Roger Federer
(September 9, 2015) One of the men’s US Open semifinals on Friday will be an all-Swiss affair. On Wednesday, both Stan Wawrinka and Roger Federer made quick work of their opponents to advance.
No. 2 Federer moved into his 38th major semifinal, his 10th at the US Open, with a 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 victory over 12th seed, Frenchman Richard Gasquet. Federer’s dominance showed in the statistics. The 17-time major winner hit 50 winners to Gasquet’s 8, hit 16 aces with no break points against.
Federer was asked about if he is surprised that he’slaying at such a high level at his age of 34.
“A little bit,” he said. “I mean, a little bit to the extent where it’s nice to play this way. And maybe at my age to run through, you know, five opponents the way I have done here at the US Open, I don’t consider that normal, to be quite honest, even though I expect it in some ways for myself to come out and play well.
“I’ve played so well over the last one-and-a-half years. I don’t feel like I’m as old as I am. I still feel young. So it’s nice to get rewarded with the hard work and, you know, that actually I’m able to play sort of fun tennis, I maybe call it for myself. Aggressive, pick it up, you know, like half volley it, move in, serve and volley, cut the points short, and if I want to, if I want to, extend the rallies.
“But it feels like on my terms. Then if you win this way, it’s a great feeling.”
Fifth seed Wawrinka broke a string of four string of four straight losses to 15th seed Kevin Anderson of South Africa with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-0 win. The match was moved over to Louis Armstrong Stadium as the women’s matches ran late due to an 85 minute rain delay during the second women’s quarterfinal and rain was expected in the evening.
Wawrinka broke the 6′ 8″ Anderson’s serve five times. He hit 25 winners, and made just 15 errors to Anderson’s 42.
“I felt I did a good job of resetting myself and getting ready for this next match,” Anderson said. “Wasn’t meant to be today. Stan didn’t make it easy.” The South African upset third seed Andy Murray on Monday.
“It was really tough out there. Was maybe a little bit nervous just with the occasion and a lot of waiting around, switching courts. Obviously something that you deal with, but just getting out there and everything seemed to be going pretty quickly.
“I thought conditions were, you know, quite quick and quite live, especially compared to my last match out there. One poor serve game in the first set and I wasn’t really making too many inroads on his serve.”
“Yeah, for sure the best match of the tournament for me,” Wawrinka said. “I was really happy the way I play. I was focused on doing what I wanted on the match. I was trying to be really aggressive on the return and make him play a mix or some slice, some aggressive play from the baseline.”
How does Federer feel about playing his countryman Wawrinka?
“I think a lot comes through practice for Stan, because he’s worked very hard throughout his career. It took him a while to figure out exactly what his possibilities were. I don’t think he was a guy who always, you know, had enough confidence.
“I always thought he was a better player than he actually was, but somehow something was holding him back maybe. I think only once when he really started to break through and he had some big wins — I recall a big win for him when he beat Hewitt in the fifth deciding match in Davis Cup in Sydney. Beat him on the grass two sets to one down. Came back and won it. Played unbelievable tennis at the end.
“Then I think in practice he started working to hit the ball harder consistently, and today he can consistently bring the power on forehand, backhand, and serve almost anybody when he gets hot.
“I’m happy he found that level of play. Two slams, got Davis Cup, Olympic gold. Has a complete career. Won a Masters 1000. Has everything he ever wanted. He has had a wonderful career.
“Looking forward to playing him, because he definitely is a big test and a big challenge for me. He beat me in straights at the French, so I hope I can do better this time.”
“I think the past three years, for sure, I get closer to him,” Wawrinka said. “My level improved a lot. I’m playing better tennis. So I was always really close from him, if we look Wimbledon last year.
“I will for sure need to play my best tennis. He’s playing really well so far. He loves to play. He know how to play. He had some amazing match. It’s going to be a big challenge. I think I’m ready.”
In the other men’s semifinal, No. 1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia will face-off against defending champion No. 9 Marin Cilic of Croatia.