When Lleyton Hewitt was crushing his first-round opponent Thiago Alves with a hot bagel in the opening set, I messaged Long John Silver—probably the biggest Rusty fan on Bleacher Report—asking whether he was following the match or not, expecting an equally enthusiastic reply.
What I got instead was a dry, indifferent, and almost self-retreated "tweet":
"yeah - i did - but wats the use, he prob has the toughest r3 (round-3) that seedings can potentially allow."
Introduction
Roger Federer has delivered everything that his fans would have wished for him at the start of this year. Winning the French Open, regaining the Wimbledon title and once more setting himself up at the zenith of the rankings. His fans are greedy and want him to win a sixth straight U.S. Open as well.
After his two strong performances in the semifinal and final at Cincinnati, he has given them a strong indication that he is in no mood to let them down. After all, he would be dreaming of the scenario where the Federer twins would be watching their champion father raising the trophy aloft on Sept. 13.
In the third round, he faces the former world No. 1 and the 2001 U.S. Open champion, Hewitt, who has been one of the many comeback players with impressive results this year.
In all likelihood, Federer will cruise through, but Maxwell's Demon is someone he should be wary of.
Will Lose If. . .
"Nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row"
The "law of averages" can be a tricky term for some and useless for others. However, it cannot be ignored. It must have played its part in some way when Vitas Gerulaitis managed to win a match against Jimmy Connors after 16 consecutive losses.
Roger Federer has also won the last 13 contests against the Australian, so while it must be said that Hewitt will not enjoy the same chance as Gerulaitis did, it will be significant.
Roger might face an awfully bad serving day because of extreme wind conditions, or Hewitt finds himself in "the zone," passing brilliantly against a player who likes to approach the net on Deco Turf. These are a few scenarios that Hewitt would be hoping for, and then he must hope for a miracle to happen.
Will Win If. . .
In every other scenario not described above.
There is a reason why Federer has enjoyed so much success against Hewitt. He serves better than Hewitt returns, anticipates better than Hewitt passes, finishes points earlier than Hewitt likes, has similar determination to Rusty, and can match Hewitt in fitness if the match goes beyond four hours.
Federer has beaten Hewitt the last two times they have met at this stadium, and Hewitt will do good to forget the two bagels he got against him in 2004. Hewitt is no better than he was in 2004, while it is being argued that Federer played better in Cincinnati than at any other time in his life.
Intangibles
Federer's serve, which is becoming increasingly difficult to decode, would trouble even the best returners of the game, and Hewitt is no exception. His backhand is dangerous on this surface which bounces low and spins less. Of course, the New York crowd will be vociferously supporting its Swiss Champion, who says he feels half New Yorker himself!
Shots to watch out for
Federer tried a lot of chip-'n'-charge against Simon Gruel. Expect the same against Hewitt, where he will like to test Hewitt's passing shots. He will approach the net quite often, so compare his volleys against 2001. The inside-in forehand, which Mats Wilander calls his "unique forehand," is especially dangerous as well.
Prediction
Something similar to what is shown in the title picture. Three optic Wilson balls signed by Roger Federer flying away in the stands of Arthur Ashe stadium after around two and a half hours of tennis exercise. That will be one shot to look out for as well!
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