By Chris Oddo | Thursday August 31, 2017
In the end it was what we expected: a Roger Federer win.
In between—well, that’s another story.
Federer survived a wild five-setter with Mikhail Youzhny to book his spot in the third round of the U.S. Open, but the path to victory was winding and often, well, bizarre. The Swiss’ 6-1, 6-7(3), 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 win marks the first time that Federer has played back-to-back five-setters in the first two rounds of a major.
In total he improves to 29-20 in five-setters, and 5-0 in 2017.
The highs and lows of Federer’s game have not inspired a lot of confidence this week in New York, but somehow the Swiss has managed to survive without his best tennis. For now, that will have to be good enough.
“Yes, I might feel more tired than I normally would going into a third round, but that's okay,” Federer told reporters on Thursday. My preparation hasn't been good at all here. I knew I was going to maybe struggle early on. Maybe I struggled more than I would have liked to. But I'm still in the draw, which gives me a chance. I still believe I'm going to pick up my game and become just more consistent because I'm not playing all that bad. It's just that I'm going a bit up and down in waves throughout the match.”
Federer’s 68 unforced errors tell the story of a player that is either struggling with fitness or confidence, and social media was buzzing with opinions on that subject on Thursday.
Patrick Mouratoglou, coach of Serena Williams and a commentator for ESPN, tweeted that Federer’s movement was suffering.
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Others tweeted about decreased velocity from his first and second serves.
Federer isn’t saying much, however.
“I'm better than the first round, so I'm happy,” Federer told reporters. “Yeah, this match wasn't about the back, which is good. This is more just a grind. I felt different, completely different, the way it played and everything. But I'm really, really happy I got through.”
Next up for the Swiss will be Feliciano Lopez. It’s easy to look at the pair’s previous head-to-head and assume that Federer will be able to cruise easily against a player he has defeated in all 12 of their previous meetings. But then again, Youzhny entered today’s match with Federer at 0-16.
Today, the hard-charging Russian stands at 0-17, but if he hadn’t suffered from serious injuries in the fourth and fifth sets things might have been different.
There were certainly be a lot of consternation about Federer’s form and how it will impact him going forward as he tries to pick up momentum in his bid for a 20th career major. But there are also positives.
He found a way to win, again, without his best tennis.
Federer is alive, with a chance to thrive.
“I backed myself to find a way in the fifth,” the 36-year-old said. “I find my way. I don't panic. I think the point-for-point mentality helps me a lot. Not thinking too far ahead.”