Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are two wins away from a first meeting at the US Open, with the Swiss looking more likely to keep the appointment than the Spaniard.
After struggling in his first two matches, Federer resembled his imperious self as he ominously brushed aside Spain’s Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 6-3, 7-5.
‘I needed to get over the fear of the back issue, especially in that first match,’ said the Wimbledon champion, who battled a back problem last month but is four victories away from a third Grand Slam title of the year at age 36.
Roger Federer looks to be on course to finally meet Rafael Nadal at the US Open
‘Then I think the wobble I had in the second round was due to my preparation. Now I’m just trusting my movement better. My serve is there. My mind is there. I can finally focus on playing tennis and not so much about the past.’
After making 126 unforced errors in his first two rounds, Federer made just 16 against Lopez on Saturday, firing 32 winners to extend his record to 13-0 against the 35-year-old Spaniard.
‘It was clearly nice to go up two sets to love for a change,’ said the Swiss with a smile.
‘I was happy I had good energy because I think that was my biggest worry, that after the two five-setters I was going to feel a little slow, hard to throw the engine on, that I would get tired from that. It didn’t happen.
‘I’m really pleased with the performance. It’s exactly what I needed going into the next round.’
Federer faces Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber in the last 16 and the Swiss, who has won all of his 11 matches against the German No 3, added: ‘I know Philipp very well, practised with him a ton, had some good matches against him in the past.
The tennis legend has begun to find his trademark rhythm out in New York
‘He’s a good player, plays with a lot of topspin and has a nice one-handed backhand, which I love to see, of course.’
Before Federer got underway in the night session, his great rival made heavy weather of things on the Arthur Ashe court. Nadal missed his first 13 break points before overcoming Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer 6-7, 6-3, 6-1, 6-4.
‘Of course, you are under stress when you see that you have opportunities almost in every game, and you are not able to convert them,’ said the 31-year-old Spaniard. ‘At the beginning you get nerves when you don’t convert opportunities.”
Once he broke to lead 3-2 in the second set, Nadal appeared to be free of his early nerves.
‘When finally I did it, everything changed. I was able to play more freely, to start to attack better with my forehand.’
The world No 1’s brittle self-belief at Flushing Meadows will get another test tonight when he takes on the unorthodox Ukrainian Alex Dolgopolov, who has brushed aside the distraction of being probed by the Tennis Integrity Unit to make the fourth round.
Nadal also criticised the US Open organisers for waiting three days before suspending Fabio Fognini for directing vulgar language towards Swedish umpire Louise Engzell.
While Nadal has struggled so far, the odds are stacked on him coming up against his old foe
The Italian was slapped with a $24,000 fine on Friday but was allowed to play two matches in the doubles tournament with partner Simone Bolelli before the Grand Slam Board announced their decision to suspend him.
‘Of course it is not a positive thing,’ said Nadal. ‘If you are not doing the right things on the court, of course you need to be in some way affected.
‘But things can be made to happen earlier because I believe that he played two matches after that match, two doubles matches.
‘If they want to suspend him, much better to do it immediately, not three days later.’