Roger Federer’s US Open charge shows no sign of slowing down

Novak Djokovic went through to the second round here for the loss of just three games to the Brazilian João Souza on day one. Roger Federer, who beat the world number one handily in Cincinnati at the start of last week, did not quite match him on day two against Leonardo Mayer, but there was little to fault in his 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 win against the lanky Argentinian, who was both good enough and profligate enough to blow five match points against him in Shanghai last year.

That was on the outer edges of the game; this was nearer the fulcrum, the sign-off major of the season, with the Swiss, recently elevated back to second in the world, a genuine contender for the championship and his 18th major title. There is a way to go, of course, but Federer’s fine form has no discernible end point after his excellent run at Wimbledon, where he served like a god to humble Andy Murray in the semi-finals before wilting a little against Djokovic in the final.

Dangerous

Since then, he has rested sensibly before returning to the smoke of the battlefield looking fit, fresh and dangerous. He turned 34 three weeks ago and is moving around the court with coltish energy. Again Federer felt confident enough to unfurl his new pet shot, the charge, for which Mayer had no more effective response than did Murray, Djokovic or Kevin Anderson in Cincinnati.

Selectively crowding the net on his opponent’s second serve, Federer bamboozled Mayer, who is no mug with ball in hand. The charge has become more than an oddity – even if Rafael Nadal, for one, is amazed Federer is using it in a slam tournament after the headline-grabbing experiment in Mason, Ohio.

Federer smiles when it is suggested the shot is no more than a circus trick, with no place in a serious competitive arena. “I’m happy I was able to use it today,” he said courtside. “I hope to be able to keep it up. When you miss, it looks ridiculous. But my coach says keep going for it. Maybe some times I’ve got to drop it.”

The game was up for Mayer in an hour and 17 minutes – six minutes longer than Djokovic’s opening match and equal with Mikhail Kukushkin’s third-set retirement win over Lu Yen-hsun.

“I think I got off to a good start today,” Federer said in measured understatement. “He was a bit shaky in the beginning. When I got a break in the second, his level dropped. My serve got better and better.”

Express path

Romanian second seed Simona Halep followed the same express path into the second round as Serena Williams, advancing 6-2 3-0 after New Zealand’s Marina Erakovic retired with a knee injury yesterday.

The in-form Halep barely broke a sweat on a sunny Arthur Ashe Stadium court, needing a mere 47 minutes to see off the 99th ranked New Zealander.

Top seed Williams, bidding to complete a calendar sweep of the four grand slams, advanced in similar fashion as she was up 6-0 2-0 when Russia’s Vitalia Diatchenko was forced to retire hurt.

While the top two women’s seeds steered clear of trouble, upsets continued up and down the women’s draw for a second consecutive day as sixth seed and French Open finalist Lucie Safarova fell 6-4 6-1 to Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko. With the loss, Safarova joins a number of first round casualties that already includes Serbian seventh seed Ana Ivanovic, eighth seeded Czech Karolina Pliskova and 10th-seed Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain. Guardian Service