Asked if he realised Roger Federer had won 35 straight points — yes, 35 — on his serve, Feliciano Lopez blinked his green eyes. “On his serve?” he repeated. Maybe he was clarifying the stat, maybe he was in disbelief. No matter Monday night. Federer was off to play Andy Roddick in the quarter finals at the US Open.On Tuesday, 20th seed Juan Ignacio Chela was stretched by Stanislas Wawrinka before he won 4-6, 6-2, 6-7, 1-6, 6-4 to reach the quarter final..Federer’s streak came out of nowhere. The match was tied going into the third set, and Federer was down 0-40. Then, over a span of nine games, he won every point he served. Told the remarkable number, Federer was curious—and impressed. “What are you talking about?” he said. “That’s awesome.” Federer wound up winning 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-4 in the fourth round, rallying after the Spanish left-hander caused him some early trouble.“I was under a lot of pressure tonight,” Federer said. Hard to tell, especially when he got rolling. Trying for his fourth straight US Open title, the No. 1-ranked Federer faces No. 5 Andy Roddick.Federer has done pretty well against the 2003 champion and the runner-up last year. To the tune of 13-1, including nine straight wins. Roddick is the only American left, marking the first US Open since 1998 without at least two in the quarter finals.James Blake had a chance to join in, but missed on three match points and lost to No. 10 Tommy Haas 4-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-0, 7-6 (4). His rooting section, the rowdy J-Block, did its best to cheer him on, but the sixth-seeded Blake couldn’t come up with that last, winning shot. “It’s going to sting for a little while,” he said.Haas will play No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko in the quarters. He eliminated Lee Hyung-taik 6-1, 6-3, 6-4.Earlier, Roddick was leading 7-6 (6), 2-0 when his fourth-round opponent, No. 9 Tomas Berdych, stopped playing because he had trouble breathing and felt sluggish.On the women’s side, former champ Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Victoria Azarenka 6-2, 6-3 and moved on to play Agnes Szavay. The 18-year-old player from Hungary defeated Julia Vakulenko 6-4, 7-6 (1). Also, No. 18 Shahar Peer beat No. 30 Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4, 6-1, and No. 6 Anna Chakvetadze topped Tamira Paszek 6-1, 7-5. On Tuesday night, top-seeded Justine Henin plays No. 8 Serena Williams in the most attractive match of the day. Also in action are No. 2 Rafael Nadal and No. 3 Novak Djokovic. Concerned that the two women’s quarter finals set for Wednesday—Kuznetsova vs. Szavay and Chakvetadze vs. Peer—weren’t dazzling enough, US Open officials changed the schedule.The match between six-time major champion Venus Williams and No. 3 Jelena Jankovic was shifted from Tuesday to Wednesday night.Blake, one of the most popular players in the tournament, only wished he was still going on. “I was a little indecisive at the end there,” he said. “Did come down to one or two points there. It’s frustrating I didn’t win them.”
