The 33-year-old Swiss picked up the 200th clay-court win of his career by beating Jarkko Nieminen 6-2, 7-5 in the second round before before getting a tougher test from Gimeno-Traver, a recent runner-up in Casablanca. Gimeno-Traver pushed the opener to a tiebreaker and did the same in set two, although he could have finished off the middle frame earlier having led 5-2 at one point.
A turning point came right away in the decider, with Federer battling back from a 0-40 hole and saving four break points in total to hold for 1-0. He eventually seized a crucial break at 4-3 with a perfect drop-volley. The 17-time major champion promptly served things out at 5-3 to prevail in two hours and 28 minutes.
Next up for Federer is a third career meeting (second this season) with Diego Schwartzman.
Highlights:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-tgVwoS2cA]
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Federer almost lost to Schwartzman