NEW YORK – Five thoughts from Day Four at the U.S. Open.
• There are classic Roger Federer matches. There are clinics. There are occasionally clunkers. But they are usually fairly straightforward and conventional affairs. Seldom are there bizarre matches. We got one on Thursday.
Against the veteran Mikhail Youzhny—against whom Federer brandished a career 16-0 record—Federer dominated the first set. The back issues that clouded his U.S. Open forecast looked fine. His decision to spend yesterday practicing amid the people in Central Park looked wise as well as populist. Then Federer played a pair of sets that were remarkable sloppy, a festival of unforced errors.