Summary
So like a piece of classical music that’s a study in two acts, we’ve been once again treated to the very divergent styles of these two terrific tennis players, Roger Federer and Nick Kyrgios.
Federer, composed, calm, and very rarely flustered; Kyrgios, edgy, unfocused, chirping to himself and others.
Ultimately, the end result has been the same (albeit perhaps Federer got there more efficiently), with both cruising through their first round matches with relative ease.
Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka no match for the Swiss, and Radu Albot’s strong returning game given very little to feed off from a reasonably reliable Kyrgios service game.
They remain the two stand-out players of the bottom section of the draw, where a brace of Frenchmen await, both eager to deny these two a third round meeting.
Conditions may yet play a part (we’ve already seen the women’s top seed knocked out) so don’t count your chickens just yet. But should such a match-up eventuate, there were enough hints today to suggest it could be quite the belter.
Thanks for your company, follow our liveblog again on Day 3, at the tournament that never sleeps!
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Kyrgios wins, 7-5, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2
So, do we say comfortable in the end? It’s always a danger. The 23-year-old from Canberra thunders down some trademark serves before finishing with a cute half-volley.
From midway through the third set it was an effective, much more disciplined performance. But those first two and a half sets? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
“You always get what you’ve paid for with Kyrgios” intone the squares upstairs, and I guess that’s something we can all agree upon. Whether it’s moments of madness, moments of absence, or just generally high-risk shots on key plays, he gives you the full mix, does our Nick.
He’s booked a date with Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert, but you suspect it’s the looming potential third-round class with Roger Federer that occupies his occasionally flighty mind. As long as he gets there, I guess.
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“He’s just so unpredictable, he just does so many strange things that you’ve never seen before”. Sure, it’s true. But he also does some classic things as well, like serve - accurately, and very, very fast.
It’s still very tough conditions out on Louis Armstrong stadium, incredibly high temperatures for this time of night, as well as humidity.
You do wonder how much this takes out of players, especially with this match nudging towards two-and-a-half hours court-time.
But perhaps for the first time all evening, this match has begun to show something resembling a pattern, despite the chaos maelstrom that is Nick Kyrgios.
Very little wrong with that service game, with the incredibly deep-receiving Albot struggling to get much on the return; either the first OR the second with Kyrgios thundering in those recklessly fast second serves.
Albot holds his serve in response to drag it to 5-2, but now it’s Kyrgios to serve for the match.
It’s a promising start to this fourth set from Kyrgios, who opens with a break of the Albot serve.
For all the “is he on, is he off” talk (and I promise, I’m only passing on 10% of what I’m hearing on that front, with words like “squandered talent”, “maturity deficit” etc spewing forth from the older heads of the commentary box) you can’t question the quality of his serve. He fires out his first service game of the set, to take a 2-0 lead - that’s 25 aces for the match, so far.
And perhaps it’s the business end of the evening, as Kyrgios breaks again to take a healthy 3-0 lead. With a service game to come it does appear hard for Albot to come back from this. But if anyone’s going to allow him to...
Kyrgios takes third set 6-4!
Some distractions on Arthur Ashe, we apologise, as Roger Federer is asked by the post-match interviewer to select a particular individual in the upper section of the crowd to hit a ball to. Presumably to prove whether or not he’s any good at tennis. You’d imagine requests like that go down like cold sick with some veteran professionals, but Swiss Roger plays it cool.
Kyrgios, meanwhile rolls back a bit of set one magic (rather than set two nonchalance) to clinch the third.
He’s been in and out of this match in truth, but his serve has been very reliable at least. Less said about his return game, the better, perhaps. But he’s done enough in this third set.
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Federer wins 6-2, 6-2, 6-4
It was better from his opponent late on, but Roger Federer with simply too much class for Yoshihito Nishioka. It took him two match points, but he got there at the second time of asking.
Hardly a sweat mustered, barely a bead daring to form on the Swiss’ forehead (okay, that’s a lie, it’s still sweltering in New York), as he passed his 80th appearance on centre court at the US Open with trademark aplomb.
Frenchman Benoit Paire now awaits in the second round.
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A telling break for Kyrgios as well - as he finally gets the first one of the third set to edge ahead 4-3. He’s even survived a mini-scare on his own serve, saving a break point to deny Albot drawing parity straight away. 5-3 then, but with the Moldovan serving to stay in the set.
Nishioka grows into the contest very late, with a shock break! Down 4-0, he does finally manage to get on the board, Nishioka, with one or two impressive winners to make it 4-1. He even fired a super forehand winner to prevent a game point in Federer’s next service game, but it was very much fingers-in-the-dyke territory already, as the second seed regathered to take 5-1.
A big missed overhead smash a rare let-off from the otherwise metronomic Swiss, with Nishioka playing his best of the day to bring up two break points on Federer’s serve, only for the 20-time Grand Slam winning to fire down two consecutive aces.
He kept at it, though, the Japanese, and eventually gets the break his late showing deserved, to make it 5-3.
We’re 3-3 and on serve in the third between Kyrgios and Albot - we’ll cover the close to that key set as soon as we’re finished here on Arthur Ashe. Plenty more twists and turns to come, would be the very minimum expectation, you’d suspect.
Eep. It’s getting ugly over on Arthur Ashe, as Federer is literally tearing this poor young Japanese player apart limb from limb and pouring molten lead into his dismembered torso like the execution of the French would-be assassin of King Louis XV, Robert-François Damiens.
He’s raced to a 4-0 third set lead.
Better news elsewhere for a Japanese male tennis player (after watching Taro Daniels also getting destroyed tonight), Kei Nishikori has comfortably beaten Germany’s Maximilian Marterer, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3.
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And if you didn’t know too much about young Australian Alex de Minaur, here’s Simon Cambers’ very fine match report:
Plenty of Frances Tiafoe’s supporters will be keen to read this, I suspect, as the two young guns square off in the next round.
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Albot takes second set 6-2!
Ooph. And now the cautionary tale of “the man who underestimated the Moldovan” over in Louis Armstrong Stadium.
Well, look, nobody likes a boring first round walkover - that presumably must be the thinking of Nick Kyrgios (if one is allowed to ever speculate as to his thinking) who has very much run the white flag up in that second set against Radu Albot. The Moldovan was comfortable on serve, and ended up with a double break - coming to the net to crash a forehand down the middle past a stranded Kyrgios to level it at one set a piece.
And now we watch, with interest.
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Comfortable on court 13 - Alex De Minaur wins well 6-0, 6-1, 6-2. You’d argue he was getting better, Taro Daniels, but he just ran out of sets. A very nice showing from the young Australian, who will take on the American Tiafoe in the second round.
Meanwhile, Kyrgios has dropped another service game, to allow Albot another 3-1 lead. Is this like that horrendous nature documentary with the orcas playing with the seals before eventually breaking their backs? He’ll have to be careful, the man from Canberra, he’s not mug Albot.
And, on court 8 it’s vale to the sweet prince, Dennis who played tennis, with the experienced Frenchman Paire deciding it in a tie-breaker: 7-6, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5). Close but no biscuit - as Paire progresses, to the disappointment presumably of Diana who’s kindly emailed.
Love the new look on Roger. We are so hoping and cheering for him, BUT hoping he doesn’t meet Dennis or Milos too soon. Then we will cry.
Are we thinking about different Dennises?
Federer wins second set 6-2
“I wouldn’t call it demoralising, but perhaps it’s overwhelming”. That’s the assessment on Nishioka’s first trip to Arthur Ashe in front of 20,000+ fans.
He showed decent fight in the fifth game, scrambling through four deuces to finally get on the board, but he’s had few answers for Federer’s general all-round class. Nishioka eventually held in the seventh, racing to 40-15, but a trio of quality shots from Federer showed the Swiss was in no mood for charity. The cross court volley, the down the line forehand, the overhead backhand. Lovely stuff from the Swiss. He framed the set point (he is, after all, only human), and Nishioka scrambled well to win the game. It was as good as it got for the Japanese though, with Federer serving out the set well.
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Meanwhile, out on court 8, quite the tussle is going on between the Frenchman Benoit Paire and Austrian qualifier Dennis Novak. Have you ever met an Austrian called Dennis? I certainly didn’t in my time in Wien. But he’s from Wiener Neustadt, this one. Dennis is his name, and tennis is his game. And by all accounts, he’s pretty handy at it.
He’s currently serving to force the fourth set to a tie-breaker and two sets a piece against the former world no.18.
Nick Kyrgios takes the first set 7-5
Ah yes. A great vignette of “Kyrgios in 30 seconds” there, who thunders down some huge first serves, but then also tries the cheeky between-the-legs shot only to half-volley tamely into the net, and bring his opponent back in the game after leading 30-0. Albot battles gamely from the baseline, but it’s a big cross-court forehand winner from the Australian to seal it.
“One of the weirdest sets of tennis ever”, is the considered assessment from ESPN’s Brad Gilbert.
Over on Grandstand local hope Frances Tiafoe has eliminated 29th seed Adrian Mannarino, 6-1, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. A great scalp for the 20-year-old, who looks set to face the young Australian Alex de Minaur in the second round.
I’d love to tell you more but Roger Federer is busy putting on a clinic here, so trying to keep the eyes locked on that one. It’s already 3-0 in the second set! He’s looking very comfortable, the 20-time Grand Slam winner, and his Japanese opponent doesn’t appear to have any answers at this stage.
Meanwhile, Nick Kyrgios has survived a tight service game, being pushed to deuce, before leveling the ledger at 5-5. He’s enjoyed some banter with ESPN’s courtside reporter Brad Gilbert, but when it gets to business time, it’s two huge forehand winners to bring up break point - and he seals it! Krygios to serve for the first set.
Radu Albot has powered through his service game to love to make it 5-4 against Kyrgios. He’s certainly in a “low-power mode” the mercurial Australian. But as usual, the internet is never far away from speculating about the “T word”.
It also looks like Kyrgios conserves Energy when he gets behind.
— matt (@matty_mccabe1) August 28, 2018
Others may call it tanking, however I think he is too intelligent and is just conserving energy. #usopen #USOpenTennis #usopen18
Lets see how the rest of the set pans out before leaping to any conclusions, I reckon.
Federer takes first set 6-2
Back at Arthur Ashe, another comfortable service game takes the Swiss to 5-1, before again pushing Nishioka to a deuce game on serve. A big overhead smash to bring that up. The Japanese drags one long after a baseline rally to concede advantage, but Federer hooks his backhand wide with a set point on offer. The Japanese battles well to win the game after a Federer error. No problems on serve though, with Federer racing to a 40-0 lead before conceding a good passing shot from Nishioka. A big serve out wide clinches it.
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An update on those Aussies in action:
Matt Ebden leads in the 5th set against Filip Krajinovic 2-0, with two sets a piece.
Alex de Minaur has started very brightly, 6-0, 4-1 against Japan’s Taro Daniel.
But it’s an interesting first few games for Nick Kyrgios over at Louis Armstrong stadium. The Aussie conceded an early break to trail 3-1, but has also fired some absolutely thundering second serves, despite a very minimal warm up. Is this linked to recent injuries, Brent muses? The 23-year-old grabs a break back in the 5th game, so perhaps some early cobwebs just being blown out, as he now looks to make it 3-3 on his serve.
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A poor start to his third service game from Nishioka, and Federer looks to ratchet the pressure. He’s not got much pace in the serve the world No259, meaning the Swiss looks a chance in every game. Nishioka trails 0-30 but shows good courage for a chip-and-charge to the net. Federer overhits the passing shot and he scrambles to 30-30. A fine forehand winner earns a break point, but Federer doesn’t take the chance. Nishioka comes to the net once again, but he’s not put enough on the approach. Federer not passing up the second offering, and breaks once more for 4-1.
Federer racing through his serves here, moving well, and calmly going about his business. But Nishioka finds a way back into the game, after trailing 30-0. A fortuitous miss-hit forces deuce, and the Japanese apologises, as he wins the point. The very slightest of windows, before Federer closes out the game for 3-1. He’ll have to capitalise on every little scrap he gets today, as you don’t imagine the Swiss will give him many.
Federer breaks opening game. Okay, to live action! He described his opponent today as “a god of tennis” in the pre-match interview, so you can excuse the young Japanese for some early nerves perhaps. None from Federer, as he breaks at the first attempt, before holding a comfortable service game of his own. Nishioka with a better showing at the second time of asking - he holds for 2-1.
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Some very quick score updates, before we turn our attention to the Federer match in closer detail.
4th seed Alexander Zverev has defeated Canadian Peter Polansky 6-2, 6-1, 6-2, and crowd favourite Novak Djokovic has survived a second-set scare to beat Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-0.
Meanwhile Australians Matt Ebden and Alex de Minaur are currently in action on some of the outer courts so we’ll bring you sporadic updates about that where we can.
For all the earlier action, don’t forget our evening’s liveblog:
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He’s chasing a 6th US open, is the Swiss legend, and both he and Nishioka are currently warming up on Arthur Ashe.
Before we get to live action there, let’s see what other news is floating around.
Temperatures in New York are absolutely sweltering today; we’ve even seen heat breaks in some of the earlier matches.
Alize Cornet has set the thermometers racing, and she’s been hit with one of the more ludicrous code violations we’ve seen in recent time, after briefly removing her shirt. Thank heavens she wasn’t wearing a black cat suit, the censors might not have been able to handle it.
Hi all! I hope this finds you well from around the world, wherever it is you’re following this coverage from. Perhaps Chisinau! Not doubt there’s some Radu Albot fans scanning the internet as we speak, desperate to hear the latest about their hero. Or Hokkaido? Big fans of Yoshihito Nishioka there, I hear.
Good news on that front, the young Japanese / world number 259 is just about to stride out onto Arthur Ashe centre court and lock horns with the one, the only Roger Federer.
Preamble
He’s back! The enfant terrible / between-the-legs-trick-shot legend of Australian tennis, Nick Kyrgios, is just minutes away from US Open action.
After an injury-ravaged run lately, the 23-year-old has made the perhaps wise decision to focus just on the men’s singles event at this tournament. That said, presuming there are no major upsets his reward for his prudence is a potential third-round showdown with Roger Federer.
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves however, as today is all about the Moldovan Radu Albot. Who, you ask? Well, let’s just say a guy that’s earned $1,340,361 more as a professional tennis player than your humble scribe today has.
Roger Federer is also not far away from court-time, so we’ll try and scan round the grounds to keep you across live action as best as we can - at the hardcourt Grand Slam that never sleeps!
