In the shadow of a blockbuster quarterfinal against Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer faced one of Nadal’s compatriots in Tommy Robredo.  Unlike his fellow Spaniard, Robredo had struggled against Federer throughout his career and had lost all 10 of their meetings.  His relatively bland game relies mostly on consistency, solid movement, and crisp technique to outlast opponents more susceptible to erratic play.  With Robredo playing well behind the baseline, Federer has been able to relax and swing freely on his own weapons while capitalizing on chances to approach the forecourt.

Granted, the Swiss legend has fallen prey to inconsistent patches of his own more often as he has aged.  One of those lulls allowed Robredo to seize a set in their last meeting, at the 2011 Australian Open, but the best-of-five format gives a brilliant shot-maker like Federer the time to find his form, lose it, and find it again.  Most impressive on clay this year and throughout his career, Robredo would find the fast courts less suited to his task.  He never had advanced past the round of 16 at the US Open while reaching multiple quarterfinals at Roland Garros.

Federer had lost more than three games in only one of his first nine sets at this US Open, dominating on serve with only two minor exceptions.  In fact, he had lost just 11 games in his last six sets, while Robredo narrowly dodged a fifth set in his previous match against British surprise story Daniel Evans. 

Rain moved their encounter to the lesser Louis Armstrong Stadium, which had not hosted Federer previously this tournament.  One might have expected the delay and the change in surroundings to disrupt his rhythm in the early stages.   And indeed a forehand error donated a break of serve to start the match.  Some uncharacteristic miscues crept into Robredo’s game as well, handing Federer a break point.  The Spaniard warded it off efficiently, striking a volley winner. 

Soon afterward, the contrast in pace and depth of their groundstrokes began to emerge.  On both his forehand and backhand, Federer achieved greater explosiveness and stronger penetration than Robredo could.  That advantage allowed him to seize the initiative in most rallies, including on his opponent’s modest serve.  As it grew clear that his fellow veteran was reluctant to attack him from the back of the court, Federer hit through Robredo with increasing impunity. 

Always under pressure on his serve, Robredo let a 40-0 lead evaporate in the eighth game.  He escaped by taking a few more risks than he usually does, showing a willingness to leave his comfort zone if required.  Federer’s ability to seize the role of aggressor mattered, of course, only as long as he could execute his shots with consistency.  Down break point at 4-4, he netted a forehand from an awkward position near the service line and gave Robredo the chance to serve for the first set. 

The underdog’s nerves surfaced when the opportunity knocked.   Running around his backhand to hit inside-out forehands, Robredo exposed too much court to Federer and dug himself an early hole.  A spectacular forehand pass down the line could not quite dig him out of it, and the rollercoaster first set remained very much at issue.

Both men held serve comfortably to force a tiebreak, and surprisingly neither man dropped a mini-break until they changed ends at 3-3.  Facing a Robredo second serve on the sixth point, Federer jumped to take the serve as a forehand a split-second too soon.  His opponent alertly recognized that move and placed a second-serve ace down the center line.  Strong defense by Robredo feasted on Federer’s impatience to earn the first mini-break of the tiebreak.  He swept the last five points of the set and won the opening set from Federer for the first time.

Having held multiple leads in that set, Robredo was the better player for long stretches of it.  Federer spurned a key break point that would have let him serve for it, though, and he spurned another with a wayward backhand to start the second set.  Robredo’s first serve began to strike its targets more precisely, but more break points continued to come and go.  While the Spaniard deserved credit for conceding few cheap points, Federer must have felt chagrined by the routine errors that he committed on those break points. 

Deep returns by Robredo started to threaten the Federer serve again midway through the second set, and a pivotal moment arrived when the five-time US Open champion faced triple break point in the eighth game.  Perhaps taking a leaf from Rafael Nadal’s book, Robredo started to add more spin to his balls, creating higher bounces that Federer struggled to control.  A rash of wild forehand errors left Robredo serving for the set.

Hoping to see Federer’s brilliance linger longer in New York, the crowd on Armstrong began to throw its support behind the Swiss star.  He rose to the occasion with sparkling shot-making that showed no fear of his perilous situation.  But two break points slipped away, one on a Robredo cross-court pass, and a picturesque backhand down the line left Federer one point and one set from elimination.  The underdog did not need a second chance, playing a careful yet not passive point before drawing a netted backhand from the world No. 7.

The man who had lost all ten of his meetings with Federer and all seven of his fourth-round matches at the US Open now stood one set away from halting both of those droughts simultaneously.  Federer continued to struggle mightily on converting break points, letting Robredo off the hook after a four-deuce game.  In fact, the Spaniard had not dropped serve since he served for the first set, although he had faced 11 break points.

Four quick errors at 3-3 in the third set shockingly gave Robredo a break at love as his opponent’s shoulders sagged with frustration.  Federer looked flustered in muffing a handful of returns during the next return game, which moved his opponent within a game of becoming the first man to defeat the Swiss star in straight sets here since 2002.  One of the tensest service games of Robredo’s career now loomed as he held a quarterfinal berth and a massive upset on his racket.

Crisp attacking at the net brought Federer to 15-30 before a forehand into the middle of the net left him two points from the exit.  Robredo delivered a massive first serve down the center line and calmly put away the mid-court forehand to set up match point. 

One more service winner was all that he needed.

For the first time in his career, Robredo had reached the quarterfinals at the US Open.  And he had done so by slaying a long-time nemesis, which made the triumph taste even sweeter.  He likely will face Rafael Nadal at that stage, though, so Robredo cannot savor the achievement for long as he prepares for a highly physical encounter as the underdog once more.

In the wake of a second-round upset by Sergiy Stakhovsky at Wimbledon, Federer’s loss will fuel more questions regarding what seems to be an irreversible decline.  He remains a contender at any tournament that he enters, considering his exceptional talents, yet he now has lost before the final at five straight majors for the first time since 2002.  Federer’s fans will hope that he rebounds from a series of embarrassments at majors in 2013 to claim satisfying redemption in 2014.  But time is not on his side.