was one point away from winning [the] first set, too. I guess he's human."
Davydenko appeared fatigued as early as the second set against Haas, but it was the German who broke down, losing three straight sets.
"He's like a machine, like a ball machine," Haas said. "Gets every ball back. He doesn't really miss much. When he gets into a groove he finds a lot of corners and makes his opponents run. That's his game and that's what works for him."
The win put two Russians into a Slam semifinal for just the second time, with Davydenko joining Mikhail Youzhny who will face Andy Roddick.
On Friday the men will rest in singles, and the doubles semis will feature Fisher/Phillips vs. (2) Bjorkman/Max "The Beast" Mirnyi, and (6) Damm/Paes vs. (4) Hanley/Ullyett.
The Swiss master was noticeably off his game against No. 5-seeded American James Blake, who failed to convert on three set points in the opening tiebreak en route to a 7-6(7), 6-0, 6-7(9), 6-4 loss, while Davydenko trailed two sets behind Tommy Haas before the German allowed him to crawl back into the match and prevail 6-4 in the fifth.
"It's tough, you make mistakes and he plays well and the momentum shifts," said Federer of dropping his first set of the tournament against Blake. "That's what I expected, he is a tough opponent."
The bright-side seeking Blake said taking a set off Federer for the first time was a step in the right direction.
"To a certain extent I take pride in the way I fought," Blake said. "I almost did it. I didn't play my absolute best, but he probably didn't either. It's a good feeling to know that I'm close to Roger. A wise man -- or, well, maybe not a wise man, just Todd Martin -- told me if you win one set, you can win two. If you can win two sets, you can win three. I was one point away from winning [the] first set, too. I guess he's human."
Davydenko appeared fatigued as early as the second set against Haas, but it was the German who broke down, losing three straight sets.
"He's like a machine, like a ball machine," Haas said. "Gets every ball back. He doesn't really miss much. When he gets into a groove he finds a lot of corners and makes his opponents run. That's his game and that's what works for him."
The win put two Russians into a Slam semifinal for just the second time, with Davydenko joining Mikhail Youzhny who will face Andy Roddick.
On Friday the men will rest in singles, and the doubles semis will feature Fisher/Phillips vs. (2) Bjorkman/Max "The Beast" Mirnyi, and (6) Damm/Paes vs. (4) Hanley/Ullyett.