Vintage Federer swats away Kyrgios, enters fourth round
US OPEN Gives a masterclass on way to straight sets victory over 30th seed
NEW YORK: Five-time champion Roger Federer found a new way to amaze Saturday as he reached the US Open last 16 with a 6-4, 6-1, 7-5 victory over Nick Kyrgios.
The second-seeded Swiss withstood an early onslaught from the unpredictable Aussie, firing 51 winners that included an unlikely forehand flicked around the net post that Kyrgios couldn’t believe. “Definitely a bit of luck and good feet,” Federer said of the shot that denied Kyrgios a game point -- although the Australian would go on to hold for 4-3 in the third set.
Federer had the luxury of a two-set lead when the duo’s most entertaining exchanges thrilled the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd.
Things would have been much different if Kyrgios could have converted one of four break points in the seventh game of the opening set.
“I think if he breaks there he probably runs away and wins that first set,” Federer said. “He came out firing a lot of aces and feeling good.”
But Federer escaped, breaking Kyrgios to pocket the first set and dominating the second. “He’s an unbelievable frontrunner,” Kyrgios said. “When he gets in front, there’s not much you can do.”
Federer will take on Australian John Millman, who reached the last 16 of a major for the first time with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 victory over Mikhail Kukushkin.
If he makes it past Millman,
Federer could find Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic waiting in the last eight. Djokovic extended his dominance over Richard Gasquet with a 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 victory in front of a rowdy night crowd on the massive Ashe Stadium.
“It was the best match of the week so far without a doubt, and one of the best performances of the hardcourt season after Wimbledon,” said Djokovic.
KERBER, ZVEREV FALL
The third round was the end of the line for men’s and women’s fourthseedGermans- Alexander Zverev and Angelique Kerber.
Kerber, the 2016 US Open winner tying to become the third woman in the last 20 years to win both Wimbledon and the US Open in the same season, was bundled out by Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Zverev, the 21-year-old sensation, who has lifted titles in Munich, Madrid and Washington this year, fell 6-7 (1/7), 6-4, 6-1, 6-3 to veteran compatriot Philippe Kohlschreiber. Fifth seed Petra Kvitova also crashed out, beaten 7-5, 6-1 by Aryna Sabalenka.
DIVIJ OUT
India’s Divij Sharan bowed out after he and his Kiwi partner Artem Sitak were beaten 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 by Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo.