NEW YORK — Roger Federer glided to victory on another hot, steamy day at the U.S. Open, the envy of a clutch of men’s players made to work overtime on Tuesday at the season’s final grand slam.
Federer, who has been in sizzling form since reaching the Wimbledon finals, dashed past 34th-ranked Leonardo Mayer of Argentina 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 to launch his campaign for a sixth U.S. Open crown and first slam title since the 2012 Wimbledon.
“I got off to a good start and he was a bit shaky. I was very happy,” said Federer. “My serve got better and better as the match went on. Conditions are fast, so I was trying to play fast-court tennis and it worked very well today.”
The 34-year-old Swiss, looking cool in the 90-plus degree heat after his light, first-round exertions, next faces either Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus or Belgian Steve Darcis.
Others were sorely tested.
Three players in the bottom half of the men’s draw had to go the distance in the severe heat at Flushing Meadows, including French 11th seed Gilles Simon, who looked to have iced victory after taking a 6-2, 6-4, 3-0 lead over American Donald Young.
But the Frenchman stumbled, and the 26-year-old American, once hailed as the next great U.S. player, saw an opportunity and turned the match upside down for a 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win.
“I really had it on my racquet,” said Simon. “I was not able to do anything on the tennis court. I think Donald realized it and then played what he had to play to take me down in five sets. It’s a terrible result for me today.”
In another wrenching defeat for France, Paul-Henri Mathieu fell to Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka in five sets.
The 128th-ranked Yoshihito Nishioka, who saw fourth-seeded compatriot and 2014 finalist Kei Nishikori drummed out in five sets on Monday, booked himself into the second round with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-7(7), 6-1, 6-2 victory.
Dutchman Robin Haase also made a Houdini-like escape against Germany’s Dustin Brown to register a 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 victory.
Heat may have been a factor in claiming other hard-luck victims at the U.S. National Tennis Center as four players retired from their matches.
Australian Lleyton Hewitt, the 2001 U.S. Open winner, advanced 6-0, 7-6(2), 1-0 when Aleksandr Nedovyseov of Kazakhstan retired.
Misfortune favored the French and went the other way for the Aussies when 12th seed Richard Gasquet advanced 4-6, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3, 2-0 when Thanasi Kokkinakis retired.
Women’s second seed Simona Halep also had an abbreviated match as she advanced 6-2, 3-0 after New Zealand’s Marina Erakovic retired with a knee injury.
The in-form Halep, who reached the finals at U.S. Open tune-up events in Toronto and Cincinnati, barely broke a sweat on Arthur Ashe Stadium court, needing a mere 47 minutes to see off the 99th-ranked New Zealander.
Also sprinting to victory was fourth seed Caroline Wozniacki, who dismissed U.S. national college champion Jamie Loeb 6-2, 6-0.
The women’s draw continued to produce upsets for a second consecutive day as Czech sixth seed and French Open finalist Lucie Safarova fell 6-4, 6-1 to Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko.
Fourteenth seed Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland was also shown the door, ushered out by 42nd-ranked Czech Barbora Strycova 7-5, 6-0.
They joined Monday’s first-round casualties that included Serbian seventh seed Ana Ivanovic, eighth seeded Czech Karolina Pliskova and 10th-seed Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain.
“I wasn’t surprised (by the upsets), it is normal,” said 23-year-old Halep. “Everyone is fighting like crazy because it’s the last grand slam (of the year).”
Murray swats aside Kyrgios to reach second round
Third-seeded Briton Andy Murray put on a composed display to overcome the mercurial Nick Kyrgios 7-5 6-3 4-6 6-1 under the Arthur Ashe Stadium lights to reach the second round of the U.S. Open on Tuesday.
The 20-year-old Kyrgios showed off his powerful serve and groundstrokes but the 37th-ranked Australian frequently substituted efficiency for showmanship and failed to take advantage of his numerous opportunities.
Murray, the 2012 U.S. Open champion and 2013 Wimbledon winner, played straight man to the flippant Australian, who unnecessarily tried ‘tweener’ shots through his legs and jumped extravagantly on routine forehands that he buried into the net.
The Australian, playing under an ATP Tour probation for crude personal comments made to Stan Wawrinka during a match in Montreal last month, should have made the contest much closer but could only convert three of 14 break point opportunities.
The Scotsman had beaten Kyrgios in straight sets in their three previous meetings, eliminating him this year from two other grand slams, in the Australian quarter-finals and third round of the French Open.
“He’s unpredictable, he can play all of the shots and he’s a fantastic athlete,” Murray said in an on-court interview with ESPN. “It was a very tricky match and I just fought hard and managed to get through.”
Murray will next play French left-hander Adrian Mannarino, a 7-6 6-4 6-1 winner over Russian Konstantin Kravchuk.
OPEN NOTES: Serena Williams will look to move one step closer to completing a calendar sweep of the four grand slams when she meets unseeded Kiki Bertens in a second-round U.S. Open clash on Wednesday. Top seed Williams, seeking to become the first woman since Steffi Graf in 1988 to complete a rare calendar Grand Slam, will face the tall, big-hitting Bertens in the third match of the day at Arthur Ashe Stadium. A well-rested Williams, who needed only 30 minutes to win her first-round match when her opponent retired with a knee injury, will start a prohibitive favourite against her 110th-ranked opponent from the Netherlands. It will be the first career match-up between Williams and Bertens. Defending men’s champion Marin Cilic, the ninth seed, will also be in action as he faces Russian Evgeny Donskoy. In other men’s action, top seed Novak Djokovic will cap the night session when he battles unseeded Austrian Andreas Haider-Maurer under the lights.