Federer struggles past Sousa in Halle
Print Edition
ROGER Federer began his grasscourt preparations for Wimbledon by coming from behind to beat Joao Sousa of Portugal 6-7 (8), 6-4, 6-2 at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany, yesterday.
Sousa saved all five break points he faced before taking the first set in a tiebreaker, but the second-seeded Federer raised his level in the next two sets to win the second-round match and move into the quarterfinals.
It was Federer’s first match since losing in the fourth round at the French Open to Ernests Gulbis. He had a first-round bye in Halle, where he is a six-time champion.
“I struggled a bit on return during a set and half,” said Federer.
“Afterwards, it was better, more variation on second serve.
“It was slightly frustrating, but important to stay calm. Maybe I got more confidence winning this way than 6-4, 6-4.
“When I came here (Saturday) to start practice it was so so, but now it’s better. For me, it doesn’t take a lot of time to get used to the grass.”
The seven-time Wimbledon winner will next play Chinese Taipei’s Lu Yen-hsun, who accounted for Croatian Ivo Karlovic 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3).
Top-seeded Rafael Nadal was scheduled to play Dustin Brown later in his first match since winning his ninth French Open title.
Third seed Milos Raonic of Canada lost on Wednesday 4-6, 4-6 to German wildcard Peter Gojowczyk.
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