Continuing his shaky play in New York is Roger Federer, who escaped the second round of the US Open with a 6-1, 6-7(3), 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 win over Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny.
Despite the uncharacteristic inconsistency, Federer still managed to win the battle of the aces against Youzhny, 12-5, en route to taking a significant 63-27 edge in winners. The five-time US Open champ might actually fail to make it to the fourth round of the Grand Slam tournament in the Big Apple for the first time since 2000 if he keeps on struggling to close out sets.
And yet, we still believe that the Swiss sensation can turn things around against his next opponent. Federer has a blemish-free lifetime record of 12-0 against Feliciano Lopez, with nine of them coming on the hard courts.
35-year-old Feliciano Lopez kept his US Open title dreams alive by ousting fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco, 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.
The Toledo native converted six of his 11 opportuniteds in break points, although he did commit 10 more unforced errors than his opponent, keeping Verdasco hanging in the contest. Lopez still prevailed in the end, but now he’s set to face a more formidable foe in Federer in the third round.
Yes, the 40th-ranked Lopez has yet to beat Federer in his career. However, the third seed in the tournament hasn’t been himself at all either, needing to go the full five-set distance against inferior competition through the first two rounds of play.
Having said that, perhaps Lopez does stand a chance against Federer this Saturday. However, he only has a mere 4-9 record on the hard courts this season entering the US Open and a rather lackluster career winning percentage of 51.5 percent on said turf.
Writer’s Prediction
Federer (-600) gains better composure this time around and defeats Lopez in four sets.
