RICKY’S PICKS AND PREVIEW FOR SATURDAY’S U.S. OPEN SHOWDOWN • FEDERER AND KYRGIOS

Written by: Staff on 31st August 2018

RICKY'S PICKS AND PREVIEW FOR SATURDAY'S U.S. OPEN SHOWDOWN • FEDERER AND KYRGIOS

epa06979938 Nick Kyrgios of Australia hits a return to Radu Albot of Moldova on the second day of the US Open Tennis Championships the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 28 August 2018. The US Open runs from 27 August through 09 September. EPA-EFE/COREY SIPKIN |

Nick Kyrgios of Australia hits a return to Radu Albot of Moldova on the second day of the US Open Tennis Championships the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 28 August 2018. The US Open runs from 27 August through 09 September. EPA-EFE/COREY SIPKIN

By Ricky Dimon

With an assist from chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani, it will be Roger Federer vs. Nick Kyrgios on Saturday at the U.S. Open.

Kyrgios controversially survived his second-round match against Pierre-Hugues Herbert on Thursday afternoon, setting up a blockbuster battle that will be the fourth between these two players. To say the head-to-head series so far has not disappointed would be a gross understatement. In fact, it generally produces some of the most entertaining stuff the sport of tennis has to offer.

All three previous Fed-Nick meetings have required deciding third-set tiebreakers and an incredible eight of nine sets have resulted in ‘breakers. Kyrgios scored a 6-7(2), 7-6(5), 7-6(12) upset at the 2015 Madrid Masters, Federer got the job done 7-6(9), 6-7(9), 7-6(5) last spring in Miami, and the Swiss prevailed 6-7(2), 6-2, 7-6(5) earlier this summer in Stuttgart.

This next highly anticipated chapter of the rivalry almost did not happen. Kyrgios trailed Herbert 6-4, 3-0 in the second round before Lahyani implored the Aussie to stop giving tennis a bad look and start trying. Kyrgios obliged, dominating the rest of the proceedings for a 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-3, 6-0 victory. The world No. 30, who preceded that success with a four-set defeat of Radu Albot, is a now a solid but abbreviated 23-10 for what his been another injury-plagued season.

Federer knows a repeat of Thursday’s incident is not in the cards for Saturday.

“You think it’s going to happen again? It will not happen twice in a row,” the 37-year-old commented.

Kyrgios agrees. “I’m going to compete my ass off,” he told the crowd after getting past Herbert.

He’ll have to if he wants a realistic shot at upsetting Federer, who has advanced with straight-set defeats of Yoshihito Nishioka and Benoit Paire. The five-time U.S. Open champion is now 6-1 on hard courts this summer with a loss only to Novak Djokovic in the Cincinnati Masters title match.

“Yeah, it’s going to be a lot of fun,” Kyrgios assured. “I definitely know that I won’t be the favorite, (or) the crowd favorite here…. I do believe I can beat him. I have done it before. It’s going to be a lot of fun. I’m going to be looking forward to it.”

Obviously, this should be a great one. And a super fun one. Kyrgios is a different player–and more importantly different person–on any kind of big stage than he is against an unseeded opponent on Court 17, and it does not get any bigger than going up against Federer in Arthur Ashe Stadium. Even when motivated, however, the 23-year-old remains inconsistent. Look for Federer to take advantage of some ill-time lapses and cross the finish line before another final-set tiebreaker becomes necessary.

Pick: Federer in 4