NEW YORK _ There is something particularly nerve-wracking about watching Roger Federer struggle.
Federer, 38, is a living legend. His style of play is so elegantly efficient, his movement around the court is so deceptively effortless that his legion of fans seemed to fall into a state of shock Wednesday when, once again, he lost the first set of an early match at the U.S. Open.
Yes, the third-seeded Federer shook off a poor start to beat Damir Dzumhur, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4, in their second-round match at Arthur Ashe Stadium. But the error-filled first set had to be a bit disconcerting. Two days earlier, Federer lost the first set of a match against another unheralded player, Sumit Nagal of India, before rallying to win in four sets.
It marks the first time ever that Federer lost the opening set of his first two matches at a Grand Slam event. The five-time U.S. Open champ admitted after the match that he was more than a bit annoyed by the way he is getting off to a slow start.
"I don't think there is per se a secret to a good start other than warming up well, being well-prepared mentally, not under estimating your opponent. I did all of that," Federer said. "I will always do that. So when it happens like this in back-to-back matches, you know, it's just a bit frustrating more than anything, especially when the level is that low and there are that many errors and the energy is not there."
Federer made 17 unforced errors and landed only 57% of his first serves in losing the first set to Dzumhur, a Bosnian who is ranked 99th in the world.
The normally reserved Federer showed some rare emotion in the second set, leaping into the air after hitting a forehand winner to hold serve for a 4-1 lead. Three games later, a double-fault by Dzumhur evened the match.
After that, the match was never in doubt. Federer advances to play either No. 25 seed Lucas Pouille of France or Daniel Evans of Great Britain.
Federer, winner of 20 Grand Slams, hasn't won the U.S. Open since 2008, the last of his five straight wins here.
His last Grand Slam win was at the Australian Open in 2018, though he came painfully close at Wimbledon this summer. Federer squandered two match points against Novak Djokovic in a five-set tiebreak loss. Heading into the U.S. Open, he lost to Andrey Rublev in the round of 16 at Cincinnati.
Federer knows he can't continue to be so generous in the first set if he wants to go deep into the tournament.
"I mean, look, I got exactly what I expected from both guys," he said of his first two matches. "I knew what Nagal was going to give me. I knew what Dzumhur was going to give me. But I didn't expect to hit 15 to 20 unforced errors, which is basically the entire set just sort of donated."
