Federer, Djokovic, Serena cruise to US Open Last 8

New York — Roger Federer reached the quarterfinals at a 30th consecutive Grand Slam tournament by making quick work of the 36th-ranked Juan Monaco 6-1, 6-2, 6-0 at the U.S. Open.

Federer’s fourth-round match against Monaco didn’t get started until nearly midnight, and thanks to his superb play, it was over shortly before 1:15 a.m. yesterday.

Federer played brilliantly right from the start, taking the first five games — and 20 of the first 25 points — in only 12 minutes. He didn’t miss a beat in the second set, hitting four aces in his opening service game and finishing with 14.

Five of Federer’s record 16 major championships have come at Flushing Meadows.

In the quarterfinals, Federer will face 11th-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, who eliminated No. 8 Mardy Fish of the United States in five sets Monday.

Tsonga upset Federer in the Wimbledon quarterfinals two months ago, coming all the way back after dropping the first two sets.

No. 1 Wozniacki wards off upset

The start of their match was delayed because the preceding match in Arthur Ashe Stadium — No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki’s 6-7 (6), 7-5, 6-1 victory over No. 15 Svetlana Kuznetsova — lasted 3 hours, 2 minutes.

Wozniacki, seeking her first Grand Slam title, trailed by a set and 4-1 in the second before coming back to beat the 2004 U.S. Open champion.

Late Monday, Djokovic extended his 2011 record to 61-2 by beating No. 22 Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine 7-6 (14), 6-4, 6-2.

Their 16-14 tiebreaker in the first set lasted nearly a half-hour all on its own, with Djokovic saving four set points and finally converting his sixth when Dolgopolov pushed a forehand long to close a 13-stroke exchange.

Both men called that tiebreaker the key to the match. One tiny piece of evidence: Dolgopolov double-faulted twice in the opening game of the second set to get broken, and Djokovic was on his way.

Djokovic now meets his Serbian Davis Cup teammate and friend Janko Tipsarevic, who is seeded 20th and made it to the first Grand Slam quarterfinal of his career by beating 2003 French champion and U.S. Open runner-up Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain 7-5, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 in a match that lasted more than 3½ hours.

Serena Williams handled those conditions much better than former No. 1 and 2008 French Open champion Ana Ivanovic and beat her 6-3, 6-4 to return to a Grand Slam quarterfinal for the first time in 14 months. She missed about 11 of those with a series of health scares but looks really good so far at the U.S. Open.

She’s seeded only 28th because of all of that time away, but now has won her past 16 matches heading into a quarterfinal against No. 17 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia. Pavlyuchenkova got past 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 in a match with 21 double-faults and 16 service breaks in 31 games. /ap