Federer bt Stepanek

6-3, 6-3, 6-2

An awesome Federer beat an under par Stepanek in straight sets yesterday in round 3 of the US Open, it was Federer’s most convincing victory of the year where you saw him give his best performance since his ‘mono’ illness last year.

This was very new to watch as in previous matches he was always struggling a little bit, always lacked that little bit of energy – which is strange as he still won nearly all his games, he just didn’t have that extra bit. Yesterday though, he seemed the unstoppable player we all have come to love, just watching some of those backhands down the line, volleying, and precise serving – we got to see the pure instinctive Federer.

I felt quite sorry for Stepanek, I said he was under par but really had no chance, the game started full speed, Federer won the first game with 2 aces without dropping a point. He pushed Stepanek’s serves in the first set and managed to get his break in the 4th. After that is was bread and butter for Federer. The same happened in the second set. Please do remember Stephanek beat Federer in a recent masters series, and he is ranked 28th in the world and was once amongst the top 10, so definitely not a player to just make up numbers.

The final set was a shock as Federer dropped his serve, he was serving into the wind and things got very gusty during his game and caused him to make a few errors. To show how Federer dictated the game, he was 0-2 down that set and won it 6-2. I have always said this, but when Federer plays at his best he always looks as though he can pick and choose which games he wants to win.

A fine victory for the world number 2, if he can take this form into every game I feel he can win this tournament and make it look easy! Unless Rafa has an answer to this performance, but I feel Nadal and only Nadal could have a chance to stop Federer in his finest form.