Federer confident despite early struggles

Aug 29, 2008 - 10:28 PM By Larry Fleisher PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) -- By Roger Federer's high standards, this has not been the greatest of seasons. But playing at one of his favorite courts might have brought out his lighter side.

Known for his serious demeanor, Federer let his guard down in a post-match press conference on Friday after struggling in his second-round victory over a qualifier - offering quips in regards to rival Rafael Nadal.

Federer lost his No. 1 ranking to Nadal on August 18, so it might be expected that he would have caught some of the Spaniard's first two matches, which were played Tuesday and Thursday night.

But the world's second-ranked player was apparently nowhere near a television for Nadal's second-round win Thursday.

"I schedule my life around my life, not his life," Federer said.

The Swiss superstar might have caught some of Nadal's matches had the Spaniard struggled at all.

"I was gone for dinner, and he decided to do it quick, so I missed it," Federer said. "I was expecting five sets. I was there for four and five, but he wasn't there anymore, so that was that was problem."

Federer needed over two hours Friday to complete a 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 second-round victory over Thiago Alves, who is ranked 137th. He allowed the Brazilian qualifier a chance to steal the second set by making 27 unforced errors, but eventually took care of Alves to record his 29th straight win on the hardcourt surface at the U.S. Open.

The four-time defending champion here, Federer has yet to claim a hardcourt title this season for the first time in seven years.

Though he struggled against Alves during the day time, Federer said that day and night matches make little difference.

"No, I feel good in both. I have no preference," Federer said. "Of course, there's days, you're like, maybe next match you'd rather play at night. You can sleep in and have more time.

"Depends a little bit the scheduling. But I don't feel superior in the day session or the night sessions."

The one thing that is different during the day is the wind, which might explain some of his struggles early on against Alves.

"There's always usually more wind during the day," Federer said. "So I think that was good. I got used to the wind actually today, because in Beijing (during the Olympics) there was zero wind for like two weeks.

"Took me a little bit of adjustment, even though in practice there was wind. But in match situations, it's different. You can't just play your normal way. You have to play with the wind a little bit, and today maybe I struggled at times, a little bit."