For the second straight game, Roger Federer suffered to win at Arthur Ashe Stadium. After defeating Frances Tiafoe in five sets, the Swiss player was against the ropes again against Mikhail Youzhny, who forced him to play five more sets.
The Swiss won 6-1, 6-7, 4-6, 6-4 and 6-2 in three hours and 11 minutes of play. The Swiss will face Spaniard Feliciano Lopez in the third round, who defeated fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco in four sets (6-3, 6-2, 3-6 and 6-1) and has never defeated Federer in 12 matches.
Federer struggled despite the fact that he was facing one of the players who he has dominated throughout his career as he has piled 16 wins in 16 matches against the Russian.
Judging by the first set most people in the stadium must have thought that Federer was going to have an easier day against Youzhny and would improve to 17-0 against him, but the match got out of Federer’s hands and before he knew it.
The second set began with the world number two losing the serve to Youzhny but quickly recovered, to get a break in his favor. Nevertheless, the Russian started hitting a lot of winners as the Swiss’ game became erratic. The set ended in a tie-break that the Russian deservedly would take.
In the third set, Youzhny’s serve was exceptional while Federer continued to struggle with a lot of errors. The Russian won the third set and went up 2-1 in front of a crowd that was perplexed by Federer’s ineffectiveness.
In the fourth set, the match was very close, but Federer’s experience proved crucial in the key moments as he recovered. The Russian became nervous and Federer began to play more aggressively and hit some winners as he tied the match 2-2 to force the final set.
The Russian’s struggles increased as fatigue mounted and he started to suffer some ankle problems. Youzhny failed to close the match when he had his opponent on the ropes and Federer’s fourth set victory only made his confidence grow.
With the change of momentum and the Russian’s pains and problems evident to everyone in the Stadium the Swiss breezed to a fifth set win and moved on to the third round.
It is the first time in his career that Federer has played five-set matches in the first two rounds of a Grand Slam.
