NEW YORK, Sept 11: Rafael Nadal entered the 2017 Grand Slam season on a 2½-year drought without so much as one appearance in a major final, let alone a title. He ends it having reasserted himself, capped by a U.S. Open final that shaped up as quite a mismatch — and turned out to be exactly that.

His game at a higher level than it needed to be by the end of an unusually easy path through the field, Nadal overwhelmed Kevin Anderson 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 on Sunday to win his third championship at Flushing Meadows.

“Of course, after a couple of years without competing at this very high, high level,” Nadal said, “very happy to be back.”

The No. 1-ranked Nadal collected his 16th Grand Slam trophy overall and at his news conference, he wore a white T-shirt listing the date and site of each one. Among men, only Roger Federer has more, with 19. Each of those two longtime rivals won two of the four majors this season, marking their return to the heights of their sport.

Nadal has dealt with knee and wrist problems, both likely a result of his physical brand of play, over his career, but 2015 and 2016 were his first seasons without reaching at least one Grand Slam final since 2004, when he was still a teenager.

Seems safe to say that, at age 31, he is once again the Nadal of old.

“I mean, I’ve always said he’s one of the, obviously, greatest players of our sport, obviously feeling very confident,” Anderson said. “He seems to have turned around a lot of those injuries he’s experienced the last couple of years. I guess time will tell on that.”

At No. 32, Anderson was the lowest-ranked U.S. Open men’s finalist since the ATP computer rankings began in 1973. The 31-year-old South African never had been past the quarterfinals at any major tournament in 33 previous appearances, so when he won his semifinal on Friday, he climbed into the stands to celebrate.

There would be no such joy for him on this day.

Nadal added to his U.S. Open triumphs in 2010 and 2013 and improved to 16-7 in Grand Slam finals. For the first time since 2013, he appeared in three in a single season, losing to Federer at the Australian Open in January, then beating Stan Wawrinka for his record 10th French Open trophy in June.

Nadal’s career haul also includes two trophies from Wimbledon and one from the Australian Open. All of his big victories have come while being coached by his uncle, Toni, who is now stepping aside. The U.S. Open was the last Grand Slam event of their partnership.

It was not as daunting as usual.

Not since Pete Sampras at Wimbledon in 2000 had a man won a Slam tournament without facing any opponents ranked in the top 20. In New York, the bracket was weakened by the injury withdrawals of three of the top five men: past champions Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Wawrinka.

Plus, Nadal did not need to deal with Federer: The potential for a semifinal, which would have been their first U.S. Open meeting, was dashed when Juan Martin del Potro eliminated Federer in the quarterfinals. Nadal then beat del Potro , the 2009 champion but now ranked 28th, in the semis.

Much like Nadal’s 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 win against Wawrinka at Roland Garros, the only beauty of this match was not in its competitiveness — not by a long shot — but in an appreciation for one participant’s absolute superiority.

Forehands whipped up the line. Two-handed backhands ripped cross-court with ferocity. The spinning, back-to-the-net returns of serves that darted in at him at more than 130 mph (210 kph) and helped him break Anderson four times.

“I learned a lot of lessons,” Anderson conceded. “It was a difficult match, up against somebody who has been on that stage over 20 times before.”

Nadal even came up with some terrific volleys, winning the point on all 16 of his trips to the net. Anderson, meanwhile, finished 16 for 34 in that category. Another difference-maker: Nadal never faced a break point, although that was more a reflection of his talent once the ball was in play than any particularly dominant serving.

With Nadal standing way back to receive serves, nearly backing into the line judges, he neutralized Anderson’s most effective skill. Anderson came in having won 103 of 108 service games across six matches, but Nadal accumulated break points at will from the get-go — two in a six-deuce game at 1-all, another two in a five-deuce game at 2-all.

Anderson began trying to end points quickly with a volley. Two problems with that: Anderson is not usually a serve-and-volleyer and so is no expert at that tactic; Nadal is superb at summoning passing shots at extreme speeds and angles, especially when facing the sort of target provided by the 6-foot-8 (2.03-meter) Anderson, the tallest Grand Slam finalist in history.

At 3-all, 30-all, Anderson double-faulted to offer up Nadal’s fifth break point of the match, then badly pushed a forehand wide.

That only made the score 4-3 , but the statistics were telling: Anderson had 21 unforced errors, Nadal just four. A pattern had been established.

“That,” Nadal said, “changed the rest of the match.”

When he broke to lead 4-2 in the second set , that was pretty much that.

“I always accepted all the challenges that my career present to me. The good news and the negative news, I accepted in the same way, in a very natural way. I am a person that I don’t have much ups and downs,” Nadal said. “When I am in a negative moment, I don’t go very down. When I am in a positive moment, probably like now, I don’t believe that I am that good.”

Rest assured, Rafa. You’re good. AP

NEW YORK, Sept 10: Sloane Stephens’ remarkably rapid rise from a ranking of 957th in early August to U.S. Open champion on Saturday began with the slow work of coming back from surgery on her left foot.

After being off tour for 11 months because of her injury, Stephens easily beat her close friend Madison Keys 6-3, 6-0 in the first Grand Slam final for both, becoming only the second unseeded woman to win the tournament in the Open era, which began in 1968.

“I mean, there is no words to describe how I got here — the process it took or anything like that,” Stephens said, “because if you told someone this story, they’d be, like, ‘That’s insane.’”

After the operation in January, Stephens couldn’t walk for a month. It wasn’t until May that she would get back onto a tennis court — and even then she was off her feet, plopped on a wood table at a practice facility at UCLA while aiming her racket at balls tossed by her coach, Kamau Murray. From there, Murray said, Stephens progressed to sitting while rolling around on an armless office chair. Two weeks later, Stephens finally was able to stand in place while working on her swing. Another two weeks, and she was allowed to move.

“Definitely,” Murray said Saturday, “not fun for her.”

Nor was it all that fun to face a pal with so much at stake. Stephens, 24, and Keys, 22, have known each other for about a decade, first as juniors, then on tour and as U.S. Fed Cup and Olympic teammates. They texted and spoke on the phone early in 2017, when both sat out the Australian Open because of injuries — Keys had surgery on her left wrist during the offseason, then again in June.

When the match ended after only 61 minutes, with Stephens claiming the last eight games, they met at the net for a long hug . While waiting for the trophy ceremony to begin, Stephens walked over and plopped herself down in a courtside chair next to Keys, so they could chat side-by-side.

“Sloane is truly one of my favorite people and to get to play her was really special. Obviously I didn’t play my best tennis today and was disappointed,” Keys said. “But Sloane, being the great friend that she is, was very supportive. And if there’s someone I have to lose to today, I’m glad it’s her.”

They hammed it up afterward, too. When Stephens was presented with her $3.7 million winner’s check, she grabbed Keys’ arm, as if to stop herself from fainting at the sum.

“That’s a lot of money!” Stephens said. Keys eyed the check and teased, “I’ll hold it for her.”

Keys texted Murray a couple of days before the U.S. Open began to arrange a practice session with Stephens. And the two finalists planned to party together Saturday night.

“She can buy me drinks,” Keys said. “All of the drinks.”

This was only the second time in the Open era that two women were making their Grand Slam final debuts against each other in New York.

Keys acknowledged afterward it was all a bit much for her, and it showed: She wound up with 30 unforced errors.

“I definitely think my play today came down to nerves and all of that,” she said, “and I just don’t think I handled the occasion perfectly.”

Stephens, meanwhile, made only six unforced errors.

Told of that number by a reporter during her engaging news conference, filled with quips and smiles, Stephens slapped a palm on the table in front her, then snapped her fingers and said: “Shut the front door. I don’t think that’s ever happened to me before. Oh, my God. That’s a stat.”

Still, she had dealt with jitters beforehand, too.

Murray went to Stephens’ hotel room Friday night to check on her, using as an excuse for the visit that he needed to deliver some clean laundry. This is how he said the conversation went:

Stephens: “You wanted to see if I was nervous.”

Murray: “Yeah.”

Stephens: “I am.”

“We just laughed and chuckled and talked about it for about 25 minutes, and after that, it was all good,” Murray said. “I mean, probably she was still nervous but, you know, at least give her a chance to get it out.”

Stephens’ late father, John Stephens, was the 1988 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year for the New England Patriots. And her mother, Sybil Smith, was Boston University’s first All-American in women’s swimming. In addition to being a super athlete, Stephens seems to thrive in the spotlight: She’s now 5-0 in tournament finals.

A year ago, she sat out the U.S. Open altogether because of her foot problem.

In 2017, her season debut came at Wimbledon in July, when she lost in the first round. Lost her next match, too, in Washington.

Since then, she has gone 15-2. Her ranking, up to 83rd at the start of the U.S. Open, will climb to No. 17 on Monday. Oh, and, don’t forget: She is now, and forever will be, a Grand Slam champion.

“I should just retire now,” Stephens joked. “I told Maddie I’m never going to be able to top this. I mean, talk about a comeback.” AP

NEW YORK, Sept 7: So much for the first U.S. Open matchup between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Federer failed to live up to his end of the bargain.

Hours after Nadal did his part with an easy-as-can-be victory to get to the semifinals at Flushing Meadows, Federer was unable to join him for what would have been the most-anticipated showdown of the entire two weeks, wasting chances to take control and missing shots he normally makes in a 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (8), 6-4 loss to 2009 champion Juan Martin del Potro on Wednesday night.

“He came up with the goods when he needed to,” Federer said, “and I helped him a little bit sometimes, too, maybe.”

Federer described himself as too “edgy” and said “that little magic was missing.”

He also insisted that, unlike just about everyone else, he did not spend any time at all pondering a possible matchup with Nadal at the only Grand Slam tournament where they’ve never met. Their wonderful rivalry has included 37 matches, and at least two finals at each of the other majors.

“I had struggled too much throughout the tournament,” Federer said, “to think too far ahead.”

Given that he is 36, and Nadal is 31, perhaps it is time for the tennis world to concede that Roger vs. Rafa at the U.S. Open just will never happen.

This is the sixth occasion when they were a round away from playing in New York, but one or the other lost — including eight years ago, when del Potro beat Nadal in the semifinals, then Federer in the final to end the Swiss star’s run of five consecutive titles at the tournament.

This time, Federer entered the quarterfinals 18-0 in Grand Slam play this season, including titles at the Australian Open and Wimbledon to raise his record count to 19 major championships.

But he tweaked his back at a tournament last month, curtailing his preparation for the U.S. Open, and he was not quite at his best for stretches. He needed five sets to win each of his first two matches — and Wednesday, he succumbed to the del Potro’s familiar formula of massive forehands and booming serves .

Before the U.S. Open began, Nadal was honest as can be when asked whether he hoped to face Federer. The answer, the No. 1-seeded Nadal said earnestly, was no — because he’d rather go up against someone easier to beat.

Well, as it turns out, he’ll face the 24th-seeded del Potro on Friday. It is the first major semifinal for del Potro since 2013; he missed two years’ worth of Grand Slam tournaments until Wimbledon in 2016 because of three operations on his left wrist.

The other semifinal features two men who have never been this far at any major: No. 12 Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain vs. No. 28 Kevin Anderson of South Africa.

The women’s semifinals are both all-American matchups, the first time that’s happened at the U.S. Open in 36 years : No. 9 Venus Williams vs. unseeded Sloane Stephens, and No. 15 Madison Keys vs. No. 20 CoCo Vandeweghe.

Nadal, who won two of his 15 Grand Slam trophies in New York, overwhelmed 19-year-old Russian Andrey Rublev 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 in the quarterfinals, then had to wait hours to see what Federer would do under the lights against del Potro.

Arthur Ashe Stadium was packed, and both men had loud groups of supporters. Federer’s fans cheered del Potro’s faults, considered bad etiquette in tennis. Del Potro’s faction broke into raucous, soccer-style songs of “Ole, ole, ole, ole! Del-po! Del-po!”

There was some sublime shotmaking by each player, but also some real shakiness from the 36-year-old Federer, whose forehand in particular was problematic: 22 of his 41 unforced errors came on that stroke.

The turning point was the third-set tiebreaker, which Federer was a single point from winning on four occasions.

At 6-4, del Potro hammered a good return that caught Federer off-guard, resulting in a forehand into the net. At 6-5, del Potro delivered a service winner. At 7-6 — set up by a double-fault from del Potro — Federer missed a backhand, and his wife, Mirka, put her hands to her temples, before standing to offer encouragement. At 8-7, Federer’s fourth and last set point, del Potro hit a huge forehand winner.

That began a run of three points in a row for del Potro to claim that set, the last when Federer pushed a backhand volley long.

The suspense in the fourth set was brief: At 2-all, Federer dumped an overhead into the bottom of the net to gift del Potro a third break point in that game. It was converted with a stinging cross-court backhand return winner.

“I did everything well. I served so good. I hit my forehand as hard as I can,” del Potro said. “And I think we played a great match and I deserved to win at the end.”

He showed no residual effects from his 3 1/2-hour, five-set comeback victory in the fourth round — or the illness that had the 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Argentine coughing into a towel in the second set Wednesday. One of his many powerful and precise forehands stood out: a reflex passing shot struck so hard and so close to the at-the-net Federer’s head that he ducked out of the way.

Uncharacteristically off at times, Federer shanked a very bad forehand volley to set up del Potro’s match point.

“It was one of those matches where, if I ran into a good guy, I was going to lose, I felt. I don’t want to say I was in a negative mindset, but I knew going in that I’m not in a safe place,” Federer said. “Rightfully so, I’m out of this tournament, because I wasn’t good enough — in my mind, in my body, and in my game. … If you’re missing all three, it’s going to be tough.” AP

NEW YORK, Sept 5: Juan Martin del Potro’s stay at the U.S. Open really should be over. Nearly was.

The 2009 champion at Flushing Meadows had a fever and thought about quitting while dropping the opening two sets with little resistance against No. 6-seeded Dominic Thiem in the fourth round Monday. Then he trailed by a big margin in the fourth set, even facing two match points.

Still, buoyed by a boisterous Grandstand crowd chanting “Ole!” and his nickname, “delPo,” he never gave in or gave up. Eventually, del Potro worked his way all the way back on the strength of powerful serves and thunderous forehands to edge Thiem 1-6, 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 (1), 6-4 and set up a quarterfinal showdown against Roger Federer.

“I took all that energy to change in a good way and think about (fighting) and not (retiring),” the 24th-seeded Argentine said. “Unbelievable atmosphere.”

Del Potro long has been popular, but became even more so since returning from three operations on his left wrist that kept him out of Grand Slam action for two years and sent his ranking out of the top 100.

“He was gone for so long that it’s just really nice to see him back playing these kind of matches,” Federer said. “That’s what he came back for, to get crowd support the way he got it.”

Thiem also aided del Potro by playing his worst tennis when he was closest to victory in the fourth set, which he led 5-2. Thiem served for the match at 5-3, but got broken. Leading 6-5, he managed to get within a point of winning at 15-40 on del Potro’s serve, but a pair of aces at 127 mph and 121 mph erased those two chances. The ensuing tiebreaker was dominated by del Potro, who closed it with a booming cross-court forehand winner on the run.

In the fifth set, del Potro closed things on his second match point, when Thiem double-faulted. How close was this? Thiem actually won more points, 141-139.

When it was over, del Potro raised both arms overhead and threw his head back , enjoying the fans’ adulation, then crossed himself. He joked that he thought he should get a trophy just for winning this one.

It was by far the day’s most enthralling match, with spectators’ roars heard all the way across the grounds at Arthur Ashe Stadium, where Federer was beating No. 33 Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-4, 6-2, 7-5.

The only bit of intrigue came after the second set, when Federer went off the court for a medical timeout. He said afterward it was so he could get a massage after feeling a muscle tightening at the top of the back of his left leg.

His back had been bothering Federer before the U.S. Open and restricted his practice time, something he blamed for problems while getting pushed to five sets in each of the first two rounds last week. But the lopsided win against Kohlschreiber — who never held a break point — was Federer’s second in a row in straight sets.

Federer improved to 12-0 against Kohlschreiber; his record against del Potro is 16-5. But del Potro won their meeting in the 2009 final in New York in five sets for his only Grand Slam title, ending Federer’s streak of five straight U.S. Open championships — and he hasn’t won the trophy since.

“I felt like that I left that match with a lot of regrets,” Federer said.

The other matchup on that half of the men’s bracket will be No. 1 Rafael Nadal against 19-year-old Andrey Rublev, the youngest quarterfinalist at the U.S. Open since Andy Roddick was 19 in 2001.

Nadal got to the round of eight in New York for the first time since his 2013 title, overwhelming 64th-ranked Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-2, 6-4, 6-1.

“Every victory, every set that you win, is more confidence,” Nadal said. “That what’s I am doing.”

Now Nadal gets to play a fifth consecutive unseeded foe in Rublev, who took out No. 9 David Goffin 7-5, 7-6 (5), 6-3.

There are four Americans in the women’s quarterfinals in New York for the first time in 15 years after No. 15 Madison Keys grabbed the last four games to top No. 4 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 7-6 (2), 1-6, 6-4 in Monday’s last match.

No. 20 CoCo Vandeweghe beat Lucie Safarova 6-4, 7-6 (2) earlier Monday, while Venus Williams and Sloane Stephens advanced Sunday.

Vandeweghe’s quarterfinal opponent is No. 1 seed Karolina Pliskova, the 2016 runner-up, who beat 91st-ranked American Jennifer Brady 6-1, 6-0.

Keys now faces Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi, who beat Daria Kasatkina 6-4, 6-4 to become the first qualifier in 36 years to reach the U.S. Open women’s quarterfinals.

The 32-year-old Estonian is ranked 418th after missing much of the past two years with problems in the soles of both feet and a virus known as a precursor to mononucleosis.

“It’s pretty amazing where I am now,” Kanepi said, “compared to where I was few months ago.” AP

NEW YORK, Sept 4: Maybe this was just one three-setter too many for Maria Sharapova.

Sharapova tried a bit of everything, even resorting to switching over her racket to hit a few lefty shots. Still, the five-time major champion could not quite keep her Grand Slam comeback from a doping suspension going, losing in the fourth round of the U.S. Open to 16th-seeded Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 on Sunday.

“Look, three-set matches are challenging . I love being part of them. There’s an element of concentration, focus, physicality that goes into all of it. And you have to put it all together. Yeah, you just have to get through it,” Sharapova said. “There’s no doubt that not playing those matches certainly cost me today. I did feel like I was thinking a little bit too much and not playing by instinct.”

This was the third time in her four matches that Sharapova went the distance and she faded down the stretch, while also dealing with a blister on her right hand that was treated and taped by a trainer in the final set. Sharapova’s miscues kept closing exchanges, and she dropped 13 of the first 14 points in that set.

The 30-year-old Russian finished with 51 unforced errors, compared to 14 for Sevastova.

“It’s been a really great ride,” Sharapova said.

“Ultimately, I can take a lot from this week,” she continued. “It’s great to get that major out of the way. It was an incredible opportunity. I’m very thankful for the opportunity.”

Sharapova’s exit leaves Venus Williams as the only past U.S. Open champion in the women’s field . The 37-year-old Williams, who won the title in 2000 and 2001, got to the quarterfinals by beating Carla Suarez Navarro 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. Next for Williams will be a showdown against No. 13 Petra Kvitova, a two-time Wimbledon winner, who eliminated reigning Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza 7-6 (3), 6-3 on Sunday night.

This is the most significant victory for Kvitova since she returned to action after needing surgery on her racket-holding hand for cuts from a knife-wielding intruder at her home in the Czech Republic in December.

“I came here without any expectations,” Kvitova said.

Sharapova hadn’t played in a major tournament since the Australian Open in January 2016, when she tested positive for the newly banned drug meldonium. She served a 15-month ban for that, returning to the tour this April with a ranking too low to get into Grand Slam events.

The French Open denied her a wild-card invitation, then she planned to try to qualify for Wimbledon before pulling out because of an injured left leg.

But she was able to enter the U.S. Open thanks to a wild card from the U.S. Tennis Association, which then proceeded to put its 2006 champion in Arthur Ashe Stadium every time she played over the past week, drawing strong support from spectators — and criticism from another former No. 1-ranked woman, Caroline Wozniacki.

On Day 1 of the tournament, Sharapova won a three-set thriller under the lights against No. 2 seed Simona Halep.

“Just competing, you know, being in that competitive environment — that’s what I missed,” Sharapova said. “You can’t replicate that anywhere, especially at a Grand Slam. So … Monday night was a special night for me. I will always remember it.”

This time, Sevastova made Sharapova run a lot by pulling her forward with drop shots or tight angles, then would often deposit follow-up strokes into open spaces. On one point won by Sharapova in the second set, she twice tracked down lobs that she got back over the net by hitting the ball left-handed.

But she could not sustain enough strong play, and Sevastova reached the U.S. Open quarterfinals for the second consecutive year.

“I allowed the match to become physical,” Sharapova said about the late-going. “I don’t think I played as aggressive or was stepping in as much as I did in the first set.”

Sevastova will face unseeded American Sloane Stephens, who reached her first quarterfinal in New York by eliminating No. 30 Julia Goerges 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. Stephens has won 12 of her past 14 matches, a remarkable run for someone who was off the tour for 11 months because of foot surgery in January.

Earlier Sunday, 18-year-old Canadian Denis Shapovalov’s entertaining stay ended with a 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3) loss to 12th-seeded Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain. In the quarters, Carreno Busta will play No. 29 Diego Schwartzman of Argentina, while No. 17 Sam Querrey of the United States takes on No. 28 Kevin Anderson of South Africa. Querrey gave the host nation its first male quarterfinalist in New York since 2011 by compiling 55 winners and only eight unforced errors while easily beating No. 23 Mischa Zverev 6-2, 6-2, 6-1.

Shapovalov was trying to become the youngest male quarterfinalist at Flushing Meadows since Andre Agassi in 1988, but he wasted a 5-2 lead and three set points in the opener, and finished with 55 unforced errors.

“Honestly, it was so much fun to be part of that atmosphere and the match and this whole two weeks,” Shapovalov said. “You know, it’s another life-changing event for me.” AP

NEW YORK, Sept 1: A bad back prevented Roger Federer from getting ready for the U.S. Open the way he prefers to prepare for a Grand Slam tournament. And it’s showed so far.

Federer blamed a lack of proper practice after making an uncharacteristic 68 unforced errors and being forced to go five sets again before coming back to edge a cramping Mikhail Youzhny 1-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 on Thursday in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

It is the first time the 36-year-old Federer has played five-setters in both the first and second rounds at a major tournament.

“I knew I was going to maybe struggle early on. Maybe I struggled more than I would have liked to. But I’m still in the draw, which gives me a chance. I still believe I’m going to pick up my game and become just more consistent because I’m not playing all that bad,” Federer said. “It’s just that I’m going a bit up and down in waves throughout the match.”

Given that Federer entered the day with a 16-0 career record against Youzhny and a 16-0 mark in the U.S. Open’s second round, one might have thought that their match would be a mismatch.

Think again.

“He’s also a real man who plays tennis,” Youzhny noted. “He’s not a god.”

Well, OK, that’s true. But remember: Federer did not drop a single set en route to his record eighth Wimbledon championship in July. And that he is 37-3 with five titles, including two at majors to raise his record total to 19.

Second on that list, with 15, is No. 1-seeded Rafael Nadal, who trailed by a set and a break before figuring things out and beating 121st-ranked Taro Daniel of Japan 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 in Ashe at night. That followed 20th-seeded American CoCo Vandeweghe’s 7-6 (6), 6-2 victory over Ons Jabeur of Tunisia under the lights.

What already was a wide-open women’s bracket became more so when 2004 U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova was upset by 116th-ranked Kurumi Nara of Japan 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. The No. 8-seeded Kuznetsova’s exit means five of the top eight women are already gone.

Two other seeded women lost to Americans in the afternoon: Shelby Rogers edged No. 25 Daria Gavrilova 7-6 (6), 4-6, 7-6 (5) in a tournament-record 3 hours, 33 minutes, and Jennifer Brady eliminated No. 23 Barbora Strycova 6-1, 6-1.

A couple of seeded men departed, too: No. 7 Grigor Dimitrov and No. 15 Tomas Berdych, the 2010 Wimbledon runner-up.

The No. 3-seeded Federer won five consecutive U.S. Open championships from 2004-08 and also was the runner-up twice, including two years ago. But he missed last year’s tournament while taking off the second half of the season to let his back and surgically repaired left knee fully heal.

That back, an off-and-on issue for years, flared up again while Federer was losing in the final of the Montreal Masters in August. He didn’t get to fully work on returns or serves, in particular, as the U.S. Open approached. That lack of training and the resulting lack of timing — rather than pain from his back — is what Federer said caused him problems Tuesday night in the first round against 19-year-old American Frances Tiafoe and again against Youzhny, a former top-10 player who reached the 2006 and 2010 U.S. Open semifinals but is now ranked 101st.

“I’m pretty confident that I’m only going to get better from here. That’s a good thing,” Federer said. “Because I’ve played a lot, I definitely found some rhythm now.”

He did falter repeatedly Thursday, though.

Federer let a lead slip away in the second set and got broken while serving for it at 5-4.

“He helped me to come back,” Youzhny said.

Federer stumbled again while serving for the fourth set at 5-3, but responded to a break there by breaking right back.

Still, Federer’s unforced errors continued to mount in the fifth set — 11 in the first four games alone, including a badly shanked forehand on his first break point at 2-1, a netted backhand on his second, and a long forehand to let Youzhny hold there. Eventually, Federer nosed ahead, aided by the considerable dip in the 35-year-old Youzhny’s level of play.

While Federer played his first-round match Tuesday under the roof in Ashe, Youzhny’s opener was postponed until Wednesday because of rain, and he blamed that for his fatigue. His legs started cramping late in the third set Thursday and then reached other parts of his body, even his fingers, by the end. That made it hard to move forward or to jump normally while serving.

At 1-all in the deciding set, Youzhny collapsed to the court, grabbing at his right leg after whiffing on an attempted swat at Federer’s lob. Youzhny stayed down for a few moments, then grimaced and limped around for the rest of that game.

Afterward, Youzhny chuckled at the mention of having lost all 17 matches against Federer, even leaning back in his chair and joking about how he would have completed the upset if Grand Slam rules were different: “I beat him in three sets now — but we played five sets. But come on, if we played three sets, I already beat him!”

Federer, naturally, preferred to look at matters from a different perspective.

“I find my way,” he said. “I don’t panic.”