Federer struggles past Cilic to enter US Open Pre-Quarters

Five time former champion Roger Federer was taken the distance by Marin Cilic but he ensured a hard earned win to advance to the last 16 of the 2011 US Open.

Swiss maestro Roger Federer kept hold of his nerves and serves to post a comprehensive yet hard fought win over Croatian Marin Cilic to reach the pre-quarterfinals of the 2011 US Open, season's fourth and final Grand Slam, being played here at Flushing Meadows in New York, USA.

Federer made a fine start to the match and soon grabbed a break of serve to wrap up the first set 6-3. The second set saw some fine rallies and stiff competition when Cilic gallantly held all his serves to eventually force Federer to falter in the tenth game to win the second set 6-4.

The third set once again saw Federer resume top form towards the later stages as the Swiss star broke Cilic's serve in the ninth game to race to a two sets to one lead.

The fourth set gave Federer two breaks of serve, in the third and seventh game after which he completed the tough win with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 scoreline in two hours and 40 minutes of play.

Federer hit 31 winners and 6 aces in the entire match as compared to a whopping 40 from Cilic who also hit 12 aces. However, Cilic's 44 unforced errors turned out to be the decisive factor in Federer's victory today.

Federer now meets the winner of the match between Tommy Haas and Juan Monaco, who are engaged in a tussle at Grandstand at the moment.

In a major upset, Federer's conquerer in Cincinnati, Tomas Berdych lost his match to Serbian Janko Tipsarevic, losing 6-4, 5-0 as he decided to retire from the match soon after an aggravated injury.