Roger Federer looked every bit a champion and stayed perfect at the US Open in New York. Andy Roddick showed shades of winning form, too, on Sunday.
No longer No. 1, Federer beat Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 and breezed into the round of 16.
To win his first Grand Slam of the season, Federer needs to take his fifth straight title at Flushing Meadows. He has not lost a set in three matches, and raised his right fist after zinging a forehand down the line to end the match.
"I guess it's just nice to play well. Pretty simple," the No. 2 Federer said. "No complaints."
Third-seeded Novak Djokovic, the Australian Open champion, reached the fourth round with a tougher-than-expected victory over 30th-seeded Serb Marin Cilic and will next meet No. 15 Tommy Robredo of Spain for a quarterfinals berth.
Eighth-seeded Roddick, the last man to win the Open before Federer, beat No. 31 Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-2, 7-5, 7-6 (4).
Roddick will play No. 11 Fernando Gonzalez for a spot in the quarterfinals. Gonzalez beat Jarkko Nieminen of Finland 7-5, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-1.
Federer's next opponent is No. 23 Igor Andreev of Russia, who topped No. 13 Fernando Verdasco of Spain 6-2, 6-4, 6-4. In other men's third-round matches, No. 5 Nikolay Davydenko eliminated fellow Russian Dmitry Tursunov, Luxembourg qualifier Gilles Muller fashioned a 6-7 (3), 3-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (6), 7-5 upset of No. 18 Nicolas Almagro, and Australian Open runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga lost to No. 15 Tommy Robredo 7-6 (2), 6-2, 6-3.
The women are a round ahead, and No. 2 Jelena Jankovic reached the quarterfinals by coming back to beat No. 21 Caroline Wozniacki 3-6, 6-2, 6-1. Jankovic is among five women with a shot at reaching No. 1 in the rankings.
"It's a goal," Jankovic said, "but I want to win a Grand Slam."
Schnyder prevailed 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 against Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia, who ousted 2004 champ Svetlana Kuznetsova in the previous round.
Jankovic will meet No. 29 Sybille Bammer, who got past No. 12 Marion Bartoli of Italy 7-6 (3), 0-6, 6-4 in a match that lasted 3 hours, 5 minutes - believed to be the longest women's match, by time, in US Open history.
"I didn't even really sweat," Bammer said. "I could have played longer."
Muller looked as though he could have, too, even though his match against Almagro stretched beyond four hours.
Muller never had come back from a two-set deficit in his career before doing so in the second round against Tommy Haas of Germany. Now he's done it twice in a row - despite winning a dozen fewer points than Almagro, 187-175, and making 25 more unforced errors. And Muller broke serve only once all match, in the final game.
Muller is the only man from Luxembourg to play in a Grand Slam tournament in the 40-year Open era - and now the first man or woman from the nation to make the fourth round.
Jankovic went into her trademark splits early in the third set reaching for a shot against Wozniacki. She lost the point and stayed splayed on the court, and fans wondered whether she'd hurt herself.
But Jankovic bounced up and easily finished off her 18-year-old Danish opponent.
(Agencies via Shanghai Daily September 2, 2008)