NEW YORK -- Something is wrong. Something is missing. The road is bumpy. The clutch is sticky. The searing hot dominance isn't quite as torrid as it used to be.
The record will show that Thursday afternoon Roger Federer won a tennis match at the U.S. Open. His 7-6, 6-4, 7-6 victory over hard-serving journeyman Gilles Muller propelled the Swiss star to the semifinals of a Grand Slam for the 18th straight time.
However, what the record will not show is how Federer went about his work: scrappy instead of stifling, seat-of-the-pants instead of the cold, firm and resolved, as he has been in the past.
Thursday's unexpectedly close match -- taken together with the Swiss star's painful year and the pulse-rattling escape he managed in a five-set marathon Tuesday night -- make it evident as ever that the Roger Federer we're seeing now just doesn't look or play like . . . well, like Roger Federer.
Granted, this is quibbling. Anyone on the men's tennis tour who does not have the surname Djokovic or Nadal lusts after the year Federer has had: semifinal at the Australian Open, final at the French and Wimbledon, at least a semifinal in New York. That's dominating stuff. But Federer dominating?
Not on your life.
We're used to seeing him come to Flushing Meadows gunning for his third Grand Slam title in 10 months. We're certainly not used to seeing him struggle against guys such as Muller, who began this tournament ranked No. 130. Muller, a qualifier, rode a hot streak to this match. But it used to be that Federer would wrap his large hands around the neck of No. 130, squeeze with all his might, and not let go.
"It was tough today, especially to break [serve] against the wind," Federer said afterward.
"It was almost impossible you know. . . . He's a big guy, he gets great angles. [He has] great variety."
A big serve? The wind? Angles from No. 130? Used to be these things meant nothing to Roger Federer.
This match could well have gone the other way. The first- and third-set tiebreakers were dangling, nervy, tightrope walks.
Muller at every turn pressed the action. Federer backpedaled and had to dig deep into the corners and looked awkward. Sometimes, of course, there was brilliance, but not once did he look fully in control.
Afterward, Muller was asked how it was he had the temerity to walk on to the court and think he could win this match.
In so many words, he said he'd drawn confidence this year from seeing Federer finally struggle.
