Federer tested but keeps his No. 1 ranking
Source: AFP |
October 12, 2012, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
ROGER Federer survived a huge scare yesterday to reach the Shanghai Rolex Masters quarterfinals and guarantee a 300th career week as world No. 1 as Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray showed ominous form.
The Swiss 17-time grand slam champion came into the match against compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka with an enviable 11-1 head-to head record but struggled to impose himself and was forced to dig deep before winning 4-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-0.
In a gripping contest lasting nearly two hours, Wawrinka broke Federer in the seventh game to lead 4-3 and sealed the first set. Out-of-sorts Federer continued to struggle in the second set and was in desperate trouble when Wawrinka earned a break point for a 5-4 lead, which would have left him serving for the match.
But the Swiss great dodged that bullet and stayed strong in a nerve-jangling tie-break to level the match and immediately broke his 27-year-old countryman at the start of the third set as momentum shifted decisively in his favour.
A dejected Wawrinka failed to win another game as Federer wrapped up the third set 6-0.
Earlier, Serbian second seed Djokovic barely broke sweat against Spain's Feliciano Lopez, wrapping up a straightforward 6-3, 6-3 victory.
In-form Djokovic struck 12 aces and took advantage of some below-par serving by the left-handed Lopez, breaking him three times.
US Open champion Murray, 25, proved far too strong for Ukraine's Alexandr Dolgopolov, winning 6-2, 6-2. It was the first match of the tournament for the Scot, who had a walkover into the third round.
"I think I did a decent job," said Murray. "It's very, very different conditions to last week. I think you can see by some of the results here, the guys that have come from Beijing have adapted to the conditions much, much quicker."
Tsonga on course
Fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, currently in line to secure the last singles berth in the elite eight-man field at the ATP World Tour Finals, beat Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus 6-2, 7-6 (7/2) in a contest containing eight breaks.
Czech fourth seed Tomas Berdych, sixth in the Race to London, set up a quarterfinal meeting with Tsonga after fending off a barrage of 17 aces from American Sam Querrey to win 6-2, 6-7 (3/7), 6-4.
Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic upset eighth seed John Isner of the United States in three sets while 10th seed Marin Cilic of Croatia beat Spain's Fernando Verdasco, also in three sets.
The Swiss 17-time grand slam champion came into the match against compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka with an enviable 11-1 head-to head record but struggled to impose himself and was forced to dig deep before winning 4-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-0.
In a gripping contest lasting nearly two hours, Wawrinka broke Federer in the seventh game to lead 4-3 and sealed the first set. Out-of-sorts Federer continued to struggle in the second set and was in desperate trouble when Wawrinka earned a break point for a 5-4 lead, which would have left him serving for the match.
But the Swiss great dodged that bullet and stayed strong in a nerve-jangling tie-break to level the match and immediately broke his 27-year-old countryman at the start of the third set as momentum shifted decisively in his favour.
A dejected Wawrinka failed to win another game as Federer wrapped up the third set 6-0.
Earlier, Serbian second seed Djokovic barely broke sweat against Spain's Feliciano Lopez, wrapping up a straightforward 6-3, 6-3 victory.
In-form Djokovic struck 12 aces and took advantage of some below-par serving by the left-handed Lopez, breaking him three times.
US Open champion Murray, 25, proved far too strong for Ukraine's Alexandr Dolgopolov, winning 6-2, 6-2. It was the first match of the tournament for the Scot, who had a walkover into the third round.
"I think I did a decent job," said Murray. "It's very, very different conditions to last week. I think you can see by some of the results here, the guys that have come from Beijing have adapted to the conditions much, much quicker."
Tsonga on course
Fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, currently in line to secure the last singles berth in the elite eight-man field at the ATP World Tour Finals, beat Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus 6-2, 7-6 (7/2) in a contest containing eight breaks.
Czech fourth seed Tomas Berdych, sixth in the Race to London, set up a quarterfinal meeting with Tsonga after fending off a barrage of 17 aces from American Sam Querrey to win 6-2, 6-7 (3/7), 6-4.
Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic upset eighth seed John Isner of the United States in three sets while 10th seed Marin Cilic of Croatia beat Spain's Fernando Verdasco, also in three sets.
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