FLUSHING MEADOWS, NY — A down-the-line shot barely scrapped the white end line, prompting Roger Federer to crank his neck skyward and howl an emphatic “come on!” His tight-wire shot gave him the advantage, allowing him to break serve one point later to take a 6-5 lead in the second set.

Any type of overt displays of emotion seemed unlikely before the match, which pitted the 12-time Grand Slam winner against Thiago Alves, who entered ranked No. 137 in the world. After all, even Federer admitted that he didn’t know anything about Alves before the match.

But the Brazilian gave Federer fits throughout the early Friday afternoon matchup at Arthur Ashe Stadium, though the player who once spent 237 straight weeks ranked first in the world survived his second round match, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4. Federer will play the winner of the Radek Stepanek-Chris Guccione matchup in the third round.

“I was never really in danger,” Federer said. “I knew the longer the match would go, the more tired he would get, so it was a good match for me.”

Federer has won at least two Grand Slams every year since 2004. That run will end this year unless he wins his fifth consecutive U.S. Open. Rafael Nadal outlasted his rival in the French Open and Federer lost again to Nadal in an epic Wimbledon final that he lost, 6–4, 6–4, 6–7(5), 6–7(8), 9–7. That victory propelled Nadal to the top ranking with Federer losing his near four-year stranglehold on that position.

A mostly pro-Federer crowd had reason to cheer early when the Swiss posted two aces and captured the first game. Alves fought back before Federer finally got his first break to go up 5-3 in the first set before holding serve to take the early advantage.

Federer was only broken once, forging a 19-2 edge in aces. Against the the 27-year-old Alves, who was playing just his third career Grand Slam match, Federer crept up to the net to force the action. The four-time defending champion won net points, 24-11, though he committed an uncharacteristic 46 unforced errors.

Balls usually smacked for winners during his half-decade run of dominance seemed to hit the net or go long against a little-known opponent. Federer said he isn’t worried that he might be losing the touch that has made him one of the best players of all time.

“We’ll talk about that today but if I win a title, we’ll forget about it,” Federer said. “That’s usually how it goes. I was struggling to see the b all at the net a little bit with the crowd in the back. In the second set, it got tough. He dug out some shots and everything seemed to go against me on those break points.

“I wasn’t comfortable at the net from the start. So it was kind of difficult mentally. But it was actually fun playing this well and it really got the crowd into it.”

Federer outlasted in the second set. His aforementioned break resulted in a two-set lead when Federer continued his domination with the serve. An ace punctuated the final game and seemed to rattle Alves to start the final set. He failed to hold serve to start the third set. That miscue was the difference, giving Federer leeway after he also had his serve broken but still built a large enough lead to escape with a straight-sets win.

No longer at the top of the listings, Federer still continued to rack up the hardware. He failed to win a single’s medal in the Beijing Olympics but won a gold medal with Stanislas Wawrinka in the doubles competition.

The two beat Sweden's Simon Aspelin and Thomas Johansson in the final 6–3, 6–4, 6–7(4), 6–3; something Federer said was personally rewarding since his success in doubles has not come close to his record in singles. Federer also said the Queens crowd has helped him get through a potential post-Olympic letdown.

“It inspired me,” Federer said of his Olympic gold. “It was an unbelievable couple of weeks for me. I left with good spirits instead of leaving on a quarterfinals loss.

“I was just happy that I was finally playing good doubles again, because I never really did that well in doubles, which was really disappointing for me. I was really tired getting here from Beijing. But after that, I’ve actually felt fine. I was really eager to practice for singles again.”

In a lighthearted post-match press conference, Federer gave a sardonic response when asked if he’s been watching Nadal’s matches. The reigning Wimbledon, four-time French Open and Olympic champion Nadal easily defeated American Ryler DeHeart 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 on Thursday. Federer could see his rival in the Finals if both advance.

“I schedule my life around my life, not his,” he said with a grin. “I went to dinner and he decided to do it quick, so I missed [it]. I was expecting five sets. I was there for four and five, but he wasn’t there anymore. So that was the problem.”