Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic are one round away from a potential U.S. Open quarterfinal contest. They first have to get past unseeded surprises John Millman and Joao Sousa, respectively, on Monday.
John Millman vs. (2) Roger Federer
Millman is through to the fourth round of major for the first time in his career and his reward is what should be an incredible experience but also a brutally tough matchup on Monday at the U.S. Open. He will be going up against Federer for the second time in his career, with the Swiss having won their only previous encounter 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 three years ago on the hard courts of Brisbane. More than three full seasons later, Federer is still flying high at 37 years old. The Swiss already owns one Grand Slam title in 2018 (Australian Open) and his bid for another in New York is underway with straight-set wins over Yoshihito Nishioka, Benoit Paire, and Nick Kyrgios.
Although Millman is in the midst of his best year on tour, his run to the second week could not have been forecasted. The 55th-ranked Australian’s post-Wimbledon swing had included a pair of second-round exits on clay and immediate losses in both Cincinnati and Winston-Salem. Suddenly, though, Millman finds himself playing on Labor Day following defeats of Jenson Brooksby, Fabio Fognini, and Mikhail Kukushkin. The underdog will enjoy himself in this one, but he does not have anything close to the firepower necessary to trouble Federer in the five-time U.S. Open champion’s current form.
Pick: Federer in 3 losing 8-10 games
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(6) Novak Djokovic vs. Joao Sousa
Djokovic and Sousa will be going head-to-head for the fifth time in their careers on Monday. All four of their previous meetings have gone Djokovic’s way and it has been complete domination on every occasion, to the extent that he has taken all 11 of their sets without anything being more competitive than 6-4. They faced each other in the U.S. Open third round in 2013, when the Serb cruised 6-0, 6-2, 6-2.
Turning things around drastically from comeback pains earlier in 2018, Djokovic established himself as the odds-on favorite in Flushing Meadows by winning Wimbledon for the fourth time and capturing a first-ever title at the Cincinnati Masters. The world No. 6 has maintained his high standard with first-week victories over Marton Fucsovics, Tennys Sandgren, and Richard Gasquet. Like Millman, Sousa is also competing in round four of major for the first time in his career. The 68th-ranked Portuguese accomplished the feat by ousting Marcel Granollers, Pablo Carreno Busta, and Lucas Pouille. Sousa is coming off two tough matches while Djokovic raised his level considerably against Gasquet on Saturday night, so everything points to another lopsided affair in this head-to-head matchup.
Pick: Djokovic in 3 losing 8-10 games
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It is cooler n may rain Friday n Sunday the semis n finals. Big advantage Novak if roof gets closed
maestro made a strategic tank in order to avoid djokovic; it was obvious for everyone who watched the match.
He was obviously nervous as hell, grassgoat. I don’t know why but he clearly was, based off of the excessive sweating (which we rarely ever see from him) and his overall tense and nervous look. Only a tight and nervous player would hit some of the pitiful slices he hit last night (a few on his own side). Plus he lost total confidence when the nerves hit, especially in his backhand, which I haven’t see for a long time. He freaking drop shotted almost every backhand in the final set for pete’s sake.
expected comment. no one truly believes this
Benny i said above I am really sorry about fed losing. I know it’s horrible to watch when your fave plays really inexplicably badly. The game is impoverished when any of its 3 great players are out of form or injured.
I hope fed comes back strong!
Yeah, the idiot trolls are out in force with this stupid theory! Then there’s the “fans” that are calling for his retirement. Roger said he expects to come back with a strong fall season. I thought he did well at his presser, accepting the loss as sh*t happens.
In view of climate warming I wonder if the USO shouldn’t reconsider its heat policy. At what point does it become hazardous to play a demanding sport? Do we actually need for someone to drop dead before deciding that it’s just too frickin’ hot to play tennis?
I checked the score last night and was shocked to see them in a third set. Fed really looked done in by the heat. I was really surprised by how he was missing easy shots and getting broken back. Millman looking the fitter player.
I can’t remember seeing Fed so affected by the humid conditions.
It’s starting to seem like it’s survival of the fittest.
Rafa says the roof makes little difference to him because it is so high up, unlike Wimbledon.
The extreme weather is now an equalizer making the rest of the Open wildly unpredictable as we saw last night.
It will likely just come down to who can handle the conditions better. Rafa tends to struggle in them more often than not. Don’t know about how Thiem deals with it but any equalizer is of benefit to the underdog.
Thiem is a hard worker and very fit. And 8 years younger than Rafa. The conditions will favor him. But Rafa’s the smarter player and not exactly a wimp. 🙂 Gonna be tough so we’ll see. I’m just hoping Rafa survives intact.