Roger Federer's legs seemed to get heavier and heavier as the second round match against Noah Rubin went on, and while the Swiss had enough to see off the young American's challenge, there is a slight worry over the great man's overall fitness going into the third round match against the No.10 seed Tomas Berdych.
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With Federer only seeded 17 for this tournament, he was likely to face a higher seeded player in the third round and that has proved to be the case.
Berdych, of course, is someone Federer is quite familiar with, having played the Czech player on many occasions. So, there will be no hidden weapons to unleash for either of the two players, it will be about who performs better on the day and stays fit enough to see the match through.
"I know I've got to lift my game a little bit," Federer said after his straight set win over Rubin. "But then again, I haven't seen Tomas play a lot, to be honest. I didn't see anything, basically. Let's put it that way. He was playing at the same time now.
"The court plays fast. He's caused difficulties for me in the past on faster courts: Cincinnati, New York, Wimbledon, Olympics in Athens. I know what he's got. I don't need to tell you where he's beaten me.
"Then again, I've played him here, played him on many occasions, as well, when it went my way. I just got to play on my terms and really be focused on my own service games to make sure I don't have any lapses there."
Federer has a much better recent head to head record against Berdych, having beaten the 31 year old in all of their last five meetings. The latest was in the 2016 Australian Open, when Federer got the better of Berdych 7-6 (7-4), 6-2, 6-4 in the quarterfinals last year.
"I do feel like I actually played him quite well in recent times," Federer added. "I'm still hoping to feel better and better and better as we go along.
"It's really important for me to get through those first early parts, get a sense of how is the game, how is the ball, how is the body, how is everything."
When to Watch Live
Federer vs Berdych is scheduled as the second match of the evening session. The first one, Ashleigh Barty vs Mona Barthel, is set to begin at 7pm local time (1.30pm IST, 8am GMT, 3am ET).
TV and live streaming information
UK: TV: EuroSport. Live Streaming: EuroSport Player.
India: TV: Sony Six and Sony Six HD. Live Streaming: Sonyliv and Yupp TV.
Australia: TV: Channel 7. Live Streaming: 7 Live.
USA: TV: ESPN 3. Live Streaming: Watch ESPN.
