Two months ago, Roger Federer had one foot out the door in the second round of the Gerry Weber Open. Staring down the barrel of two match points against Benoit Paire, he would need a moment of magic to overcome the charismatic Frenchman in a deciding tie-break.
There was no such drama on Thursday at the US Open, as the pair met once again with plenty at stake. Federer scored a 7-5, 6-4, 6-4 win to book his spot in the third round and set a blockbuster battle against Nick Kyrgios on Saturday.
It was far from routine, but the second seed used his experience and guile to secure the win, benefitting from 47 unforced errors by Paire, while striking 27 winners of his own. He converted five of nine break chances.
A decade removed from his last title in New York, the five-time champion (2004-08) avoided his earliest exit in 18 visits to Flushing Meadows. He prevailed after one hours and 56 minutes, notching his 35th match win of 2018.
Federer and Kyrgios will meet for the fourth time in their budding FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry, with the Swiss claiming the two most recent encounters - on the hard courts of Miami last year and on the grass of Stuttgart this year. All three of their meetings have resulted in third-set tie-breaks. In fact, eight of the nine sets played were decided by tie-breaks.
Kyrgios overcame a slow start to rally past Pierre-Hugues Herbert 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-3, 6-0, recovering from a set and a break deficit with authority. The enigmatic Aussie appeared deflated in the early stages. He trailed 4-6, 0-3, when chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani stepped down to encourage the 23-year-old. The pep talk paid dividends, as Kyrgios found his rhythm from there, reeling off 17 of 21 games to cross the finish line.
Victory over Herbert marks Kyrgios' seventh comeback from a set down this year. The Aussie has equalled his best result in New York, having also advanced as far in both 2014 and 2016.
Also in that section of the draw, John Millman set a third-round date with Mikhail Kukushkin. The Aussie is rekindling the magic from his run to the third round a year ago, upsetting 14th seed Fabio Fognini 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1. It was just the fifth Top 20 win for Millman, who also stunned countryman Nick Kyrgios at Flushing Meadows last year.
The 29-year-old is playing some of the best tennis of his career, in his return from an injury-plagued stretch, which saw him most recently undergo groin surgery in early 2017. He cracked the Top 50 of the ATP Rankings a month ago and will look to surpass that career-high No. 49 with victory over Kukushkin.
The Kazakh ousted Hyeon Chung 7-6(5), 6-2, 6-3 to open Thursday's play, advancing to the third round for the third time in four years. He needed two hours and 46 minutes to move on, converting nine of 15 break chances. Competing in his first hard-court tournament since March, Kukushkin had not won a match on the surface since lifting the ATP Challenger Tour trophy in Irving, Texas, that month.
from Tennis - ATP World Tour https://ift.tt/2wsFezZ
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