Sharper, more confident and more consistent. It’s the report card that comes as music to Roger Federer’s ears after finding his range to cruise past Feliciano Lopez into the fourth round at this year’s US Open on Saturday.

In a worrying sign for his second-week opponents, the rust from the five-time champion’s opening two matches was rarely seen in a 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 dismissal of the Spaniard. His showdown with the 35- year old was the oldest match-up at the US Open since Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl squared off in 1992.

The Swiss was 15-1 in third-round US Open matches coming in, with his lone defeat coming at the hands of Lopez’s countryman Juan Carlos Ferrero on debut in 2000. But the result rarely looked in doubt as the 36 year old improved his unbeaten FedEx ATP Head2Head record against the serve-volleying Spanish lefty to 13-0. 

“It was clearly nice to go up two sets to love for a change. Feels different from there,” Federer grinned in reference to his opening two five-set struggles. “Overall I have felt better, too. I was happy I had good energy because I think that was my biggest worry, that somehow after the two five-setters that I had, I was going to feel a little slow, hard to throw the engine on, that I would have to force myself so much, I would get tired from that.

“It didn’t happen. I think I really got off to a good start. The first set was fast. Then the second set was close. Maybe I was struggling with my serve for a little bit to keep the level up … It was also good to get through those tougher moments.

“A little bit of a wobble in the third maybe. But it’s all good. I’m really pleased with the performance.”

DID YOU KNOW?
Federer moved into second place in the all-time aces list during his win over Lopez. The Swiss came into the match four aces behind Goran Ivanisevic. He hit 13 aces on Saturday night for a career total of 10,140. 

Career Ace Leaders

Note: ATP began tracking ace totals in 1991. Federer’s career aces total does not include results from Davis Cup, the 2000 and 2004 Olympics, and the 1999 Basel second round.

A lunging flicked backhand pass from Federer brought up set point on the Spaniard’s serve at 5-2 in the opening set. Lopez survived that but relinquished the set a game later when Federer sent down his fifth ace at the 24-minute mark.

Even out of position, the Swiss was at his improvising best. Crammed into a short backswing on the forehand wing, he guided a forehand down the line past Lopez to bring up two set points at 5-3 in the second set and surged to a two-set lead when his opponent misqueued a backhand wide.

When Lopez rolled down his first double fault of the match to concede the break for 1-3 in the third set, the contest looked all but over. But an error-ridden lapse cost the Swiss his serve in the ensuing game – the first time the Spaniard had broken him in their past four matches. The No.3 seed stepped it up a level to pounce on the Lopez serve at 5-6, working his way to an off-forehand winner to bring up a match point.

His fourth-round meeting with No. 33 seed Philipp Kohlchreiber was complete when the Spaniard netted one final forehand at the one-hour, 48-minute mark. Federer will carry an equally imposing 11-0 FedEx Head2Head record into his match with the 33-year-old German.

“I guess I maybe needed just a few hours here on this court,” Federer said. “I needed to get over the fear of the back issue, especially in that first match, the first set. Then I think the wobble I had in the second round was due to my preparation. 

“I think 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, you know, about the past. So it’s nice to be in the present in my mind, looking ahead, thinking tactics.”

Kohlschreiber earlier booked his fourth-round berth with a 7-5, 6-2, 6-4 victory over Australia’s John Millman. Kohlschreiber joked in his on-court interview that he would prefer a contest with Lopez on Monday.

He will look to reach his first Grand Slam quarter-final in five years, since making the last eight at Wimbledon in 2012 (l. to Tsonga). The German has rebounded strongly at the US Open, having missed the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events in Montreal and Cincinnati. He is playing his first tournament since winning the eighth title of his career in Kitzbuhel (d. Sousa). 

“I had a good preparation, even though I didn’t play the previous tournaments on hard courts,” Kohlschreiber told ATPWorldTour.com. “I worked on my fitness and had great focus for the tournament. The draw is also a crucial thing and I’ve had pretty good opponents for my game style. But overall, I’m feeling pretty great.

“For me, winning is the major thing to build the confidence. Everybody can play great tennis, but it’s about how much you believe. The last two tournaments on clay I played pretty good, [SF in Hamburg, title in Kitzbuhel]. I found my rhythm and my level again and took it from the clay-court season to New York.”

It took four sets, but Rafael Nadal secured his place in the Round of 16 at the US Open. Nadal defeated Leonardo Mayer 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 with the roof closed on Arthur Ashe Stadium on Saturday.

For the second straight match, the World No. 1 was forced to rebound after dropping the opening set. On Thursday, he rallied from a set and a break down to defeat Taro Daniel and on Saturday, it was Mayer who sent an early message under the lights on Ashe.

Mayer imposed himself from the baseline during the 63-minute opener, sending Nadal scrambling from side to side. The Argentine incredibly saved the first 13 break points faced, consistently coming up clutch in the critical moments. But Nadal found his range as the second set commenced, eventually scoring his first break of the match on his 14th opportunity and drawing level with a rifled forehand pass.

The top seed would drop just five games in the third and fourth sets, eventually prevailing after three hours and 15 minutes. He struck 39 winners and claimed 51 of 75 rallies over four shots.

“It was a slow start of converting break points and when you have that many break points, you created the opportunities, more than usual,” said Nadal. “So if you are able to convert one, two of them, probably we will talk about another story because that’s the real thing. In the tie-break, I made a mistake, he played well and had some good serves.

“When you see that you lost a set that you had triple more opportunities than your opponent, then of course you are in trouble. At the beginning of the second, I had break points again. After that, finally I converted one at the 14th opportunity. After that, the match was completely different.

“You need matches like this. Then now I have the opportunity to compete again, to try to do it well. I am in the second week. That’s the important thing. I already won three matches in a row. That’s important news for me.”

Out of this world for most…

Standard for @RafaelNadal…#USOpen pic.twitter.com/rtOKwXtY7h

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 3, 2017

Mayer was bidding to reach the Round of 16 at a Grand Slam for the second time (Wimbledon 2014). He saw his win streak as a lucky loser snapped at seven, having won the ATP World Tour 500 title in Hamburg coming into the US Open.

Nadal, who owns a tour-leading 52 match wins this year, will look to reach the quarter-finals in New York for the first time since 2013 when he faces Alexandr Dolgopolov on Monday. He leads the FedEx ATP Head2Head 6-2, with their lone 2017 battle resulting in a straight sets win for the Spaniard in Brisbane.

Dolgopolov is enjoying his most successful Grand Slam campaign since 2011, when he also advanced to the fourth round in New York (l. to Djokovic). The Ukrainian was ruthless is downing Viktor Troicki 6-1, 6-0, 6-4 in just one hour and 22 minutes, firing 24 winners and converting seven of 10 break chances.

“It’s unbelievable, really,” said Dolgopolov. “It’s one of my best matches lately. I’m really happy that I’m healthy again. I’m playing five-set matches, winning, not just one but quite a few. Now I’m in the second week, so it’s unbelievable.”

Juan Martin del Potro continued his flawless progress through the top half of the US Open draw, claiming his third straight-sets win of the tournament on Saturday as he defeated Roberto Bautista Agut 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 in the third round.

The Argentine will look to keep his run going when he faces sixth seed Dominic Thiem in the fourth round on Monday. Del Potro leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry 2-0, including victory over the Austrian at this stage in New York last year, when Thiem was forced to retire. 

Looking ahead to the clash with Thiem, del Potro said, “He has everything to win the match. He’s having a great season already. He’s the favourite for the match. But I like to play him. I like to play him in this tournament. Hopefully I can do a good match.”

Del Potro won his lone major crown at Flushing Meadows in 2009 (d. Federer) and made quarter-final appearances in 2012 (l. to Djokovic) and 2016 (l. to Wawrinka), making it his most successful Grand Slam championship.

.@delpotrojuan shares a sweet moment with fans on the Grandstand
▶️ the clip. https://t.co/Zu8RseB0gd ❤️ #usopen pic.twitter.com/yDarmr9G5o

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 2, 2017

Against the 11^th-seeded Bautista Agut, del Potro fired 14 aces, hitting 38 winners to 32 unforced errors. The right-hander converted five of his 13 break points and won 78 per cent of his first service points. 

“I think I played the best match of the tournament,” said del Potro. “I hit so well my forehand. I served well during the whole match. I played very smart with my slice. I came to the net very often, tried to be aggressive all the time, and I think I played well.”

Dominic Thiem served himself an early birthday present on Saturday at the US Open as he defeated Adrian Mannarino 7-5, 6-3, 6-4. Thiem, who will turn 24 on Sunday, is through to the fourth round at Flushing Meadows for the third time in four years.

The Austrian, a two-time semi-finalist at Roland Garros, is bidding to reach the quarter-finals in New York for the first time and will face either Juan Martin del Potro, whom he met at this stage last year, or Roberto Bautista Agut.

Thiem overcame a blistering start from Mannarino, who has been a player in form the past few weeks, reaching the final in Antalya (l. to Sugita) and the quarter-finals in Los Cabos (l. to Berdych) and Montreal (l. to Shapovalov).

From 3-5 down in the opener, Thiem reeled off seven straight games to take a 7-5, 3-0 lead. After securing a two-set advantage, the Austrian then broke in the first game of the third set before going on to seal victory in two hours and 12 minutes, improving to a perfect 6-0 mark against Mannarino in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series.

“It was a good match,” said Thiem in his on-court interview. “He is a very tough opponent, he’s been in great shape the past few months. The turning point was breaking back for 5-5 in the first set, otherwise it would have been very, very complicated.”

After a stellar season so far, Thiem is well placed at fourth in the Emirates ATP Race To London as he bids to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the second year in a row. The right-hander captured the title in Rio de Janeiro (d. Carreno Busta), reached his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final in Madrid (l. to Nadal) and made the semi-finals at Roland Garros (l. to Nadal).