NEW YORK — Nick Kyrgios couldn't secure his first US Open fourth-round berth against Roger Federer Saturday, but the controversial Australian was a model of decorum at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The second-seeded Federer’s bid for a sixth career US Open title marched onto the fourth round with a 6-4, 6-1, 7-5 win against the 30th-seeded Kyrgios. But the match also showed how Kyrgios is capable of mostly being able to keep his composure.
That wasn't the case on Thursday when Kyrgios appeared less than engaged early in a four-set win against Pierre-Hugues Herbert, leading umpire Mohamed Lahyani to come down from his chair to implore the Australian to put in an effort.
Federer predicted Thursday there would be no controversies during the third-round match. And he was right. No outbursts from Kyrgios, who was engaged throughout.
Kyrgios’ parting words during Saturday's news conference showed he realizes he could learn a few valuable lessons from Federer.
“I think we’re two very different characters,” said Kyrgios, 23, who had 32 winners to Federer's 51. “I think just the way he goes about things. I could take a leaf out of his book. The way he behaves on court, you know, his demeanor, I could definitely take away. I don’t want to change myself too much, but I could definitely take away things he does in certain situations.
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“He’s the ultimate role model to anyone who wants to play.”
As an 18-year veteran on the tour, Federer, 37, knows what he hopes younger players take from his stellar career as a 20-time Grand Slam champion.
“I think to play fair and play tough,” he said. “I hope they look to me, or parents look to me, and think that they will be happy that maybe their son would behave like this on a tennis court or tried as hard as I did. … If I can be any sort of inspiration for guys coming up on the tour, that would be great.”
Federer characterizes Kyrgios as an “unpredictable player with an enormous serve, who can just turn it on whenever he wants to.” Because of that, Federer knew he needed to be consistent, not flashy, in the match, although he did have an unbelievable around-the-net-post winner in the third set.
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