The first-ever Rafael Nadal vs. Roger Federer showdown at the U.S. Open is becoming closer and closer with each passing round. They are two wins apiece away as the action heads into Monday, when quarterfinal spots will be at stake.
(1) Rafael Nadal vs. Alexandr Dolgopolov
Nadal and Dolgopolov will be squaring off for the ninth time in their careers when they clash in round four of the U.S. Open on Monday. The head-to-head series stands at 6-2 in favor of Nadal, who has won four of their five previous hard-court encounters. Dolgopolov’s victories came in a duo of three-setters; he prevailed 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(5) at the 2014 Indian Wells Masters and 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-4 one season later on the grass of Queen’s Club. They most recently faced each other earlier this year in Brisbane, where Nadal restored order to the matchup by getting the job done 6-3, 6-3 for his first defeat of Dolgopolov since the 2014 Rio de Janeiro title match.
Not many could have predicted that this borderline rivalry would be renewed in New York when the draw was revealed last Friday and put them three rounds away from one another. After all, a struggling Dolgopolov had been just 16-17 in 2017 with five retirements and recent match-fixing accusations in Winston-Salem–where he lost right away to Thiago Monteiro 6-3, 6-3. Out of seemingly nowhere, however, the world No. 64 has advanced at the U.S. Open by beating Jan-Lennard Struff (in five sets), Tomas Berdych (four), and Viktor Troicki (three). If Dolgopolov’s tournament got off to a relatively slow start, Nadal has been a master of starting each match slow only to right the ship. The world No. 1 defeated Dusan Lajovic 7-6(6), 6-2, 6-2, came back from a set and a break down to beat Taro Daniel 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2, and fought past Leonardo Mayer 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday evening. Nadal is now looking to advance farther than the fourth round in Flushing Meadows for the first time since he last captured the title there in 2013. Although the Spaniard is not looking invincible and Dolgopolov has a decent history against him, the underdog will have to do much more than beat Struff, Troicki, and an injured Berdych in order to inspire real confidence. Nadal has done well to find solutions to early problems so far this fortnight and it should not take him long to solve a familiar foe in Dolgopolov.
Pick: Nadal in 3
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(3) Roger Federer vs. (33) Philipp Kohlschreiber
It is becoming a trend at this U.S. Open: Federer facing an opponent against whom he owns double-digit wins compared to zero losses. The Swiss had been 16-0 against Mikhail Youzhny, 12-0 against Feliciano Lopez, and now he is 11-0 at the expense of Kohlschreiber–his Monday opponent. Counting the trio of victories Federer has already scored at this U.S. Open, he is a combined 43-0 against his first four adversaries. Despite those gaudy numbers, though, it has not come easy. The 36-year-old needed five sets to scrape past both Frances Tiafoe and Mikhail Youzhny before raising his level considerably in a 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 rout of Lopez on Saturday night.
Kohlschreiber earned another shot at Federer by defeating Tim Smyczek, Santiago Giraldo, and John Millman, The 37th-ranked German has not yet dropped a set nor even been extended to a single tiebreaker. He is a perfect 11-0 in non-retirement matches since Wimbledon and 15-0 in his last 15 sets dating back to the Kitzbuhel quarterfinals. During this stretch, however, Kohlschreiber has not faced anyone in the current top 25. The competition level now ratchets up exponentially in the form of Federer, who eased concerns surrounding his potentially bad back with his much-improved performance against Lopez.
Pick: Federer in 3 losing 12 games or fewer
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Nadal breaks to start the third set!
Can’t watch the match, just occasionally, but I am so happy the way Rafa is playing!
Vamos!!! ❤️❤️❤️
Dolgo looks like Kyrgios when he doesn’t want to play.
The Dog is a walkover for Nadal. This is a really bad matchup because Nadal competes a trillion times better than the flashy Dog.
Not even worth watching IMO, i’m interested in this Russian Rublev’s potential
Rafa is just getting everything today, nothing is getting past him, not even the best dropshots.
Nadal is taking Dolgopolov to the cleaners. I was so wrong. Dolgopolov is so inconsistent he just slaps all day. How in the world does he expect to beat Rafa playing like this? Nadal deserves this win 100% he’s playing a million times better and most importantly smarter.
Dog just looks so disinterested in this match.
Nadal breaks again. 3-0
Benny, as I said, Dolgo’s go for broke tennis is his own undoing; he just doesn’t have the patience or the consistency to string a few good shots together.
Rafa said it best about Dolgo: ‘he can play amazing shots but sometimes a little bit unpredictable. He combined amazing points with mistakes….’
Dolgopolov is trash literally just missing so much it’s not even funny. Nadal doesn’t even have to play well to win but since he is playing well he’s absolutely killing him. Clinical from the Spaniard
Nadal is playing very well, but to me it doesn’t look like he’s even trying his best atm.
That was the best I’ve seen Nadal play on HC since he beat Dimitrov at the AO. He played a great match.
Nadal knew this was a practice session before the match started. There’s absolutely no chance at all that the Dog could even give Nadal a match.
Please, Jim. All these experts with the benefit of hindsight. Dolgo had plenty of chance; otherwise he wouldn’t have beaten Nadal in 2 of 3 previous meetings. He just got badly outplayed today, simple as that.
Rafa: Winners-22
UE-10
Dolgo:
Winners- 22
UE- 30
He’s barely sweating! This is Nadal,and on top of that it’s so bright! Shows how easy this match is going for him, and how effortlessly he’s taking Dog out!
Not sure how many people here have observed/realized how much Rafa’s improved second serve has stifled Dolgo’s attack play on second serve returns!
That was minimally important, VR. Rafa’s 2nd serve isn’t bad, but it was more that Dolgo just wasn’t hitting it on either serve. He needed to take a couple steps back on the 1st serve, and one on the 2nd.
Rublev is only 19. If he stays healthy he’ll be the next Kafelnikov.
Dolgopolov is just broken.
I can’t help but feel like there’s literally 0 effort going into this match.
No intensity from Dog, and Rafa doesn’t need to try to win.
Bad Boy!
This is going to be over.
SO happy to see Rafa back in the QF of USO. Haven’t seen in him here in a long while!
Dog gave up in set 3 but that hasn’t affected rafa’s intensity.
Dolgo is a joke. Thank you for annihilating this idiot Rafa. Fedal semifinal looming… ?
Easy, Benny. Dolgo was just not on today, though he played some good tennis in the second set. Give the dude some credit; he’s had a bad few weeks.
He does it!
Nadal destroys Dog 6-2,6-4,6-1 to book a spot in the QF’s for the first time since 2013!
Don’t know how people were justifying their Dolgo picks. He is NOT the player to rely on!!! Only way for him to win was to have Nadal playing like shit and giving him confidence.
Rafa played like a BOSS. Such a well-rounded performance. Forehand and ROS were so much better today.
This will give loads of confidence to Rafa.
Looks like Rublev is going to be next.
Goffin ain’t coming back from two sets down, so Rublev shouldn’t really be a problem……
Then again I thought the same with Shapo in montreal, but Rafa is playing way way way better than then so, I think Rafa will come to SF in straight sets. 🙂
Hope Roger vs Rafa is a thing!
Easy to say in retrospect, VR. When Dolgo was returning decently and serving well, in the second set, he was right with Rafa, who played great, all credit to him. Maybe you mean it was unrealistic to expect Dolgo to back up his last match with comparably good play, but he had played a few good matches, and I don’t think it was unreasonable to think he would continue. It was clear that something was bothering him from the beginning today. Plus, Rafa really raised his level; that was at least as unexpected as Dolgo’s poor play today.
Nah Joe, Rafa raising his level for this match is expected, just like Fed raising his against Feli!
Dolgo’s poor play today isn’t unexpected either, as he’s playing Rafa, not a Berdych who’s coming back from injury, or a Troicki who moves at least half a step slower than Rafa.
Lucky,
Bravo! Well said! I expected Rafa to come out playing much better after his match with Mayer. You could see Rafa coming up with some vintage shots in that match once he broke Mayer. That’s what Rafa needed in order to raise his level of play.
It just baffles me that anyone could expect it from Fed against Feli, but not Rafa against
Dolgo!
I remember pointing out that Dolgo beat a Berdy with a bad back and a Troicki who is not anywhere even close to Rafa! Getting wins against them should not have inspired confidence.
Oh and just to make the point, I said all this before the match!