After a comfortable first-round victory, Andy Murray arrived at his match on Friday having gone 27-2 at majors since Wimbledon 2012.  Those two losses had come to fellow top-five opponents Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, while Murray had not lost to anyone outside the top five at a major in three years.  The defending champion found himself situated on Louis Armstrong Stadium for a second-round bout with the less famous of the two Mayers on the ATP World Tour. 

World No. 81 Leonardo Mayer had extended the Scot to a final set in their only previous meeting four years ago, however.  Defeating Victor Hanescu in the first round, Mayer sought to repeat his third-round appearance at last year’s US Open.  A back injury hampered him this spring, and Mayer had won more than one match at only one of his last 12 tournaments. 

This relatively straightforward journeyman from Argentina lacks the wrinkles in his game with which Michael Llodra tried to disrupt Murray’s rhythm in the first round.  Mayer faced the tall task of hitting through one of the best movers and counterpunchers in ATP history from the baseline, so a strong first-serve percentage was imperative. 

All the same, Mayer pushed Murray to deuce in his first service game before the Scot escaped.  That statement of intent, combined with an ensuing love hold, let the favorite know that the underdog had come to play.  Murray continued to look sluggish on his own serve, tossing in a double fault that let a 40-15 advantage slip away. 

As he settled into the match, Murray tried to target Mayer’s vulnerable backhand wing.  That one-handed stroke started to break down, but the Argentine compensated with the timely first serves so essential to his effort.  Murray looked more tentative than in the first round, even pushing his normally steady backhand wide for some routine errors.  Through the first few game, he held serve less easily than Mayer.

The gulf separating the two men in the rankings did not emerge on the court until late in the first set.  Serving at 3-4, Mayer suddenly offered Murray an opening with the first break point for either man.  At this juncture, he ran around backhand after backhand to deliver a crushing sequence of inside-out and inside-in forehands that salvaged the break point.  Relentless aggression extricated him from that game as Murray grimaced toward his box. 

But now the patterns on service games had changed, with Murray holding more easily than Mayer.  Deft touch off a drop shot assisted the Argentine in holding for 5-5, but his attempt to hold for 6-6 did not unfold as smoothly.  Mayer missed four routine forehands in three different ways (one into the net, two wide, and one long) to hand Murray the set-ending break at love.

That abrupt end to an otherwise competitive first set appeared to catch even the Scot by surprise, for he looked a bit puzzled as he trudged to his chair.  Mayer must have felt deflated at throwing away a chance to exploit Murray’s slow start so carelessly, and the dip in his belief emerged early in the second set.  The defending champion raced to a quick 3-0 lead as the underdog took on the impassive expression of a man awaiting the inevitable axe. 

Opportunistic forecourt play by Murray combined with increasing inconsistency from the baseline by Mayer to produce a second-set breadstick.  That single poor service game that the Argentine donated to end the first set appeared to exert an impact through the entire set.

Curiously, Mayer began to produce more positive tennis early in the third set, just when his situation seemed hopeless.  Perhaps accepting his loss already, he began to swing more freely than he had since midway through the first set.  Mayer outmaneuvered Murray at the net in one clever exchange and broke the defending champion’s serve soon afterward. 

No doubt surprised by that setback, Murray muttered and gesticulated in chagrin.  Mayer played well above his ranking during this stretch of games, finding excellent depth on his forehand and moving his elite opponent from side to side at will.  More careless play from Murray edged Mayer to the brink of an insurance break, which likely would have sealed the third set.  But some impressive serving by the defending champion erased four break points during that pivotal game, leaving him within range.

That escape seemed to signal a momentum shift.  A lovely cat-and-mouse exchange with both men in the forecourt set up two chances for Murray to erase the break deficit.  Not discomfited by that situation, Mayer showed more spine than he had earlier in the match by pounding down an ace en route to a hold.  Just moments later, he served out the set at love to keep the defending champion on court longer than anyone had thought plausible.

Laboring through a long service game early in the fourth set, Murray managed to prevent Mayer from accelerating his momentum with a quick break of serve.  An errant smash from the Argentine in the next game opened the door for the favorite to establish his control for good.  Much as he had in the last game of the first set, Mayer conceded this break at love with a series of tepid errors. 

The rest of the fourth set recalled the second set in Murray’s efficiency and his opponent’s ineptitude.  Mayer could feel satisfied to have won a set from the world No. 3, who became the first member of the ATP Big Four to drop a set at the US Open.

Murray is not done with Mayers just yet, though.  The defending champion will face the more accomplished Florian Mayer in the third round on Sunday, looking for more convincing form than he showed today.