Roger Federer overcame early jitters to advance to the fourth round of the 2014 US Open tennis tournament, while Maria Sharapova was not as lucky on Sunday in New York.
Federer dropped the opening set of his rain-delayed game against Marcel Granollers of Spain, but the second-seeded star managed to escape with a victory 4-6, 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 in their third-round match.
The 17-time Grand Slam champion got the break that he needed on Sunday afternoon as the game was halted due to rain when he was 5-2 behind in the opening set. Granollers still won the opening set when the game resumed, but Federer clearly benefited from the delay.
Federer had another reason to smile in day seven as his road to his 18th Grand Slam title got easier as fourth-seeded David Ferrer, who is projected to face the former world No. 1 in the semifinal, lost to 26th-seeded Gilles Simon 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 in their third-round encounter.
"I was not really prepared because everyone was talking about the cooler day with maybe some rain," Ferrer admitted after the match via ESPN. "It was really, really difficult to play. It was hot and it was so humid. I never sweat like this in the last 10 years."
Meanwhile, on the women's side, Maria Sharapova's bid to win her second US Open crown and sixth Grand Slam title ended as she absorbed a 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 loss against 10th-seeded Caroline Wozniacki in the fourth round.
With the win, Wozniacki moved on to the quarterfinals where she will face Sara Errani, who won against Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in their fourth-round showdown 6-3, 2-6, 6-0.
"It's never easy," Wozniacki said when asked about her next match. "It's always easy on paper but never easy in reality. If it was, then all of us would be sitting here as No. 1 in the world and plenty of Grand Slam titles in our pockets. Unfortunately, it's not that easy."
US Open 2014 day 7 results are available on this link, while match highlights can be seen here.
US Open 2014 Day 8 schedule can be viewed here along with the updated bracket on this link.
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