Federer fights for victory from a set down
HALLE (GERMANY): The switch from clay to grass did not go according to plan for Rafael Nadal on Thursday and the Spaniard was jettisoned from the Gerry Webber Open here with a 6-4, 6-1 second-round defeat by maverick German Dustin Brown.
A player who is almost unbeatable on clay, having won the French Open in nine of the past 10 years, proved to be more vulnerable on grass.
He has now lost his last three matches on the slicker surface dating back to 2012.
Instead of chalking up his 700th tour win with victory over Brown, Nadal suffered a setback in his hopes of getting some much needed grasscourt practice before he heads to Wimbledon.
“I will enjoy this evening until 12am. Biggest win of my career!” exclaimed Brown after the famous victory.
Roger Federer was not immune to grasscourt jitters either.
The Swiss began his first match on the lush green surface this year with a 6-7 (8), 6-4, 6-2 second-round win over Portugal’s Joao Sousa.
The seven-time Wimbledon champion owns more grasscourt titles (13) than any other player since tennis turned professional in 1968 but that expertise could not prevent him from dropping the first set against an opponent who has no proven track record on the surface.
The second seed, chasing a seventh title in Halle, squandered five break points in the first set against the 47th-ranked Sousa.
But Federer, who was beaten in the fourth round of the French Open by Ernests Gulbis, ran out a comfortable victor after easily winning the next two sets.
“It was slightly frustrating at times clearly, but nevertheless I served well and kept on doing my thing,” Federer told reporters.
“It was important to stay calm and actually I think it gives me more confidence winning this way. I had to stay calm, fight through the match and find a way and then the last set and a half were much better. So, I’m actually pretty happy now.”
Federer will face Lu Yen-hsun of Taiwan for a place in the semifinals.
In other tennis news, there was a big upset in the Queen’s Club event in London as well as Andy Murray was denied his 20th successive win on grass when he was beaten 7-6 (10), 6-2 by Radek Stepanek in the third round.
Murray, the defending champion and No. 3 seed, claimed his first ATP title at Queen’s in 2005 and went on to win the Wimbledon warm-up tournament three times.
But he failed to take advantage of eight set points after leading the first-set tiebreaker 6-2, and Stepanek survived to convert with his second set point.
Meanwhile, Lleyton Hewitt remained one victory short of Federer’s record of 122 match wins on grass after losing 6-3, 6-4 to Feliciano Lopez in the second round on Wednesday. (Agencies)