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June 13, 2014

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Federer struggles past Sousa in Halle

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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