Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic will try to take additional steps toward a potential U.S. Open quarterfinal showdown when they take the court again on Thursday. Federer is facing Benoit Paire, while Djokovic collides with Tennys Sandgren.
Benoit Paire vs. (2) Roger Federer
Federer and Paire will be going head-to-head for the seventh time in their careers when they clash in round two of the U.S. Open on Thursday afternoon. It is a clean 6-0 sweep for Federer, who had taken care of Paire in five consecutive straight-setters until things finally got interesting–very interesting–earlier this summer on the grass courts of Halle. The underdog Frenchman had two match points in a third-set tiebreaker before succumbing 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(7).
At that point in the season Federer was still somewhat rusty despite a title-winning run in Stuttgart, as he had skipped the entire clay-court swing. Now, of course, the 37-year-old Swiss has himself ready to go for the final major of 2018. He finished runner-up to Novak Djokovic in Cincinnati and got a routine win under his belt on Tuesday night by beating Yoshihito Nishioka 6-2, 6-2, 6-4. Paire punched his ticket to the last 64 by holding off Dennis Novak 7-6(6), 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(5), improving to an even 22-22 for his 2018 campaign. The world No. 56 is in decent form, but not to the extent that he will challenge Federer like he did in Halle.
Pick: Federer in 3 losing 11-14 games
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(6) Novak Djokovic vs. Tennys Sandgren
Djokovic’s comeback from an injury-plagued 2017 campaign was already a smashing success even prior to his first-ever Cincinnati titlte. The sixth-ranked Serb also triumphed, of course, at Wimbledon–where he raised the trophy for a fourth time. Djokovic showed brief signs of slowing down amidst searing heat in New York on Tuesday afternoon, but he managed to recover from a mid-match hiccup and defeat Marton Fucsovics 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-0.
Up next for Djokovic on Thursday is a second career contest against Sandgren, whom he recently victimized 6-3, 6-1, 6-2 to touch off his run at the All-England Club. Sandgren was the talk of the 2018 Australian Open on and off the court, but he has cooled off on the heels of a hot first few months of the season and has faded from relevancy. The 61st-ranked American will have to do a lot more than beat a slumping Viktor Troicki in order to prove that he is back on top of his game. Even if he is, Djokovic will likely raise his own level from round one and make this one-way traffic.
Pick: Djokovic in 3 losing 8-10 games
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Let see if he can hold on in the 4th sets…It’s not easy to do that against one of the Greats!…Very possibly he will have nothing left after the hard fought 3rd sets…
Mira Andi- I must admit that I really want Novak to win because I am attending the QF next week, and I DESPERATELY want to see Novak vs. Fed! 🙂 I thought my life was complete when I got to see both Fed and Rafa play last year, but if I get to say that I once saw a Federer-Djokovic match, at a MAJOR? Then my life would be complete haha! I think the only thing that could further complete my life than that would be to see a Fedal final in person at either the AO or USO. 🙂
Kev!…YOU’RE TO SEE QF NEXT WEEK???Then Novak will win today Kev!!Hehehehe….Oh God!…That match is going to be XPLOSIVE!!….I can’t wait too!You’re lucky Kev!…But,we have to wait Fed/Nicky The Brat 1st…I picked Fed to win in that match!…Fedal final here??Oh God!…I don’t know about that Kev!…I picked Rafole final in my Bracket…We’ll see okay??Btw…enjoy your time at USO next week Kev!…
Paire tanked. Hitting unnecessary tweeners. Umpire would have given him a pep talk if Federer wasn’t on the other side of the net.
#BanFavouritism
Paire should be banned just because of his tantrums. He curses everyone. Throws rackets . Misbehaves with ballboys.
I just gotta say as a Fed fan, I am very pleased with what I have seen so far. Not only has Fed won all six sets playing not close to his best but Novak has already lost two sets in two rounds.
If Djoker meets Fed, it would be difficult for Fed unless he wins first two sets quickly.
The thing is, once Djoko sees Fed or Rafa across the net, he’ll summon his best tennis to beat them! He looked half dead vs lesser opponents during Cincy and had to go the distance in almost each of his matches to beat them, then he brought his best game in the final and duly dispatched Fed in straight sets!
Was Fed playing worse than Djoko’s early round opponents? I don’t think so! I won’t be fooled anymore by how Djoko looked in the early rounds of any tournament, slams or not. Another typical example at the slams – AO2016 when he was pushed to the limit by Simon in the early round, made 100 UEs, yet when he was at the SF and the Final, he was totally unbeatable against his fellow big four Murray and Fed.
I’ve learned my lesson – never underestimate Djoko, no matter how poorly he played in the early rounds.
Djoker would feel the effects of the long matches ultimately.
He has played a lot off late and all matches have been long. I see there are lapses in his concentration as you would never expect him to lose a third set after being so dominant.
And I think once of Zverev or Cilic would reach from this half and that won’t be a cakewalk for Djoker or Fed as well.
Yes, so who would Rafa prefer of Fed or Djoker. I think he would prefer Fed. Fed as average against an awful Paire. Although I expect Fed to prevail over Kyrgios, I think Fed’s legs will give up against Djoker who will just grind to victory. Although deep inside, I want that match to happen.
Rafa’s draw is very complicated as well. I think its been a fair draw with Fed’s draw being toughest. Although I dont think Fed is playing well, he was playing better in AO 2018, or even Wimby 2018 .
Its going to be quite an Open and I sense upsets would be less and all seeded players might play one another during the later part.
This is true. Like the rest of the big guns, Djokovic raises his level when it counts the most. I will say I would hope Roger plays better than he did in the Cincinnati final should they meet here though.
Lucky!….I totally,definitely,surely 100% agree with everything u said!…Don’t get fooled when we see Nole like this in ANY matches!…He only needs to see Rafa @ Fed & he will become invincible all of a sudden!…
No where to post about Sasha so I’ll post it here. I was impressed with how Sasha played against Mahut in R2. It seemed to me he’s more aggressive now and more willing to move inside the court to take the ball early, and, he’s certainly moving very quickly around the court! He had 43 winners with only 15 UEs; even when we less off his 10 aces, he still had 33 winners off his ground strokes or net game, I think that’s very impressive in a three sets match. He’s not wasting energy playing five setters in the early rounds, maybe we’re seeing the Lendl effect here?
The way he played in this match, it’s quite similar to how Djoko played the Cincy final vs Fed, ie able to hit big groundstrokes, then moved forward quickly to take the ball early and took time away from opponent; of course Mahut was no Fed, but still, a very effective way of playing and winning matches.
Don’t be fooled. Remember Mahut is ancient 😂 #MrMasters1000
No, not how Mahut played but it’s how Sasha played. I always think/thought there’s something lacking in Sasha’s game and that is he rarely moves inside the court but stays at the baseline to try blowing his opponents off the court.
Now, I’m seeing a Sasha who’s so willing to take the ball early by stepping inside the court so often. I think if he continues to play like this, he’ll one day become invincible like the Djoko of 2011 and 2015, when the big four are gone (of course, not expecting him to beat the big four when they’re still playing top class tennis!).
I hope Tsitsipas, Shapo and FAA can improve too to counter the force that is Sasha, in time to come. I don’t think the likes of Chung, Khachanov, Coric, Tiafoe or Medvedev can do better against Sasha, my opinion of course.
Sascha under Lendl is a dark horse and could surprise.
God I hope not!
#Not a fan of Zverev and his inflated ego!