Federer wraps up late, late show in crisp style

TENNIS US OPEN:IN THE stands behind him, a mobile phone rang during Juan Monaco's final service game against Roger Federer at the US Open. At least it sounded like a mobile phone. Maybe it was a chirping alarm.

It was 1.04 am, 74 minutes into Federer’s 6-1, 6-2, 6-0 victory against Monaco in a fourth-round match that began at 11.50pm Monday and ended at 1.12am yesterday. “I’m extremely pleased with my reaction out there,” said Federer, a five-time Open champion. “I played really well, crisp, nice. I felt fantastic.”

Federer had 42 winners and 21 unforced errors and never faced a break point. About the only thing he wasn’t able to dictate on this evening was his starting time, which was 10 minutes shy of the tournament record.

Monaco, an Argentine, had dropped only one set in his first three matches but lost the first set in 19 minutes after recording one winner to Federer’s 10. He finished with 23 unforced errors and four winners.

For Federer, it wasn’t his latest starting time of the year, much less his career. In Miami in March, he said, he began a match at 12.30 am. “It’s crazy how our schedules change all the time,” Federer said. “As a tennis player, it makes it extremely difficult to be on your A game every single day.”

Last year, Martina Navratilova, an 18-time Grand Slam singles champion, said, “Nobody trains to go to play at midnight. No player can be ready for that. How do you stay awake? Drink some coffee.”

Federer said he drank coffee during the day but did not have any after 5pm, when he arrived on the grounds of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The few thousand fans at Arthur Ashe Stadium who stayed for the late, late show started to move en masse from the upper decks to the lower bowl in the third set. One usher, who said he had been working for 15 hours straight, let people pass after they pleaded with him. The fans continued to fill the lower bowl during the final changeover, with Federer leading 5-0. “It was nice they stuck around and made this match very special,” Federer said, “because it could also go the other way that the spectators don’t really get into the match.”

Federer was asked if there was an entertainer he would stay up past 1am to see perform. “Well, if I wanted to come watch, for me it doesn’t matter what’s happening the next day. You know, I got a ticket, I would stay until whatever time it is . . . maybe I won’t have a chance to see that entertainer, person, artist, ever again.”

New York Times Service

Murray tie deferred

ANDY MURRAY must return to Flushing Meadows today for his fourth-round clash against Donald Young after poor weather forced yesterday’s play to be cancelled. Heavy rain fell on New York throughout yesterday morning and, at just after 1.30pm, tournaments organisers made the decision to call it off.