US Open: Roger Federer reaches 34th consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal when Mardy Fish defaults

It’s an amazing thing that Roger Federer on Monday reached his 34th consecutive quarterfinal at a grand slam tournament.

How amazing is this? The second-longest quarterfinal streak of any active player belongs to Novak Djokovic who has reached 13 straight.

But there was nothing amazing about the way that Federer accomplished this: his fourth round opponent, Mardy Fish, dropped out before the start of their match because of an accelerated heartbeat.

“I am really sorry for Mardy. I just want to wish him a speedy recovery,” Federer said in a statement issued by the tournament. “We all want to see him back on tour soon.”

Federer, who has won five of his record 17 Grand Slam titles at the U.S. Open, can reach the semifinals by getting past No. 6 Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic, who eliminated No. 11 Nicolas Almagro of Spain 7-6 (4), 6-4, 6-1.

Berdych stunned Federer in the 2010 Wimbledon quarterfinals on the way to reaching the final there.

“It will be a tough match against Tomas. We have played many times in the past and he has always been a tough opponent,” said Federer, who has won 11 of 15 career head-to-head matchups. “I will have to continue to serve well and dictate the points.”