U.S. Open 2012: Roger Federer Rolls Through Day 6

On a day where some of the top seeds in both the men’s and women’s singles draws are in action, all eyes will once again be on Andy Roddick. The U.S. tennis legend and 2003 U.S. Open champion, who announced last week that he would retire after this tournament, faces Fabio Fognini at 1:30 ET Sunday. Roddick rolled through his first match since announcing his retirement, a straight-sets win over Bernard Tomic. Fognini was equally quick in knocking out Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the third round.

Elsewhere in the men’s bracket, second-seeded Novak Djokovic faces No. 31 Julien Benneteau at 11:00 a.m. ET. Ninth-rated John Isner, the highest-ranked American man in the draw, takes on No. 19 Philipp Kohlschreiber in Sunday’s late match, scheduled for approximately 9 p.m. ET. No. 4 seed David Ferrer plays Lleyton Hewitt at 11 a.m. ET. No. 7 Juan Martin del Potro, No. 8 Janko Tipsarevic, and No. 13 Richard Gasquet are also in action.

It looked like it was going to be an an easy night for American Mardy Fish. He won his first set against France’s Gilles Simon 6-1. Simon thought otherwise and hoped to make Fish the fifth American to exit the US Open today. Fish appeared to be his own worst enemy. Somehow after 75 unforced errors, a lingering injury and a major disagreement with a referee, Fish was able to beat Gilles in four sets.

Following Fish’s first set victory, Simon forced a tie-break in the second set and would go on to win 7-5. Getting the match to the tie-break could be attributed to the semi-meltdown that Fish had over two calls against him. Fish would show his displeasure throughout the game by making offhanded comments and slowly coming to the service line. Fish would refocus and take the next set to tie-break and eventually win 7-6. Fish’s serve topped out at 132 mph during the game leading to 16 aces. Using this and body language of his opponent indicating a leg injury, Fish would make his opponent run around until Simon stopped trying to get at balls. A 6-3 set for Fish gave him the victory.

With a 7-6 victory in the first set of his match on Saturday, No. 27 Sam Querrey extended his streak of set victories to seven. Unfortunately for the American, the three sets following that first set victory went in favor of his opponent, No. 6 Tomas Berdych.

With a 6-7, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 victory, the Czech Republic-native, Berdych, moved on to the quarterfinals where he’ll face No. 11 Nicolas Almagro of Spain. The loss is the end of the road for Querrey, though, as he failed to advance past the third round in his eighth consecutive Grand Slam tournament.

Ana Ivanovic survived a scare from American Sloane Stephens on Saturday night, emerging as the 7-6, 4-6, 6-2 winner in Arthur Ashe Stadium at the 2012 U.S. Open. The 12-seeded Serbian took control in the third set after winning the 10-minute-long sixth game to take a 4-2 lead.

The match extended past two hours early in the third set, and fatigue was evident on both players. Ivanovic served with a deuce advantage for a commanding 3-1 in the final set and double faulted. In the next game, Stephens double faulted twice to help Ivanovic to a 3-2 final-set lead.

Andy Murray beat Feliciano Lopez at the 2012 U.S. Open, surviving a grueling match with three tie-breakers in the final set.

Murray won in four sets, 7-6, 7-6, 4-6 and 7-6. It was the second year in a row that Murray eliminated Lopez in the second round.

Roger Federer showed on Saturday why he’s the top seed at this year’s U.S. Open by punching his ticket into the fourth round with a win over Spaniard Fernando Verdasco.

Federer bested Verdasco in straight sets 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. Verdasco was a game opponent as always, but Federer cruised to his victory without much issue. He was greatly assisted by the fact that Verdasco struggled with his accuracy and had 35 unforced errors.

Serena Williams defeated Ekaterina Makarova in straight sets, 6-4, 6-0, to move on to Round 4 of the 2012 U.S. Open Tennis Tournament.

Williams will face the winner of the Maria Kirilenko vs. Andrea Hlavackova match, which is scheduled to begin shortly after the completion of the Nicolas Almagro/Jack Sock men’s contest. With Saturday’s win, Williams continues to roll through the competition, as each of her first three wins of the tournament have come in straight sets. It took Williams just 79 minutes to dispatch her third round opponent, as she racked up eight aces and won 86 percent of first-serve points.

Nicolas Almagro came away with a four-set match victory against Jack Sock on Day 6 of the U.S, Open on Saturday. Almagro won 7-6, 6-7, 7-6, 6-1 in what was a close match until the fourth and final set. One commentator said this was as close to a chess match in tennis you could see.

Sock had to get treatment on his quad after the third set because his serve and return was so strong. Almagro was still able to keep him at bay and then took control at the end as he dominated the fourth set.

Agnieszka Radwanska, the world’s second-ranked woman, defeated No. 30 Jelena Jankovic in two sets on Saturday to advance to the fourth round of the 2012 U.S. Open. Radwanska was yet to really be challenged in the tournament in the earlier rounds, although Jankovic changed that on Saturday morning.

Radwanska won the first set 6-3. She then won the second and decisive second set 7-5. Jankovic had more winners than her opponent did (23 to 15), but it was 37 unforced errors that cost her the match. Radwanska’s serve topped out at 107 mph, while Jankovic’s was even harder at 110.

Top-seeded Roger Federer and No. 4-ranked Serena Williams will highlight the Day 6 action of the 2012 U.S. Open on Saturday at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Federer will face No. 25-ranked Fernando Verdasco of Spain at 11 a.m. at the tournament’s center stage. Williams will face unseeded Russian Ekaterina Makarova in the afternoon after 1 p.m.

Serena Williams and Roger Federer love playing at the US Open. Today, the three-time champ Williams, dispatched of opponent Ekaterina Makarova [RUS] in straight sets 6-4, 6-0. Per usual, the five-time champion Federer had no problem taking out Fernando Verdasco [ESP] in straight sets 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

Federer will take on American Mardy Fish on Monday after Fish won his match against Gilles Simon on Saturday, 6-1, 5-7, 7-6, 6-3. Fish looked to be having issues with a possible groin injury in his match.