Federer posts straight-set victory over Kyrgios in U.S. Open third round

Roger Federer had played final-set tiebreakers in each of his three previous meetings with Nick Kyrgios. He did not come close to needing one in the U.S. Open third round on Saturday. The Swiss survived a tough first set and was then off to the races, surging to a 6-4, 6-1, 7-5 victory.

“He played really well today,” Kyrgios said of Federer. “I thought the first set was key. You know, he played really well today. I didn’t play my best tennis, but he played really, really well. I couldn’t have done much today, I thought.

There was nothing Kyrgios could do on one specific point in the third set, when Federer tracked down an angled drop shot by Kyrgios and flicked a backhand winner around the left net post.

“I was trying to tell him that the shot wasn’t that good,” Kyrgios joked, referring to his reaction. “No, it was almost unreal. (The match) almost got to the point where I wanted him to start making shots like that, and I finally got it. I was pretty happy with myself.

“Yeah, it was unbelievable. I’m probably going to place it on Instagram.”

“It was definitely one of the more unique ones (in my career),” Federer said. “You don’t get an opportunity to hit around the net post very often; you can’t really train them. The net is out further and the court is more narrow, so for a shot like this to happen in a practice, you will be running into a fence and you will hit it into the net. So these shots can only really happen on a big court where you play with the single posts in the doubles alley.

“I have hit a few throughout my career and, sure, they are always fun…. I definitely think it was a special one, no doubt about it.”

Next up for Federer is John Millman, who is through to the fourth round of a major for the first time in his career after beating Mikhail Kukushkin in four sets.

“It’s the biggest moment of my career,” Millman told the crowd afterward.

[polldaddy poll=10095692]