WHAT HAPPENED: Roger Federer must have breathed a sigh of relief after winning match point against Feliciano Lopez Saturday night: not simply for the fact that he walked out of Arthur Ashe Stadium with a win, but because he escaped in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5, rather than the marathon five-set route he took in his first two rounds.
Not to mention he was off of work before midnight, on an occasion when night session play began at 9:49 p.m. ET, thanks to a long day session.
Federer's win extends his undefeated win streak against the lefty Spaniard to 13-0, and puts him one win away from his 325th career Grand Slam win.
The Swiss maestro orchestrated an all-court symphony that showcased deft drop shots, manipulating groundstrokes and his signature effortless footwork. His one-hour, 49-minute affair under a closed roof was a welcome performance after spending nearly six hours on court in his two previous matches earlier in the week.
"With those first couple matches, obviously my opponent came out and played very well and pushed it to extra sets," said Federer, addressing the crowd after the match. "And today, that almost happened again in the third set. But Feliciano is always a tough opponent to play against, so I kind of expected he would fight."
The No. 31 seed Lopez barely had a chance to get into the match in the first set, as Federer sprinted through in 24 minutes. Federer's play in the early going indicated that he was in a hurry to make it an early(ish) night. If Lopez wanted to make it a contest, he would have to do more than just hang out at the baseline. The Spaniard approached the net only four times in the first set.
Lopez changed his strategy a bit in the second, coming in to net more and putting pressure on the Federer serve. But sometimes even your best effort against a 19-time Grand Slam champion just isn't enough. Before he knew it, Lopez was down two sets.
Lopez's first double fault of the night in the fourth game of the third set gave Federer the break on what fans had hoped would be a clear path to closing out the match. Yet the Spaniard silenced the Fed fanatics with a break of his own to get back on serve. Lopez put together a respectable effort in the third to hold off Federer, but a forehand error off the Spaniard's racquet clinched the win and moved the No. 3 seed into the round of 16.
WHAT IT MEANS: Until Saturday night, No. 3 seed Federer had taken the scenic route to the third round, needing five sets in both of his first two rounds of play in New York. First, he dodged a bullet against Francis Tiafoe, the young American who played lights-out tennis on Tuesday night. Then, the five-time champion narrowly cleared the hurdle against an unshakable Mikhail Youzhny on Thursday.
However, any questions of lingering back issues were put to rest as he swung freely against Lopez. Federer's next test will be a fourth-round contest with No. 33 Philipp Kohlschreiber. The Spaniard's exit denies him a chance to equal his US Open-best quarterfinal appearance of 2015.
MATCH POINT: Federer kept a tidy game with only 16 unforced errors, yet his first-serve percentage remained at 55 percent on the match. Can the Swiss solve the German Kohlschreiber?
