Federer survives five-setter
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Roger Federer came out of an error-filled slump in the nick of time Tuesday to scrape past inspired 23rd seed Igor Andreev 6-7 7-6 6-3 3-6 6-3 and claim a berth in the quarter-finals of the U.S. Open.
The Swiss second seed, whose record run of 237 successive weeks as world number one was snapped last month by Rafael Nadal, nearly had other valued streaks ended before finally putting it together in the fifth set against the Russian.
Four-times champion Federer, who committed a shocking 60 unforced errors in the match, kept alive an Open win streak that now stands at 31 and extended a streak of reaching every slam quarter-finals since the 2004 Wimbledon.
"He was playing well. He was serving so well and I was struggling from the baseline," Federer said in a courtside interview.
"It was a tough match."
Federer will meet qualifier Gilles Muller of Luxembourg in the last eight. The 130th-ranked Muller upset Andreev's fifth-seeded compatriot Nikolay Davydenko.
The Swiss master is seeking his first grand slam title of the season and was nearly made to wait until next year by the hard-hitting Andreev, who had not lost a set in his first three rounds.
"The wind was changing from either side. It went from day to night session. I think it was tough conditions," Federer said. "But I'm happy we put on a good show."
SPRAYING GROUNDSTROKES
Federer set the stage for a long struggle on windy Arthur Ashe Stadium by spraying groundstrokes uncharacteristically and losing serve in the opening game of the fourth-round match.
Pinned back by the booming topspin forehand favored by Andreev and neutralized by his accuracy from the service line, Federer, 27, labored to bring the set back on serve.
Federer caught his break in the 10th game. With Andreev serving for the set, two groundstroke errors from the Russian leveled the set 5-5 and set up a tiebreaker.
Critical errors came from Federer in the tiebreak. He lost the last three points on faulty strokes in a 7-5 decision.
The second set also went to a tiebreak as Federer fended off seven breakpoints from Andreev. This time, the second seed prevailed, when the Russian smacked a forehand wide to lose 7-5 on Federer's third set point.
Federer rode a break in the fourth game to claim the next set 6-3 but the muscular Russian cashed in a decisive break in the fourth set when he clipped the netcord and the ball died over the net to push the match to a fifth set.
Federer looked safe at last after grabbing a 3-0 lead but Andreev made it tense in the seventh game when he held four break points. The Swiss champion resisted each one and ended the three-hour 32-minute match two games later.
"Definitely, it was a great match," the 25-year-old Andreev said. "I enjoyed it. When you play five sets against Roger and play really good tennis, it was a great experience for me."
(Editing by Pritha Sarkar)
