Federer plays one of his greatest shots
NEW YORK — The most pivotal part of Roger Federer’s U.S. Open victory over Nick Kyrgios, both men agreed, came all of 17 minutes in, when the 20-time major champion was serving at 3-all, love-40 and got out of the jam.
The most spectacular part came much later. It was the on-afull-sprint, drop-shot-retrieving, flick-from-a-few-inches-off-theground, forehand-around-the-netpost, jaw-dropping winner that Federer conjured up a few games from the conclusion of the 6-4, 6-1, 7-5 tour de force in the third round Saturday.
“Almost unreal,” said Kyrgios, who admired the bit of racket wizardry with eyes wide open and mouth agape.
“A special one, no doubt about it,” declared Federer, who put it up there among his greatest hits.
There’s no rule mandating that the ball travel over the net for a shot to count, but Federer pointed out that this was not the sort of thing he can try in practice, mainly because there isn’t as much room to run wide of the court as in a big arena like Arthur Ashe Stadium, so “you will be running into a fence.”
Much was made of Kyrgios’ previous match, in which chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani climbed out of his seat to have a chat with the 23-year-old player about whether he was giving his best effort while trailing by a set and a break. Kyrgios went on to win and Lahyani was chastised by the U.S. Tennis Association for breaching “protocol,” but allowed to continue officiating at the tournament.
This time, Kyrgios received no sort of counsel during the match other than all the muttering, at various volumes, he directed at himself. He doesn’t have a coach and wondered aloud, during the latest in a long line of news conferences that sound more like therapy sessions.
Federer alluded to one particularly questionable choice Kyrgios made at 5-all, 40-15 in the final set, when he went for a drop shot that found the net instead of simply hitting a normal forehand into the open court.
“Clearly,” Federer said, “when you play that way and you lose, it’s always, like, you feel like he’s so much to blame. But that’s just how he plays.”
The contrast between Kyrgios’ mindset and Federer’s was not lost on the talented, if temperamental, Australian.
“We’re two very different characters. Just the way he goes about things, I could take a leaf out of his book. The way he behaves on court. His demeanour,” the 30thseeded Kyrgios said. “I don’t want to change myself too much, but I could definitely take away things he does in certain situations. He’s the ultimate role model to anyone who wants to play.”
Two seeded men lost in the afternoon: No. 4 Alexander Zverev and No. 17 Lucas Pouille. Zverev still has never made the fourth round in visits to New York after being beaten 6-7 (1), 6-4, 6-1, 6-3 by Philipp Kohlschreiber in an all-German matchup, while Joao Sousa defeated Pouille 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5). Kohlschreiber now meets 2014 runner-up Kei Nishikori, who got past No. 13 Diego Schwartzman 6-4, 6-4, 5-7, 6-1.
The No. 2-seeded Federer moved into the fourth round at Flushing Meadows for the 17th consecutive appearance.