When Roger Federer is using the first week of a grand-slam tournament to road-test his play — a new stroke here, a shortening of the stride there — you get a sense of the relaxed dominance he enjoys over those who tremble at being on the same court. Federer experiments as he exterminates.
There is a sheen about him at the US Open that was not evident even at Wimbledon, where he won his sixth of seven consecutive finals in July. That the 28-year-old is in his physical prime is undoubted and it is up to the others to try to get under his skin.
Simon Greul, the world No 65 from Germany, slugged away in their second-round match but lost 6-3, 7-5, 7-5. “I just had to make him play more shots,” Federer said. “He picked a lot of sides right, went for broke at times and in those cases you can be down a break, it happens quite often.”
However, Federer has a happy knack of being able to respond as if merely grazed. One break is hardly ever enough. The sensation was similar when Andy Murray’s serve was twice snared by Ernests Gulbis — that the Latvian might agitate but winning the match was not within his powers.
What sets the leading players apart is their dazzling court coverage. Murray has worked tirelessly at improving his movement, his foot speed, which allows him to execute the shots he wants with a split-second more time.
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In Federer’s case, there are unmistakable elements of choreography involved, as underscored this week by Kathryn Bennetts, artistic director of the Royal Ballet of Flanders. In Australia, where Bennetts was raised, tennis courts were once ten-a-penny and after she became a professional dancer, she saw a parallel between the movement that both disciplines require. “Federer has this smoothness to him,” Bennetts said. “It is an ease that makes him special.”
It is hard to believe that Federer was once tormented by Lleyton Hewitt, the 2001 US Open champion who faces him in the third round tomorrow. As a callow player, Federer believed that he ought to go forward against the Australian road-runner and Hewitt simply passed or lobbed him. “My shots weren’t good enough, nor was my mental side, or my fitness,” Federer said.
Times have changed. The last time Hewitt beat the Swiss, 13 matches ago, was the best match they have played, a Davis Cup World Group semi-final at Melbourne Park, where the Australian recovered from two sets down to win in five. Of the 37 sets they have played since, Federer has lost three.
Hewitt is not considered a grand-slam threat these days, whereas Murray, 22, is right in the frame. A second-round match today against Paul Capdeville, of Chile, ought not delay him too long and the opening up of his section of the draw — Marin Cilic, of Croatia, is his first likely seeded opponent in the last 16 — has served only to whet the appetite.
Tongue in cheek it may be, but Federer acknowledges that Murray, second to him in the rankings, is among the favoured few. “Andy deserves a few [experts’] picks because he’s played so well,” Federer said. “He hasn’t won a slam yet, but he’s still young. He is in the shape of his life.”
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The trouble is, so is Federer.
There were two shocks in the women’s championship. Jelena Jankovic, last year’s finalist and the No 5 seed, was beaten by Yaroslava Shvedova, the world No 55 from Kazakhstan in a final-set tie-break. She followed Elena Dementieva through the exit door, the No 4 seed losing to Melanie Oudin, of the United States.