Federer breezes into showdown with Roddick

Attempting to list Roger Federer's strengths is like trying to count the floors of a Manhattan skyscraper. The first few are straightforward, but you soon find yourself overwhelmed by the task.

It would only be after qualities like his majestic forehand, speed around the court and steely nerve that you would start to think about Federer's serve. The Swiss does not hit thunderbolts like Andy Roddick, cannot strike the ball from the height of Ivo Karlovic and does not have the benefit of being a left-hander like Feliciano Lopez, who can swing the ball away from his opponent's backhand.

Lopez, however, would be the first to recognise the less obvious weapons in the world No 1's serving armoury: economy of action, disguise, variety, pin-point placement and sheer consistency. Federer beat the Spaniard 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-4 in the fourth round of the US Open here on Monday night after an extraordinary sequence of service games. From 0-40 down in the first game of the third set Federer won 35 points in a row on his own serve, breaking the run only when he mishit a forehand at 30-0 in the final game.

Federer was unaware of the numbers. "That's awesome," he said on being told of the statistics. "I was feeling great on the serve, my God. I was serving well and playing aggressive and things really turned around for me."

Lopez, the world No 60, can blow hot and cold, as Tim Henman discovered earlier this summer when he lost to the 25-year-old Spaniard over five sets in his last match on Centre Court at Wimbledon.

For a set and nine games here Lopez's game matched the oven-like conditions in Arthur Ashe Stadium after another day of blazing sunshine. He served beautifully, volleyed with great assurance – unlike many of his compatriots Lopez does not suffer a nose bleed when he comes to the net – and dictated most of the points with his aggressive groundstrokes.

Federer, however, loves a challenge and after breaking serve to take the second set he turned the heat back on the Spaniard with a lovely display of attacking tennis. He admitted afterwards that in the past he might have made the mistake of trying to take on Lopez at his own game, rushing into the net, but experience had told him to bide his time.

"I had to come up with some very good passing shots to create opportunities," he said. "I forced the issue more and more at the end of the second set. Once I got the crucial break in the set I started to read his serve better."

In the quarter-finals Federer plays Roddick, who went through after Tomas Berdych retired in the second set of their match with breathing problems. Federer has won 13 of their 14 meetings, including last year's final here and their most recent encounter, when the world No 1 dropped only six games in winning their Australian Open semi-final with arguably the most dazzling tennis seen this year.

Roddick, understandably, was less than expansive when asked to recall that match – "The Australian Open is in the past," he said – while Federer insisted that the American's serve – "maybe the best in the game" – always made him a tough opponent.

The first match in today's night session will be the women's quarter-final between Venus Williams and Jelena Jankovic, originally scheduled for yesterday. Such is the dearth of big names in the quarter-finals of the lower half of the draw – Svetlana Kuznetsova plays Agnes Szavay, while Anna Chakvetadze meets Shahar Peer – that organisers decided they needed bigger attractions for the evening TV audience.

Tomorrow's programme features the mixed doubles final, which Britain's Jamie Murray and his partner, Liezel Huber, were hoping to reach. They went into their semi-final late yesterday against Meghann Shaughnessy and Leander Paes full of confidence after dropping only three games against Agnieszka Radwanska and Mariusz Fyrstenberg in the quarter-finals.

Huber, a 31-year-old South African-born American, is a doubles specialist who won the women's doubles at this year's Australian Open and Wimbledon. Jankovic, who partnered Murray to the Wimbledon title, has been concentrating on the singles here.

* Bjorn Borg will play at the BlackRock Masters at the Royal Albert Hall in December for the first time in seven years.

US Open results from Flushing Meadows

Men's singles

Fourth round: R Federer (Swit) bt F Lopez (Sp) 3-6 6-4 6-1 6-4; A Roddick (US) bt T Berdych (Cz Rep) 7-6 2-0 ret; N Davydenko (Rus) bt Hyung Taik Lee (S Kor) 6-1 6-3 6-4; T Haas (Ger) bt J Blake (US) 4-6 6-4 3-6 6-0 7-6.

Women's singles

Fourth round: A Szavay (Hun) bt J Vakulenko (Ukr) 6-4 7-6; S Kuznetsova (Rus) bt V Azarenka (Bela) 6-2 6-3; A Chakvetadze (Rus) bt T Paszek (Aut) 6-1 7-5; S Peer (Isr) bt A Radwanska (Pol) 6-4 6-1.

Men's doubles

Quarter-finals: S Aspelin (Swe) and J Knowle (Aut) bt B Bryan and M Bryan (US) 7-5 6-4; J Benneteau and N Mahut (Fr) bt R Kendrick and S Querrey (US) 6-3 6-4; P Hanley (Aus) and K Ullyett (Zim) bt M Melo and A Sa (Br) 7-5 6-3.

Women's doubles

Third round: N Dechy (Fr) and D Safina (Rus) bt T Garbin (It) and S Peer (Isr) 6-4 1-6 7-5; B Mattek (US) and S Mirza (Ind) bt L Raymond (US) and S Stosur (Aus) 2-6 7-5 7-5.

Mixed doubles

Quarter-finals: V Azarenka and M Mirnyi (Bela) bt S Mirza and M Bhupathi (Ind) 6-4 6-1; Zi Yan (Ch) and M Knowles (Bah) bt N Dechy (Fr) and A Ram (Isr) 6-4 6-4; L Huber (US) and J Murray (GB) bt A Radwanska and M Fyrstenberg (Pol) 6-1 6-2; M Shaughnessy (US) and L Paes (Ind) bt A Harkleroad and J Gimelstob (US) 6-3 6-4.

Girls' singles

First round: Selected: J Curtis (GB) bt L Jurikova (Slovak) 6-2 6-2.

* seeded players in CAPITALS