US Open: Federer likely to face Soderling in the quarters
If the Swiss tennis maestro, Roger Federer will be making his way into his seventh US Open final in a row, he might need to go past the player who had earlier ended his major semi final streak.
The five-time United States Open winner, Federer was given a likely quarterfinal versus two-time clay court French open finalist Robin Soderling in the draws on Thursday. The fifth seed Soderling had outlasted the twenty nine year old in Paris back in 2009, stopping his record of semi final appearances during twenty three major championships in a row. But still, the Swiss seems optimistic. “I am highly confident and motivated to perform well as I simply love the city of New York and playing in Arthur Ashe is even more fun.” He told reporters adding, “If I couldn’t get motivated by the Flushing Meadows, then I would have few problems.”
The other possible matchups in the quarterfinal round from the men’s side could be the top seeded Rafael Nadal versus the no. eight Fernando Verdasco, two-time Grand Slam runner up Andy Murray versus the grass court Grand Slam runner up Tomas Berdych, and the third seeded Serbian Novak Djokovic against the sixth ranked Nikolay Davydenko or the number nine Andy Roddick.
As far as the women’s draw is concerned, the hot favorite 2009 finalist Caroline Wozniacki could meet up the 2006 US Open winner Maria Sharapova or the 2004 champ Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarters. Women’s other likely quarterfinal matchups include two-time US Open champ Venus Williams versus the French Open winner Francesca Schiavone, and 2008 United States Open runner up Jelena Jankovic against the grass court Grand Slam finalist Vera Zvonareva.
As for Federer, he could also meet Lleyton Hewitt in the third round of the competition. Earlier, Federer had defeated Hewitt in the final of the US Open back in 2004. “I know very well how to play under the spot light in New York. The Centre court at the Flushing Meadows is one of my favorite ones,” Federer said and added, “The spectator’s support has always been great as well. They have always backed me up and that has always been a key in winning at the Flushing Meadows. I am sure they will support me this time again.”
Roger was outlasted by Juan Martin del Potro in the final match of the US Open during 2009 but Potro along with the top ranked Serena has withdrawn from this season’s competition, as a result of injury. Potro’s wrist has still not completely recovered whereas Williams injured her right foot after capturing the grass court Grand Slam tournament, although she hasn’t clarified what actually happened.
Serena’s older sister Venus Williams, who is seeded third to win the title, could be facing the thirty two seeded Tsvetana Pironkova from Bulgaria in the third round of the competition. Pironkova triumphed in two of her last three clashes against the fourth ranked Venus, including a straight-set victory in the quarterfinal of the grass court Grand Slam tournament two months ago. That was the last time Venus played on tour; she injured her knee in the start of August, forcing her to miss the hard court championships at Montreal as well as in Cincinnati. This season’s US Open will start from Monday and Venus will face Roberta Vinci from Italy in her opening round match.
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