By Chris Oddo | Friday August 17, 2018
37-year-old Roger Federer played two matches in the same day for the first time in 14 years on Friday at Cincinnati, defeating Leonardo Mayer briskly in an afternoon undercard before taking out friend and compatriot Stan Wawrinka in an electric affair, 6-7(2), 7-6(6), 6-2.
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The seven-time Cincinnati champion increases his win streak at the event to 13 while improving to 45-8 lifetime in Ohio. Federer, who never faced a break point over the course of the two hour and 16-minute tilt, has now held serve in 90 consecutive service games dating back to the 2014 final with David Ferrer.
“Felt like two separate days, actually,” Federer told reporters after midnight in Cincinnati. “This afternoon it was daytime, windy and breezy, and then we came out in the nighttime and it was black, and sky, totally different. No wind at all. Different atmosphere. It was quite interesting, actually.”
Federer and Wawrinka split sets before they had to be called off court due to lightning in the area. The tournament has been marred by rain all week, but the players were able to avoid any rainfall and returned to the court after a short delay.
From there Federer took charge, reeling off consecutive breaks down the stretch to earn his 21st victory in 24 matches against Wawrinka.
“Maybe he came out a bit heavy after the rain delay,” Federer said. “I also felt heavy for a second, because it has been a lot of tennis and a lot of focus we had to put into it. Maybe it felt a little bit easier for me and maybe it was a little bit clearer what I wanted to do also from the baseline. And I just didn't want to overhit, to be honest, because I felt like I did that quite a bit the first couple of sets.”
Nevertheless Wawrinka leaves Cincinnati pleased with his progress. The Swiss won three consecutive matches for the first time in well over a year and he has demonstrated an uptick in form on the hardcourts that indicates he might be ready to be a factor at the U.S. Open, where he will play the main draw as a wild card.
"I'm happy to see where I am right now," Wawrinka said. "I had a tough match last week against Rafa. Close match, also. Today was against Roger. They are No. 1 and No. 2 in the world. I beat Schwartzman, I beat Nishikori, so the level is good."
Federer’s victory sets a semifinal clash with David Goffin. The Belgian got past Juan Martin del Potro, 7-6(5), 7-6(4).
Federer owns a 6-1 lifetime record against Goffin but he dropped the pair’s last meeting at the ATP Finals in London last season.