Fuente: © US Open (Tennis)
http://www.usopen.org/

US OPEN: Federer Flies By Wang

/noticias.info/ by Erin Gell
Wednesday, August 30, 2006

The good news: you get to make your US Open debut on Arthur Ashe Stadium Court; the bad news: your first round opponent will be none other than world No. 1 Roger Federer. That was the situation Yeu-Tzuoo Wang from Chinese Taipei faced today as he took the court for his first US Open.

Wang held his own, but not surprisingly, Federer came away with a decisive 6-4, 6-1, 6-0 victory.

The two-time defending champion kicked off the match by breaking his 21 year-old opponent’s serve. But Wang did not let the situation intimidate him, and managed to win his next four service games.

Roger Federer is fresh off of a rare loss, proving that he is not invincible after all. Scotland’s Andy Murray snapped the Swiss’s 55 match winning streak on North American hard courts just two weeks ago at AMS Cincinnati. That second-round loss also ended Federer’s streak of making it to 17 consecutives finals.

“[Murray] was there. He was ready, and I wasn't,” said Federer of the loss. “He played a good match on top of that; I didn't play well. That was the combination enough to beat me.”

But Federer naturally has his eye on the final here next weekend. If he wins the tournament this year, he will be looking at a US Open three-peat, a feat that would make him the first man since Ivan Lendl in 1987 to win three US Opens in a row. Additionally, he would set a new record as the first man in history to win Wimbledon and the US Open back-to-back for three consecutive years.

Federer held a break point against Wang in the third game of the second set, and requested an official challenge when his cross court zinger was called wide. The instant replay confirmed that the ball was indeed out, and the point went to Wang. The two would struggle through three deuces until Federer was at last able to convert the break and move to a 3-0 lead.

Wang remained back at the baseline for the bulk of the match, but was not afraid to take opportunities to boldly come in to net and try to throw the Swiss man off. Though Federer usually got the better of these encounters, it showed that Wang refused to bring anything less than his best.

His first break point opportunity came up with Federer serving for the set at 5-0. The Swiss’s ball sailed past the line and Wang got his break. Federer broke back with the game to cap off the set 6-1.

During the changeover between sets, Wang called for a trainer and received a medical time out to have his left hamstring re-wrapped.

Federer zipped through the remainder of the third set, shutting Wang out 6-0 to secure the win.

“I thought I played pretty well,” Federer said after the match. “Not too many mistakes. I played aggressive, and it worked out. So it was a good match all in all, definitely.”

Next up will be the winner of Wednesday’s match-up between Brits Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski. notas_de_prensa_archivo