Roger Federer Advances to Quarterfinals After Mardy Fish Withdraws from US Open

Roger Federer will be in the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open for the ninth consecutive time after Mardy Fish withdrew from the fourth-round match.

Yahoo! Sports' Jim Slater reported that Fish would be unable to play due to “health reasons.”

Federer, the tournament’s top seed, will now face Tomas Berdych. Berdych is the sixth seed at Flushing Meadows and defeated Nicolas Almagro in three sets.

Berdych cruised to victories in his first two matches. Then American Sam Querrey took the first set against the 26-year-old, but Berdych responded by closing out the victory quickly. 

Federer has won 11 of his 15 matches against Berdych, according to ATPWorldTour.com, although the Czech did defeat the tennis legend in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon two years ago.

Given Federer’s form this summer, it looks unlikely that he is headed toward another upset. He won a record seventh Wimbledon title in early July to regain the world’s No. 1 ranking, then won a silver medal at the same site at the London Olympics.

His success continued at the Western & Southern Open, as he defeated Novak Djokovic in the finals to win his second tournament of the summer.

Federer has not dropped a set thus far at Flushing Meadows. His win by default against Fish was preceded by dominant victories over Donald Young, Bjorn Phau and Fernando Verdasco. 

A win against Berdych would put him through to the semifinals, where his likely opponent will be Andy Murray. The two players met in the finals at both Wimbledon and the Olympics, and this matchup would be the marquee event of the tournament.