Roger Federer plays one of his best tennis of 2018 in defeating Nick Kyrgios in the US Open 3rd round.
The Swiss has always endured huge battles against the erratic Australian, and that could have posed a huge risk for the continuation of his run at the Flushing Meadows. Fortunately for the world no.2, this was not the case.
The match
One of the key moments of the match was the 7th game of the opener when Roger managed to hold his serve after recovering from a 0-40 deficit and saving 4 break points. Eventually, Federer won 8 of the following 9 games to conquer a strong 6-4 5-0 lead.
After winning the second set (6-1) Roger and Nick battled until the end of the 3rd set when the Australian dropped his serve in the 11th game. Eventually, Federer won the contest 6-4 6-1 7-5.
It was important to stay with 4-3, but… FEDERER
Soon after the match, Roger confirmed that that 7th game of the opener was a key moment to comment
“I thought Nick was inspired. He knew what he wanted to do. I didn’t quite, off the baseline, get the right balance going. It was important to somehow get out of it and stay within 4-3 and probably look at a tie-break.
But I was able to break earlier, which was clearly great because I had no sniff on any of his service games in the first three or four. I didn’t get discouraged, and I think that was also the key today.”
Next vs. Millman
Roger will have a very approachable 4th round against the world no.55 John Millman. The head to head is 1-0 for the Swiss.
