Roger Federer sent out a message to his title rivals with a smooth-as-they-come victory over Leonardo Mayer in the first round of the US Open 2015, and the Swiss Master will target more of the same when he plays Steve Darcis in the second round at the Arhur Ashe Stadium on Thursday.
Federer will open up the night session on Thursday, and the number two seed, who came into this final Grand Slam of the year in good form, having beaten the world number one and title favourite Novak Djokovic in the final of the Cincinnati Masters, will be confident of giving the crowd another masterclass in tennis.
"I'm very relaxed after this match," said Federer who beat Mayer 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 on Wednesday. "I was relaxed after being up two sets to love and a break. That's when I started to feel good.
"The last one-and-a-half days I was feeling good, but somehow cautious about this first-round match and all of a sudden about the entire tournament. I think now that I'm into the tournament I know what to expect.
"My fitness is good. I'm confident from last week. I have had the perfect preparation in a way that I had enough time off, I had enough practice, I had enough matches, so everything is looking good.
"But then again, you have to win every match that comes."
Darcis is still remembered for his first round victory over Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon two years ago. His career has not quite taken off since that stunning victory, but Federer will know, all it takes is a poor point here and a bad shot there to tip the scale in the favour of his opponent, who beat Marcos Baghdatis in the first round, after the Cypriot retired in the fourth set.
While Federer will be well aware of that Nadal victory for Darcis, the 34-year-old will also know if he brings anything resembling his A-Game, this will be another stroll in the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
"These rounds are here to just keep on progressing and moving forward and doing the right things and giving yourself confidence and getting to understand the conditions," Federer added. "Of course I'm very pleased with the first-round performance, but not really more than that. I will take it match by match.
"I'm not thinking too far ahead, as I know some people are. I'm just happy that the last, I don't know, one-and-a-half years I have been again very, very consistent. I'm able to play good matches consistently. I'm playing the right way, and also in a way that's fun for me.
"I have no clue how he's going to play me. At least on a faster court I know that probably I'm going to make him hit tough shots and I'm going to keep attacking and see if he can come up with passing shots or shots on the back foot and all these things which are not easy to do consistently."
Where to Watch Live
Roger Federer vs Steve Darcis is scheduled for a 7 pm local time (4.30 am IST, 12 am BST Friday morning) start. Live coverage of the second round action will be on Ten Sports in India, while the match can also be watched via live streaming online on Ten Sports Live.
Viewers in the US can watch this US Open 2015 second round match live on ESPN, while the live stream option is on Watch ESPN.
UK viewers can catch Darcis vs Federer live on Sky Sports, with the online live streaming option on Sky Go.
Audience in Australia can watch Federer vs Darcis live on Fox Sports, while the second round of the US Open 2015 can also be live streamed on Foxtel Play.
