Roger Federer’s bid for a 20th grand slam title at the US Open has got off to a shaky start after he overcame Frances Tiafoe 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, 1-6, 6-4, in a late-night thriller.
The rainy day in New York that had forced to cancel most of the program on Day 2 had also somewhat dampened the enthusiasm for Federer’s debut in this year’s US Open as the lights under the closed roof were trying to re-ignite the buzz. A longer than usual break between the end of Madison Key’s match and the beginning of Federer-Tiafoe and a few videos of the Swiss’ greatness worked like a charm, as almost every spectator in the capacity crowd extracted a smartphone to document Federer’s return to the Big Apple and his first indoor match on Arthur Ashe.
“It was a cool experience” said Federer to the crowd at the end of the battle, as the clock was about to strike midnight. It was an enjoyable, heart-stopping, schizophrenic match that Roger seemed to have in his pocket at the end of the third set and again when serving for the match at 5-3 in the fifth, but Tiafoe managed to fight till the very end, when unforced error n. 49 (against 56 for Federer) sank into the net together with all his hopes.
Not sure whether it was the leftover rust from a week off after his much-denied back injury during the Rogers Cup in Montreal 16 days ago or the speaker’s confident statement during the presentation that Federer is “currently the greatest player in the history of the sport”, but Roger’s backhand was nowhere to be found during the first half an hour of the match. During a catastrophic first game, the Swiss gifted his opponent of an early break which ended up costing him the first set. Swinging freely with serve and forehand, Tiafoe was enjoying his night in the spotlight testing the opponent with high-speed forehand cross-court rallies followed by attacks on Federer’s evanescent backhand.
The standing ovation after a victorious 6-4 in the first set did not distract the young American who continued his care-free game causing some palpable distress among Federer’s fans in attendance. The tide turned on the fourth game, when a swift backhand pass by Federer quickly executed on Tiafoe’s attack gave the n.2 in the world his first break of the match at the third attempt.
The Order of Universe was then quickly restored and Federer started stretching his tennis and his lead and stringing together his usual combination of 40-second service holds and squandered break point opportunities (3/7). One hour after the end of the first set, the Swiss had perfectioned a 6-2, 6-1 that put him in firmly in the lead.
Little did anyone know that the most unexpected twist in the plot would see Tiafoe tighten the belt on the unforced error, running down Federer’s forehands and make him play “one more shot” enough times to fluster him into dropping serve twice and being dragged to a surprising fifth set after only two hours of play.
With the clock racing towards midnight and the Arthur Ashe crowd still mostly in their seats enjoying another late-night classic in New York, the final set, the line that divides the boys from the men, explained why Federer’s tally of Major titles is the same as Tiafoe’s age: the Swiss was untouchable on his serve, dropping only 1 points in the first four service games, and taking full advantage of an ill-advised drop shot by Tiafoe on the first break point of the set at 1-2.
But it wasn’t midnight yet, and there was time for another “coup de theatre”: when serving at 5-3 Federer missed a match point with a wide backhand volley and had to succumb to Tiafoe’s blistering forehands. The same forehands that let the American down on the following game, when two unforced errors proved fatal for him.
Pure class from @rogerfederer as he praises @FTiafoe after an amazing five-setter #usopen pic.twitter.com/CREV6wS4ff
— Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK) 30 August 2017
