“The first and second set could’ve gone either way,’’ Federer said. “He was dominating more of the baseline rallies. I didn’t think I was serving particularly well during that period. I knew I had work to do on my serve. I think the wind was tricky. It took some adjustments but I took the right ones and thought it was a very high-quality match.’’
Federer’s only major hiccup came at the end of the second set, when he got broken in the last game off a big Cilic forehand that Federer couldn’t get back.
With Cilic facing a break point while serving at 4-all in the third set, he was warned by the chair umpire for a time violation. Cilic promptly double-faulted, giving Federer a 5-4 lead. Third-seeded Federer won seven of the next nine games to close out the match.
“As long as I’m moving on in the draw, I’m a happy man,’’ he said.
After disposing of 39th-ranked Nikolay Davydenko, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2, top seed Novak Djokovic delighted the crowd by showing off some dance moves while music blared over the stadium loudspeakers.
“I know most people expect top players to get to the late stages of the tournament, so there’s extra pressure on us,’’ said Djokovic, seeking his first title at Flushing Meadows after runner-up finishes in 2007 and 2010. “But it’s a challenge we’re ready to accept. This is what we work all our lives for, to be on this court.’’
Earlier in the stadium, top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki rolled through her third straight match, avoiding an upset bug that has turned big sections of the women’s bracket into a free-for-all.
Wozniacki, the Open runner-up in 2009, defeated American Vania King, 6-2, 6-4, and has lost a total of 12 games over her first three matches. Like Federer, it took her time to figure out the breezes on a warm, windy day in New York
“The wind, it was going everywhere,’’ she said. “You had to keep the margin over the net and away from the lines.’’
That’s Wozniacki’s game, though, and it has served her well. Though she is still in search of her first major, she has been ranked No. 1 for most of the last year.
