Roger Federer looks to book a US Open quarter-final berth when he takes on Juan Monaco in the night session.
Things are getting tougher for Federer and if he comes through this then his nemesis Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will await in the last eight. The five-time champion came through a serious scare in round three against the powerful Marin Cilic but he eventually came through with aplomb in four sets and he is playing some stunningly versatile attacking tennis right now.
Monaco ended the dreams of former world number two Tommy Haas to reach this stage, defeating the German in four sets to reach the last sixteen of the US Open for a second time. It has been a long while since Monaco's threatened at a Grand Slam but it's hard to see how he can hurt Federer today.
However the Swiss was typically gracious when looking ahead to the match. "Monaco is a tough customer," he said. "You know, he works the ball like all South Americans do, and he's got good grit and battling on every single point. You know, it's always physical against these kind of players."
The Argentine possesses a superb double-handed backhand which becomes a real weapon when he flattens it out and he's a great mover but all in all he doesn't really have enough big shots to give Federer sleepless nights and he will leak errors at times. Haas was in with a shout for a couple of sets but ran out of gas. That will not be a problem for Federer, who has the variety to unsettle Monaco from the back and if he strikes the ball as cleanly as in the latter stages against Cilic, he will just comfortably hit the Argentine off the court.
