When five-time champion Roger Federer and No. 30 seed Nick Kyrgios stepped on the court in Arthur Ashe Stadium for their third-round match at the US Open on Saturday afternoon, there seemed little doubt that it would be a hard-fought clash. Each of their three previous FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings went to third-set tie-breaks, after all.

But Federer made it clear that he is one of the leading favourites in New York, dismissing the 23-year-old Aussie 6-4, 6-1, 7-5 in just one hour and 44 minutes.

Federer is into the fourth round in Flushing Meadows for his 17th consecutive appearance, improving his record at the year’s final Grand Slam to 85-12. The Swiss star has only failed to reach the Round of 16 here once, on debut in 2000, when he advanced to the third round before losing to Juan Carlos Ferrero.

This year’s Australian Open, Rotterdam and Stuttgart champion, who is bidding to lift his first US Open title since 2008, recovered from 3-3 (0/40) down in the first set, saving four break points, before securing a crucial break of serve in the 10th game with a chip backhand return as Kyrgios attempted to serve and volley.

Federer was also dominant on serve, dropping just five points on his first delivery through two sets. He also did a good job of keeping Kyrgios from controlling play with his forehand by playing aggressively himself, hitting 51 winners to just 24 unforced errors.

While it was not the decisive blow, it became clear in the third set at 3-3 that it was simply the 37-year-old’s day. Federer sprinted forward to a ball and shoveled a forehand around a netpost for a winner — surely the shot of the day — leaving Kyrgios with his mouth wide open in disbelief.

“I was trying to tell him that the shot wasn’t that good,” Kyrgios said, smiling. “No, it was almost unreal. Almost got to the point where I wanted him to start making shots like that, and I finally got it.

“It was unbelievable. I’m probably going to place it on Instagram.”

The Swiss now leads the Aussie 3-1 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series. Before the match, eight of the nine sets they had contested went to tie-breaks.

Federer will next face another Aussie in John Millman, who beat Mikhail Kukushkin 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 to reach the fourth round at a Grand Slam for the first time. The Swiss was victorious in their only previous FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting, which came in a three-setter three years ago in Brisbane.

Millman will attempt to earn his first victory against an opponent inside the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings. The 29-year-old is projected to surpass his career-best ranking of No. 49 based on his performance in New York.

In the top half of the draw, only one player has cruised into the second week of the US Open without dropping a set: Juan Martin del Potro.

When Del Potro is this efficient, few can touch the Argentine’s imposing game and he continued his ruthless run on Friday. A semi-finalist last year, he has carried the momentum into the 2018 edition, barely putting a foot wrong en route to the Round of 16.

Del Potro dismissed an upset-minded Fernando Verdasco 7-5, 7-6(6), 6-3, overcoming a mid-match hiccup to punch his ticket on Day 5. He launched 41 winners, including 12 aces, while claiming a dominant 80 per cent of points on his first serve. 

“It was a really nice fight and we played three great sets,” Del Potro told ESPN following the match. “Thanks to the crowd for staying until almost 1am to cheer for me.”

The 2009 champion earned his 40th match win of the year on Friday, joining Alexander Zverev (45), Rafael Nadal (43) and Dominic Thiem (41) in the club. Del Potro is bidding to reach the quarter-finals or better in a fifth consecutive tournament, having entered Flushing Meadows on the heels of deep runs at Roland Garros, Wimbledon, Los Cabos and Cincinnati.

40-Match Winners In 2018

After exchanging breaks early in the opener, Verdasco was unable to sustain the momentum as the set hit a critical juncture. A loose service game saw Del Potro break to love for 6-5 and he would unleash a forehand barrage to snatch a one-set lead.

Del Potro earned a quick break in the second set and the rout was on. Or so it seemed. After committing just six unforced errors in the first 15 games, seven more would suddenly leak from the Tandil native’s game as Verdasco broke back and edged ahead 3-2. But with his mettle tested, Del Potro would eventually take a two-set advantage by the slimmest of margins in a tie-break. And he cruised from there, breaking early in the third and never looking back.

The match finally hit its conclusion at 12:34am, as Del Potro converted his first match point after two hours and 59 minutes.

Del Potro sets a fourth-round meeting with Borna Coric, who has dropped just one set en route to the last 16. The 20th-seeded Croatian downed Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 under the lights on Court 17. He fired 30 winners, while converting an impressive six of 13 break chances.

A rematch of their encounter at the Next Gen ATP Finals last year, also won by Coric, the Croatian owns a 3-1 lead in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series. He ended Medvedev’s win streak at eight straight, following the Russian’s dominant run to the title at the Winston-Salem Open last week.

Competing in his 17th consecutive Grand Slam main draw, Coric is enjoying his best result. It marks the first time he will appear in the second week of a major. The 21-year-old is up to a career-high No. 20 in the ATP Rankings and coming off his biggest victory to date, having upset Roger Federer in the Gerry Weber Open final in June.

On Sunday, Coric and Del Potro will meet for the first time.

A loss is a loss. But if there’s any such thing as a moral victory, 22-year-old Karen Khachanov earned one on Friday at the US Open.

While the two-time ATP World Tour titlist was unable to advance to the fourth round, falling in four sets against World No. 1 and three-time champion Rafael Nadal, he showed the world that he is plenty capable of competing with the best players on the sport’s biggest stages.

“I gave everything what I had. I think everybody saw it. I’m proud of myself that I could play a good game today, fight till the end. Yeah, just a few points difference that it could go another way,” Khachanov said. “Big respect to Rafa. That’s why he’s No. 1 in the world, such a great fighter. Yeah, just happy about my performance. I hope to keep going that way.”

Based on the way the No. 27 seed played in Arthur Ashe Stadium, there should be little doubt in the direction he is moving: up. Khachanov qualified for last year’s inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan, and he reached the semi-finals at this month’s Rogers Cup, and the confidence he has gained from those experiences showed.

“I was mentally ready to play this match. Physically, I was ready. That’s why at the end I played a match like that,” Khachanov said. “Of course, I had an early break [against me] in the fourth set, but still I was pushing, saying to myself, ‘C’mon, I can still break him, try to come back’.” 

Nadal was plenty complimentary of his opponent as well. After all, he was the one chasing down all of Khachanov’s massive groundstrokes, especially off the forehand side. If anyone should be impressed, it would be Nadal, who had to raise his level just to get past this year’s Marseille champion.

“At some point I have to say congratulations to Karen, too, that he had a great attitude on court during the whole time, playing four hours 20, fighting all the time, playing aggressive, playing great tennis, having some mistakes at some important moments, too, but without saying not a bad word,” Nadal said. “That’s a great thing for tennis, and that’s a great thing for him. With that attitude, I am sure he will have a lot of success.”

And again, Khachanov lost the match. But while it’ll sting for now, this could be the moment he looks back on when he does make a major breakthrough as the performance that helped him believe in what he is truly capable of.

“Now, I’m not the happiest guy in the world. I lost the match. But, like I said, after some time, maybe one day, two days, I will think back and just watch the match. Of course, it will give me I think more experience, more confidence. To see which level I can play, which level I played here and the other Grand Slams or the other tournaments. That just shows that I’m really close to this high level against top guys,” Khachanov said. “Hopefully it will be soon on my side.”