Sharapova Beat; Federer, Blake Avoid US Open Upsets

Posted on September 2, 2007

Federer Fends Off Isner in 4 Sets at US Open

American tennis stalwarts Andy Roddick and James Blake advanced into the fourth round Saturday at the US Open, but the runs of young Americans John Isner and Donald Young were brought to an end.


World No. 1 Roger Federer withstood the shock of losing the first set in taming the giant-serving Isner, eventually getting a read on the University of Georgia college tennis product in a 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 win.

"He played great, actually I thought for the last few weeks," Federer said of Isner. "So obviously I knew it was going to get difficult today, especially with the crowd in the back. The more they screamed the harder and more precise he served. It was really tough, but he definitely hit his lines in the first set. There was nothing you could do...I was extremely happy with the my reaction on the second set because the crowd was getting into it...You know, losing the first set, it was a hard blow."

Isner won the first set before letting up in the second, when Federer put his foot down.

"I threw in some double faults for him to break me at 30-40 a couple times," Isner said. "I knew I had to go for my serves because I knew he was going hit one of those chip backhands at my feet. So I had to somehow hit a good serve. So I kind of went for a little bit more. That's what he does, forces you to go for a lot more."

Young lost 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(5), 7-5 to unseeded Spaniard Feliciano Lopez.

No. 5 seed Andy Roddick was in stunning form, steamrolling former Aussie Open winner Thomas Johansson 6-3, 6-2, 6-0 to bring himself within a match of facing Federer.

"Felt good," Roddick said. "I wanted to go out and hit the ball and be aggressive, get ahold of my forehand, if I could. I felt like I did that today."

No. 6 seed James Blake advanced after 1 a.m. with a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-1 win over Austrian Stefan Koubek.

"I feel great," Blake said of all the court time he has been spending. "I've been doing a lot of hard work and I feel like it's paying off."

Other winners Saturday were (4) Nikolay Davydenko (d. Almagro), (9) Tomas Berdych (d. Verdasco), and (10) Tommy Haas (d. Grosjean in five).

A flat No. 19 seed Andy Murray fell to Korea's Hyung-Taik Lee 6-3, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5.

"It maybe took me five or six games to get going," Murray said. "After that I was OK but maybe I gave myself a little bit too much to do. If I had got one of those chances in the first set and maybe got myself a set ahead, I might have loosened up and started to play better."

Scheduled for Sunday in Flushing Meadows are (2) Rafael Nadal vs. Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, (3) Novak Djokovic vs. Juan Martin Del Potro, (15) David Ferrer vs. (24) David Nalbandian, Robby Ginepri vs. Stanislas Wawrinka, (20) Juan Ignacio Chela vs. (12) Ivan Ljubicic, (17) Carlos Moya vs. Philipp Kohlschreiber, (8) Tommy Robredo vs. Ernests Gulbis, and Agustin Calleri vs. (23) Juan Monaco. 

Sharapova Unnerved in Loss to Radwanska Gamesmanship at US Open

Poland's 18-year-old Agnieszka Radwanska stunned defending US Open champion Maria Sharapova 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 Saturday on a breezy day at Flushing Meadows where the Russian collapsed in the third set, committing 20 unforced errors.

Radwanka felt Sharapova played nervously in the windy conditions.

"Because it was so windy, and against the wind it was very tough to serve," Radwanska said. "And also I have problem with my serve, but yeah, I think she make many mistakes and double-faults so I think she was a little bit nervous."

Radwanska added that her gamesmanship, moving in on Sharapova's serve before sprinting backwards, was intentional as the Russian threw in a number of doubles faults.

"Yeah. I knew that she doesn't like if somebody is moving if she serving," Radwanska said. "She was also nervous with this, so I was trying to do something like this."

Sharapova in the end credited her opponent, who was a two-time Grand Slam junior winner.

"You got to give her a lot of credit for finishing the match and winning it...There's no excuses," Sharapova said. "It's not like today I stepped out on the wrong side of the bed or I did something differently. Like I said, I'm going to have these types of days where although I might be up a break in the third set, but it just doesn't go my way."

Other upsets were performed by Hungary's Agnes Szavay who topped No. 7 seed Nadia Petrova 6-4, 6-4, Austria's Tamira Paszek who outlasted No. 11 Patty Schnyder 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(1), and Belarus' Victoria Azarenka who rolled No. 16 Martina Hingis in the third set 3-6, 6-1, 6-0.

"I knew who I had to face was -- she was No. 1 junior and played very decent in the first couple rounds," Hingis said. "I mean, she can play. You could see today definitely it's like a tournament where the youngsters succeed."

Other seeded winners were (4) Svetlana Kuznetsova (d. (31) Medina Garrigues), (6) Anna Chakvetadze (d. (26) Mirza), and (18) Shahar Peer who had a mild upset over (13) Nicole Vaidisova 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(5).

In the lone all-unseeded match, the Ukraine's Julia Vakulenko defeated Maria Kirilenko 6-2, 6-4.

On tap for Sunday at the US Open is (8) Serena Williams vs. (10) Marion Bartoli, (5) Ana Ivanovic vs. (12) Venus Williams, (1) Justine Henin vs. (15) Dinara Safina, and (3) Jelena Jankovic vs. (19) Sybille Bammer.

TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Roger Federer on enjoying playing John Isner: "I enjoyed it actually, believe it or not. Because the challenge of the serve. I love playing guys like this. You don't get to play big servers like this today every day. I've played the kick servers, the guy who just keeps it to my backhand all day. One with a good backhand and one with a good forehand, I've played on these guys. Guys relying purely on their serve and taking chances on my own serving games though, I don't face very often, except maybe [Ivo] Karlovic. This is my I love playing them."...John Isner: "Just to think that four months ago I was, unranked, well, and you know, go from that to beating Roger Federer in a set, it's pretty cool. I know that I can play with the top guys in this game, maybe not him for three or five sets, but one set I can play with him. I can hang with most guys I think and I take away -- this is a great experience for me."...Robby Ginepri is bidding to win three consecutive matches for the first time since October 2006...Stan Wawrinka is attempting to reach his first Grand Slam round of 16, and give Switzerland two male representatives in the last 16 of a Slam for the first time in the Open Era.