Federer faces tall order against Isner in U.S. Open

Roger Federer, shown at Indian Wells in March, will
  face John Isner in the fourth round of the U.S. Open
on Monday. Photo by Paul Bauman

   ESPN got the Labor Day matchup it wanted.
   Roger Federer, a five-time U.S. Open champion, will face John Isner, the top American, on Monday in the fourth round at Flushing Meadows.
   Federer, seeded No. 2, dismissed No. 29 Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 on Saturday.
   No. 13 Isner, who's 6-foot-10 (2.08 meters), advanced when Jiri Vesely, a Czech who's only 6-foot-6 (1.98 meters), retired with a neck injury after losing the first two sets 6-3, 6-4.
   Vesely became the 16th player, including 14 men, to quit during a match at this year's U.S. Open. That's a record for a Grand Slam tournament in the Open era, which began in 1968. One factor has been high heat and humidity, although Saturday's weather was mercifully cooler.
   Federer is 4-1 against Isner, but they haven't met in three years. The series includes one encounter in the U.S. Open, a four-set victory by Federer in the third round in 2007. It was the first time they played each other.

Isner, shown at Indian Wells in 2012, is 1-4
against Federer. Photo by Paul Bauman

   "It's going to be fun," Isner said. "It's what I work so hard for, to get an opportunity like this. On Monday I'm going to have fun with it. At the same time, I'm going to go out there and believe that I can win the match."
   Another American, unseeded Donald Young, outlasted 22nd-seeded Viktor Troicki of Serbia 4-6, 0-6, 7-6 (3), 6-2, 6-4 to equal his best Grand Slam result. He also reached the fourth round of the 2011 U.S. Open.
   It was the second time in three matches that Young, a 26-year-old left-hander, won after losing the first two sets. He had never accomplished the feat before knocking off 11th-seeded Gilles Simon of France on Tuesday.
   On the women's side, qualifier Johanna Konta of Great Britain ousted 18th-seeded Andrea Petkovic of Germany 7-6 (2), 6-3. Konta will meet No. 5 Petra Kvitova, who beat No. 32 Anna Schmiedlova, a 20-year-old Slovakian, 6-2, 6-1.
   No. 2 Simona Halep of Romania outclassed qualifier Shelby Rogers of Charleston, S.C., 6-2, 6-3.
   Also, No. 26 Flavia Pennetta of Italy ended the run of Petra Cetkovska of the Czech Republic with a 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 triumph. Cetkovska was coming off a win over fourth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki, the U.S. Open runner-up for the second time last year. 
   Northern California connection -- In a battle of past and reigning champions of the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford, No. 20 seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus subdued No. 11 Angelique Kerber of Germany 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 in almost three hours.
   Azarenka and Kerber won the Bank of the West in 2010 and last month, respectively. Azarenka will face unseeded Varvara Lepchenko, a U.S. citizen from Uzbekistan who has reached the semifinals at Stanford the past two years.
   In the second round of men's doubles, Americans Eric Butorac and Scott Lipsky defeated Gilles Muller of Luxembourg and Asiam-Ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan 6-4, 6-4. Butorac played for the now-defunct Sacramento Capitals in World TeamTennis in 2008, and Lipsky starred at Stanford from 1999 to 2003.
   In the second round of women's doubles, sixth-seeded Raquel Kops-Jones of San Jose and Abigail Spears of Colorado Springs, Colo., advanced by walkover against Eugenie Bouchard of Canada and Elena Vesnina of Russia.
   Bouchard slipped and fell in the locker room on Friday and hurt her head, according to tournament officials. Seeded 25th in singles, she is scheduled to play Roberta Vinci of Italy today in the fourth round.
   Kops-Jones and Spears will play 11th-seeded Sara Errani of Italy and Pennetta, who teamed to eliminate Americans Asia Muhammad and Maria Sanchez 7-6 (5), 6-1. Sanchez was born and raised in Modesto.
   Bethanie Mattek-Sands of Phoenix and Sam Querrey, a San Francisco native living in Las Vegas, beat Australians Daria Gavrilova and John Peers 6-1, 7-5 to reach the mixed doubles quarterfinals.