ROGER FEDERER FLIES PAST NICK KYRGIOS, AROUND AT THE NET • INTO FOURTH ROUND OF U.S. OPEN

Written by: Staff on 1st September 2018

ROGER FEDERER FLIES PAST NICK KYRGIOS, AROUND AT THE NET • INTO FOURTH ROUND OF U.S. OPEN

epa06991329 Roger Federer of Switzerland reacts after defeating Nick Kyrgios of Australia during the sixth day of the US Open Tennis Championships the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 01 September 2018. The US Open runs from 27 August through 09 September. EPA-EFE/JUSTIN LANE |

Roger Federer of Switzerland reacts after defeating Nick Kyrgios of Australia during the sixth day of the US Open Tennis Championships the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 01 September 2018. The US Open runs from 27 August through 09 September. EPA-EFE/JUSTIN LANE

By Ricky Dimon

Roger Federer had played final-set tiebreakers in each of his three previous meetings with Nick Kyrgios. He did not come close to needing one in the U.S. Open third round on Saturday afternoon. The 37-year-old battled through a tough first set and was then off to the races, surging to a 6-4, 6-1, 7-5 victory.

“He played really well today,” Kyrgios said of Federer. “I thought the first set was key. You know, he played really well today. I didn’t play my best tennis, but he played really, really well. I couldn’t have done much today, I thought.

Federer was particularly impressive on one specific point in the third set, when he tracked down an angled drop shot by Kyrgios and flicked a backhand winner around the left net post.

“I was trying to tell him that the shot wasn’t that good,” Kyrgios joked, referring to his reaction. “No, it was almost unreal. (The match) almost got to the point where I wanted him to start making shots like that, and I finally got it. I was pretty happy with myself.

“Yeah, it was unbelievable. I’m probably going to place it on Instagram.”

“It was definitely one of the more unique ones (in my career),” Federer commented. “You don’t get an opportunity to hit around the net post very often; you can’t really train them. The net is out further and the court is more narrow, so for a shot like this to happen in a practice, you will be running into a fence and you will hit it into the net. So these shots can only really happen on a big court where you play with the single posts in the doubles alley.

“I have hit a few throughout my career and, sure, they are always fun…. I definitely think it was a special one, no doubt about it.”

The second-ranked Swiss in joined in the second week by John Millman, Joao Sousa, and Philipp Kohlschreiber, who were unseeded winners on Saturday afternoon. Millman and Sousa are through to the last 16 of a major for the first time in their careers, while Kohlschriber upset fellow German and world No. 4 Alexander Zverev.

Madison Keys, Dominika Cibulkova, and Naomi Osaka advanced on the women’s side. Osaka delivered a double-bagel at the expense of Aliaksandra Sasnovich.