20130801fedFederer’s draw has been pretty smooth, about as good as it was at Wimbledon 2012, the year he won the title.

So far, he’s played Grega Zemlja, Carlos Berlocq, and on Saturday evening, Adrian Mannarino.  When interviewed prior to coming on court, he knew he had to do a better job returning serve.  His coach was interviewed, and he said he had worked with Mannarino on his forehand.

In the end, it didn’t matter much.  Federer had too much firepower.  So much so, that some fans wonder how Mannarino won two rounds.  Either Mannarino was injured, or Federer hits a lot harder than most players on tour.  My opinion is Federer just hits hard, which the television doesn’t pick up well, and Mannarino was simply not ready to handle that kind of pace.

Although Mannarino is a lefty, his forehand is far inferior to Nadal.  His backhand is hit quite flat, but while he can get some pace, it’s still hard for him to hit it powerfully and consistently.

Federer won comfortably, 6-3 6-0, 6-2.

Americans tumble

By the end of Saturday, all but one male American was left in the singles draw.  Isner, for the second year in a row, lost to Philipp Kohlschreiber in 4 sets.

Janko Tipsarevic, who has had a horrid year, has had a pretty nice draw, and was able to beat Jack Sock in four sets.

Sam Querrey had already lost earlier, as had Denis Kudla.

That leaves Tim Smyczek who is playing Marcel Granollers on Sunday.

Rafa continues to roll

Rafael Nadal played Ivan Dodig, a player who beat him a few years ago.  This time around, Nadal won without dropping a set.  The big-serving Croat was still no match for Rafa and lost in straight sets.

The other Brit loses

Daniel Evans, who upset Kei Nishikori in the first round, then Bernard Tomic in the second round, lost to veteran Tommy Robredo in the third round.  Robredo has been having a resurgent year, not having played quite at this level in five years or more.  Evans, who doesn’t have the biggest serve, was up a break in two consecutive occasions in the fourth set, including a chance to serve out the set, and push it into the fifth, but each time got broken, and finally was broken to lose the fourth set, 7-5.  This has been the best performance by a male British player not named Andy Murray in recent memory.