Federer relieved to overcome Andreev

ROGER FEDERER admitted he was a relieved man after narrowly avoiding a fourth-round upset at the US Open late on Tuesday night.

The second-seeded Federer dug deep to defeat Igor Andreev 6-7 (5/7) 7-6 (7/5) 6-3 3-6 6-3 while number three seed Novak Djokovic also survived a five-set match to book spots in the quarter-finals. Andy Roddick joined the pair with a rout in the day’s final match.

Federer is hoping to capture his fifth consecutive US Open title and had not lost a set in the first three rounds but he was off the pace from the start, producing a number of poor shots before losing the first set on a tie-break.