Federer Comfortably Through Against Qualifier Alves

It’s true that the Roger Federer of old – the player who usurped almost every piece of Grand Slam hardware – has been absent in 2008. But some elements of his autocracy remain, one of those being his ability to win a Grand Slam match without playing his absolute best. Federer has shown this on occasion at Melbourne, Paris, and Wimbledon, and he did so again today at Flushing Meadows, defeating Brazilian qualifier Thiago Alves 6-3, 7-5, 6-4.

Holding serve at love to start the match, Federer seemed ripe for a dominant performance. But Alves did not allow this on Friday, playing with passion and leaving everything out on the court. Maximo Gonzalez and Ryler DeHeart, unknowns who also lost to Federer and Rafael Nadal, played well considering the odds they were up against. Alves' courageous effort against the world No. 2 bested them both.

Things didn’t look encouraging for Alves after he dropped the opening set in just 27 minutes. But he picked up his play considerably thereafter, while Federer began to struggle. Alves refused to give an inch, especially in the first game of the second set, which lasted a colossal nine deuces. Alves eventually prevailed, and he did in another lengthy game at 4-4. Alves stayed alive through most of the set, through Federer helped him out with an astonishing 27 unforced errors. He also went 1 for 12 on break points in the second set.

Alves’ high-arching groundstrokes gave Federer a tricky time in this match. In some ways, it was like seeing Federer play against Nadal, because Alves hits looping shots, has relentless energy, and audibly grunts after every shot. But Alves has nowhere near the power of Nadal’s shots, and Federer simply waited for his opponent to finally crack. Alves did at 5-5 when he was broken, and Federer took the second set 7-5.

“In the second set when it got tough, you know, he dug out some shots and everything seemed to go against me on those break points,” Federer said afterwards. “So it was kind of difficult mentally, but it was actually fun playing well and really got the crowd into it.”

Federer had great looks at his forehand throughout the second set, but he struck an unusual amount of errors. He calmed down in the third set, playing much cleaner tennis. Alves did manage to break Federer’s serve once, but Federer broke Alves twice, which was enough to win the set, and the match.

After the match, Federer said he felt confident throughout, even when things weren’t going well. “I was never really in danger, so it was actually pretty good for me. I knew the longer the match would go the more tired he would get, so it was a good match for me.”

In just over two hours, Federer advanced to the third round, where he’ll play the winner of the match between Radek Stepanek and Chris Guccione.