Roger Federer's 3rd Round Match at US Open 2010 - A report

Roger Federer’s 3rd Round Match in US Open 2010 – A report


I stand punished for having been a doubting Thomas: I had predicted that Roger Federer would win, all right, but in four sets. Federer literally demolished Paul-Henri Mathieu in straight sets in less than 100 minutes. I have no hesitation to say that this has been the most authentic display of his prowess after he toyed with Andy Murray in the Australian Open final.

Federer accomplished today’s task far more easily than what the score line 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 suggests. The most striking feature was the power with which he executed most of his shots. Not only the forehand volleys but even the backhand shots were lethal. The blistering backhand that raced down-the-line, well beyond Mathieu’s reach, in the last game was the best example.

The same game was an example of Federer’s capability to turn around difficult situations. Federer was 0-40 at one stage in that game, but Mathieu failed to cash in on any of the three breakpoints. Federer went ahead and won that game, set and the match. In all, Mathieu had got four chances to break Federer, but Federer is ranked 8th in saving breakpoints (with Mathieu not even figuring in the list of the top 75) and must have bettered his ranking again today. While Mathieu fumbled with breakpoints, Federer mercilessly pounced upon them and converted four of a total of six.

Federer’s 13 aces (against Mathieu’s 3) was another great factor that contributed to his victory. His winning % on 1st serve today was a whopping 85. Rarely have I come across a 2nd serve which was an ace: Federer did just that in the 4th game of the second set.

I was also happy to see that Federer had again become agile and was readily chasing balls even when he could have afforded not to.

With so much to praise Federer for his display of authentic tennis and the crushing defeat he inflicted upon Mathieu, it would seem silly to give any credit at all to Mathieu; but the fact is, Mathieu had given a very good account of himself today. His most remarkable feature today was fearlessness. Till the very end, he kept up his aggression. Not even once did he show any signs of dejection over the way this match too, like their four previous meetings, was slipping out of his hands.

Mathieu does have a rich repertoire of shots which can trouble any one. Lleyton Hewitt had found this out the hard way in his first round defeat at the hands of Mathieu. His misfortune today was that it was Federer, on the other side of the net.

The only fault in today’s match between Federer and Mathieu lay with the channel that had beamed it to my place; at times, it switched to some other match (Arnaud Clement Vs. Mardy Fish) leaving Federer’s. I wonder why would any channel turn to mortals when god himself was in classic action!