Lob and Smash
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A sharp Federer overcomes Kyrgios to sail into 4th round

By Keshav Gopalan

NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 01: Roger Federer of Switzerland serves the ball during his men's singles third round match against Nick Kyrgios of Australia on Day Six of the 2018 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 1, 2018 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 01: Roger Federer of Switzerland serves the ball during his men's singles third round match against Nick Kyrgios of Australia on Day Six of the 2018 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 1, 2018 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images) /
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5 time US Open champion Roger Federer needed no extra time on the court to beat the mercurial Nick Kyrgios in straight sets. In perhaps his best performance since the Australian Open and Rotterdam, Federer displayed some amazing shot making and a ridiculous around the net shot that’s “got to be the greatest shot in tennis”.

His US Open so far

Federer’s first two matches, despite what the scoreline would suggest, were, in fact, scrappy affairs that saw Federer struggle with his serve, backhand and footwork. His match against Benoit Paire was especially disjointed, with his serve being broken twice and him unable to find his rhythm against an inconsistent but unpredictable Benoit.

Things went somewhat similar in his first round match against Yoshihito Nishioka where Federer ended up being broken in the tail end of the third set.

vs Nick Kyrgios

Federer’s match against Kyrgios, on the other hand, was perhaps his best performance since his Australian Open + Rotterdam victory. While his first set saw him return poorly and serve several second serves, after the end of the firsts et, Federer loosened up a bunch and played some explosive tennis, almost bagelling Kyrgios (lost 2 set points at 5-0) and clinching the second set at 6-1 in what was his best set of tennis since a long time.

The kicker came during the third set at 3-3 when Federer hit one of the most impressive shots of the tournament. Hitting a forehand around the net about 6 inches away from the top of the net, Kyrgios’ immediate reaction to the absolute brilliance of the shot summed the entire point up. During the changeover, Kyrgios even lamented to the umpire that “it’s got to be the greatest shot in tennis”

Concluding words

Federer’s performance in the second and third sets is exactly what he needs to get him over the line in his coming matches. With a potential matchup with Novak in the Quarterfinals, Federer needs to work hard to fix the inconsistencies in his backhand, especially with his reliance on the slice, along with his serve and footwork. While the latter two didn’t seem to be much of an issue against Nick, improvement will still work in his favour.

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