Roger Federer will look to get on track in time for the U.S. Open when he kicks off his Cincinnati campaign on Tuesday. Up first for Federer following an opening-round bye is Philipp Kohlschreiber.
Roger Federer and Philipp Kohlschreiber will be going head-to-head for the seventh time in their careers when they do battle in round two of the Western & Southern Open on Tuesday night. Federer has won all six of their previous encounters and he is 13-1 lifetime in sets against Kohlschreiber. They have faced each other only once on hard courts (four times on grass, by contrast), with the Swiss prevailing 6-2, 7-6(6) in a 2009 Doha quarterfinal. Their most recent meeting came two years ago on the clay courts of Monte-Carlo, where Federer dominated 6-2, 6-1.
Is it time for Kohlschreiber to get over the hump? He enjoyed a brief hot stretch earlier this season, but prior to Cincinnati he had lost in the first round in four of his last five tournaments. The 26th-ranked German, though, opened on Monday with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over 2010 runner-up Mardy Fish. Kohlschreiber is a mediocre 23-17 for the year, which includes a clay-court title in Stuttgart last month.
After beating Fish, Kohlschreiber joked that he hopes Federer does not like his new racket and–apparently not joking–said of the former world No. 1, “he’s playing great tennis.”
Huh? Federer, of course, is playing nothing of the sort–which is why he is testing out a new stick. The fifth-ranked Swiss, whose Grand Slam quarterfinal streak came to an end in shocking fashion against Sergiy Stakhovsky at Wimbledon, is seventh in the 2013 race with a 30-10 record. He went back to clay in the aftermath of his All-England Club ouster and he promptly fell in the Hamburg semis (to Federico Delbonis) and in his Gstaad opener (to Daniel Brands). Federer, however, is back at one of his favorite venues; he is a five-time champion in Cincinnati.
“Usually I play well before slams and I’m happy here,” the fifth seed assured. “I always feel very welcome. It’s a nice tournament. The fans love it here. They flock in from many cities around Cincinnati and you really feel they are here for the tennis, which is fun for us players.”
Federer can’t be worried about fun in this one; he simply needs a win in the worst way. Respective current form and Kohlschreiber’s propensity to play well on big stages suggest that this will be a competitive and at times scratchy affair. Federer may be lacking confidence, but his past history at the Western & Southern Open will help change that and should be enough to propel him into the last 16.
Pick: Federer in 3
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I would like him to get the win in 2 sets.
I reckon predicting Fed in 3 is a case of ‘hope triumphing over experience’.