Federer is riding high after a spectacular year which has netted him both the Australian Open and Wimbledon crowns. On evidence of yesterday’s performance, few would bet against him adding the US Open to that haul after a masterful performance that left Polansky groping at shadows throughout.
Federer took control immediately against Polansky, holding his opening service game comfortably before quickly going 0-40 up in the second game. A Polansky double fault gave Federer the break and the Swiss was soon 3-0 up after holding serve to love in the next game.
Polansky held his next two service games but never looked like breaking Federer’s serve as the veteran moved into a 5-2 lead. Federer then broke Polansky to take the first set, following a signature backhand with a deft forehand volley that left the 29-year-old Canadian scrambling.
Federer was soon in control in the second set, scoring an early break and holding twice to move 3-0 up before a further break made it 4-0. Polansky earned a stay of execution after holding serve in the sixth game to make it 5-1, but Federer raced into the next round with a comfortable hold, finishing with an emphatic overhead smash. Federer will face either American Jack Sock or Spain’s David Ferrer in the third round.
On Tuesday, Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman saved four match points to shock third-seeded Dominic Thiem 6-4, 6-7 (7/9), 7-5 in the second round. World number 36 Schwartzman seized the initiative against the seventh-ranked Austrian, who fell at the first hurdle after enjoying a first-round bye.
On the defensive early, Thiem held on to level the match at a set apiece on his fifth set point of the second-set tiebreaker. And the 23-year-old appeared to have gained control when he powered to a 5-2 lead in the third set.
But Schwartzman wouldn’t go away, saving two match points on his serve at 3-5, another in the next game and yet another as he served to take the set to 5-5. Schwartzman then broke to serve for the match.
He fell behind 0-40, but won the last five points of the match for his first win over a top-10 player and a berth in the third round.
Schwartzman’s wasn’t the only great escape of the day. Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov saved four match points en route to a three-set victory over Rogerio Dutra Silva in their first-round encounter. The 18-year-old trailed 4-6 in the second-set tiebreaker but saved all four match points he faced to force a third set. Shapovalov broke Brazil’s Dutra Silva in the seventh game of the third and went on to close out a 4-6, 7-6 (10/8), 6-4 victory. “It’s matches like this I live for and that I play for,” said Shapovalov, who earned a second-round meeting with former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina.
Shapovalov was one of a wealth of young talents to shine on Tuesday. South Korean 21-year-old Chung Hyeon withstood 16 aces to beat 2014 semi-finalist Feliciano Lopez 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (7/3).
After the third set went to the tiebreaker without a break of serve, the 56th-ranked Chung built a 4-2 advantage and went on to secure the victory in two hours and 16 minutes. He next faces ninth-seeded Belgian David Goffin, a 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 winner over Japan’s Yuichi Sugita.
Croatian 20-year-old Borna Coric breezed past Russian lucky loser Mikhail Youzhny 6-2, 6-4 to set up a second-round meeting with top-seeded Rafael Nadal. Coric has won two of three prior encounters with the Spanish great, who won a 10th French Open title this year and can regain the world number one ranking with a run to the semi-finals this week.