Roger Federer, after his second-round 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 romp over Carlos Berlocq Thursday, wore one of his many different colored “RF’’ ballcaps to the post-match press conference. His initials on the bill are the rage at this year’s U.S. Open.
For all of the concern about his fall in the rankings and No. 7 seed and his second-round ouster at Wimbledon, Federer’s still a marketing menace. Between June 2012 and June 2013, he made $71.5 million of which just $7 million was from prize money, according to Forbes.
Federer also has a $10 million contract with Nike, which produced his ever-popular “RF’’ hats. (The R is only drawn in halfway.)
Federer said he was part of the design scheme, which is why he wears it proudly.
“I’m surprised,’’ Federer said. “It’s nice seeing people wearing it.It’s very personal to me. The more I see it, the more excited I am.I had the idea that the logo could look somewhat like that and Nike came up with many, many different alternative logos. That’s the one I chose.’’
Federer is definitely into fashion, which explains his friendship with Ana Wintour. But the caps are the big thing for him, even with his $70 million deal with the champagne producer Moet & Chandon.
“I tried to make it fun and different every single time we talk about it with [Nike],’’ Federer said. “It’s nice that people feel connected through the RF logo. Nike has sort of a personal line. The cap clearly in the states is a much bigger statement than anywhere else in the world. It’s always important here the caps are good.’’
An informal survey of ballcap wearers found more fans wearing RF than any other design. In fact, one Israeli woman, Maya Turkenitz, said she has 10 different RF hats in assorted colors. She wore a baby blue “RF’’ she said was a special edition from a Federer exhibition in South America.
* Rafael Nadal is a tough grader. After he breezed past Rogerio Dutra Silva, 6-2, 6-1, 6-0, in an hour and 32 minutes last night at Arthur Ashe Stadium to advance to the third round, the Spaniard wasn’t pleased with his play.
“I started a little bit too slow, in my opinion,” he said.
The rest of the field probably wouldn’t like to see him start fast.
Nadal, who will meet Croatian Ivan Dodig next, has yet to drop a set in Flushing and is now 17-0 on hard courts this year.
* A big all-American women’s match is on tap today in the third round between No. 15 seed Sloane Stephens and No. 23 seed Jamie Hampton. The match will be played at Ashe Stadium at roughly 3 p.m.
“It’s always tough playing another American,’’ Stephens said. “Jamie is a good friend and it’s a pretty big deal playing at the U.S. Open.”
* James Blake lost in doubles in the last match of his tennis career.
The American announced Monday the U.S. Open would be his final tournament. He was eliminated in singles in the first round just past midnigh Thursday, falling in a fifth-set tiebreaker to Ivo Karlovic.
About nine hours later, Blake and Jack Sock lost 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 in the opening round in doubles to second-seeded Bruno Soares and Alexander Peya.
* Andy Murray isn’t the only British player to watch at the U.S. Open.
Daniel Evans, playing in his first Open, advanced into the third round after a 1-6, 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 n upset over Bernard Tomic, ranked 52nd.
