Roger Federer takes on old rival James Blake in the last sixteen of the Cincinnati Masters tonight.
Federer will be searching for revenge for his loss to Blake at the 2008 Olympics. Singles gold is one of the few honours still to elude Federer and he went into the Beijing Games with high hopes but Blake played the match of his life in the quarter-finals to deny him, winning 6-4, 7-6.
It was the only time Blake has beaten Federer in ten matches and they have enjoyed some fairly important duels over the years. Blake was once ranked four in the world and Federer beat him 6-0, 6-3, 6-4 in the final of the Masters Cup back in 2006 and 6-1, 6-4 in the Cincinnati final a year later.
“That was obviously a pretty big match for me to lose as well,” Federer said, looking back to that loss at the Olympics. “May be getting a chance for some revenge. I’m looking forward to it. Seems like he’s playing well. Definitely going to be ready for it. Had a great final here years ago, and hope we can make something similar happen.”
As Federer said, Blake has been producing some good tennis of late and if he gets a good draw at the US Open, he may well make the second week. He took out Marcos Baghdatis in round one and proved far too good for Fabio Fognini on Tuesday.
However Federer was at his imperious best a couple of nights ago as he saw off Juan Martin Del Potro in straight sets and it will take a lot to stop him this week at one of his favourite venues on tour.
Look for him to reach the quarters in straight sets.
