US Open – It is Day 2 at Flushing Meadows, and for Roger Federer, it is his first round match. Instead of a night match like Rafael Nadal, Federer has been scheduled for a day session for his debut on Arthur Ashe stadium for the 2015 US Open. His first test is Leonardo Mayer from Argentina. A big guy with a one hand backhand like Federer, Mayer has an extreme left toss and back arch on both his service tosses. he also hits very open stance, and tends to stay at the baseline to take balls early. This was slated as being a possible tough first round match for Federer as Mayer near beat Federer last year in Shanghai. However, as it turns out, it was not much a test at all.
The first game found the Swiss maestro down love-30, but he then won 4 straight points to hold. Perhaps due to nerves, Mayer managed to throw in 3 double faults in his first service game, and Federer converted the first break point to go up 2-0. On his 2nd service game, Mayer faced 2 more break points, and the 2nd seed converted easily once more with a winner down the line to go up 4-0. At this point, the match is barely 15 minutes old. Perhaps out of boredom, Federer decided to dump an easy volley in the next game to give Mayer his first break chance. Then he changed his mind right away, and blasted an ace to bring it back to deuce. He then held for 5-0. Putting his foot to the pedal, Federer decided to be more aggressive on Mayer’s service, coming to net where Mayer hit a somewhat weak lob, but Federer returned the favor by missing an easy forehand after making the overhead. The Argentian was finally on the board. The next game Federer held at love to secure the set 6-1. Federer only had 6 winners for the set, but given the short points and lack of games, the numbers do not reveal just how dominate the world #2 is.
The 2nd set unfolded better for Mayer when Federer’s forehand clips the net at 30-40 and bounces out to make it 1-0. In the 2nd game, Federer hit yet another ace at 40-30 to keep it on serve. The match was just 30 minutes old at this mark and it already 2 games into the 2nd set. The game plan remained the same for Mayer as he continued to barrage Federer with big groundstrokes, and his effort seemed to be paying off now as Federer was unable to chase them all down. He held for 2-1. Federer’s response? Held at love to level it 2-2. This match might go beyond one hour after all. The next game however, at 30-30 Federer hit a dropshot return that stunned Mayer, and he proceeded to double fault the next point, gifting the break. For his service game, Federer ventured to the net once more at 40-0 for a volley that Mayer did not even bother going for, watching it go by as he stood still. Roger consolidated the service break for 4-2. Here the entertainment begun.
Continuing his new tactic from Cinncinati, Roger started charging the net on 2ndserves, returning from the service line and making it look easy, on the backhand side no less. It is now 5-2. Perhaps in desperation, Mayer began to jump around the backhand on the ad side and blasted his big forehand on the returns, but to no avail. At 3:30 local time, Federer arrived at net and hit a leaping overhead smash to conclude the 2nd set.
It may be the middle of the day in New York, but the stadium is packed as the 3rd set begun. Federer started hitting a few sloppy shots, but still converted more break points to go up 2-1. At 3-1, Federer brought out the service line returns again, but this time Mayer was prepared and passed him down the line. Nevertheless, Federer went up 4-1, then held at love once more to make it 5-1. Mayer put up one last resistance as he held for a 2nd time this set, forcing Federer to serve out the match which he did with ease. Roger is through to the second round 6-1, 6-2, 6-2. More importantly, he is now tied with Lendl for 3rd most Open match wins.
