By Joe McDonald
Photo credit: Andrew Patron/Camerasport
NEW YORK—Richard Gasquet "went away" the last time he played a full match against Roger Federer. The ultra-talented Frenchman has returned as a changed man in Federer's eyes.
The 12th-seeded Gasquet rallied for a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 victory over sixth-seeded Tomas Berdych, setting up a quarterfinal against Federer. It is a match of wondrously fluid one-handed backhands and nightmare results for Gasquet.
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Federer has won 14 of their 16 meetings, sweeping straight-sets wins in both of their Grand Slam meetings in the 2006 Wimbledon opener and the 2007 Wimbledon semifinals.
In their last completed match, Federer stomped Gasquet permitting just eight games on the red clay of Lille to clinch Switzerland's first Davis Cup championship last fall. Gasquet showed little stomach for the fight that day, but Federer suggests the 29-year-old Frenchman, who has reached his second Flushing Meadows quarterfinal in the last three years, is playing his best tennis right now.
"I'm not sure if I've seen maybe Gasquet play as well as he has right now," Federer said. "I really like the way he played in Wimbledon, and also now here. I haven't seen that much. But the match I saw that he played against Stan and Novak at Wimbledon was impressive. He had a good attitude. He was fighting. Good shot selection. I don't know, it was nice, you know. "
Federer dispatched American No. 1 John Isner, 7-6 (0), 7-6 (6), 7-5 to reach the quarterfinals and make history. It was the first time anyone had ever dished out a bagel in tie break to Isner.
The 34-year-old father of two sets of twins joins fellow 30-and-over veterans Feliciano Lopez, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Stan Wawrinka in the quarterfinals. It's the first time four men aged 30 or older have reached the last eight in New York since 1982 when Jimmy Connors, Tom Gullikson, Guillermo Vilas and Kim Warwick did it.
Following up his Wimbledon semifinal run with a confident performance in New York, Gasquet has beaten Thanasi Kokkinakis, Robin Haase, 24th-seeded Bernard Tomic and Berdych to reach the quarterfinals.
"Now he's backing it up. I'm sure he gained confidence from Wimbledon," Federer said. "That's why I expect it to be tougher than maybe in previous years against him or previous times. I know he can play much better at Davis Cup. I know I played very well, as well. Still I expected him to be tougher there, because I beat him in straight sets. I don't know, he kind of went away. In Dubai, of course, he was injured. That doesn't count.
"I feel like this could be one of the tougher Gasquets I've played in previous years, so I expect it to be difficult," said the second-seeded Swiss, who is playing to return to the US Open final for the first time since 2009.