Two down. One to go.
Roger Federer picked up his second win of the week on Thursday night, advancing to the quarterfinals of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament with a 7-6(8), 7-5 victory over Philipp Kohlschreiber. Federer, who will become No. 1 in the world next week if he reaches the semis, held off Kohlschreiber after one hour and 41 minutes.
This was an extremely different match than the one Federer played on Wednesday, when he trounced Ruben Bemelmans 6-1, 6-2 in 47 minutes. A much tougher Kohlschreiber made the first set longer than Federer’s entire first-round match. The 34-year-old German even held leads of 5-2 and 6-4 in the opening tiebreaker, but Federer battled back. The Swiss saved one set point with a clutch serve and then fought off another thanks to an exquisite backhand return.
Kohlschreiber stayed competitive despite his hiccup at the end of the first set. Once again, though, the underdog faltered when it mattered most–this time before getting to another ‘breaker. Having previously not double-faulted a single time, Kohlschreiber doubled twice while serving to stay in the tournament at 5-6 in the second set–including on match point.
Rotterdam highlights:
“It was extremely complicated tonight,” said Federer, who finished with 11 aces and no double-faults. “I couldn’t find my range or my rhythm. I think Philipp did that to me; it was a struggle. Today when the score was close, I couldn’t release my shots. So it was a battle…. It was quite the relief at the end.
“I was preparing for the second set, being down one set. I don’t care how positive a person you are. You just see negativity flying all around you; I am down 4-6 (in the tiebreaker), I messed up, I should have done this, I should have done that. I’m at the mercy of my opponent. It’s a bad feeling, but when you do come back and snatch the set, it’s such a key moment in the match and I was able to utilize that.”
Next up for the top seed is Robin Haase, who trails the head-to-head series 2-0. Haase is coming off consecutive victories over fellow Dutchmen Thiemo De Bakker and Tallon Griekspoor.
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Kohli had chances
He definitely had chances. Fed snuffed out a couple in the 1st TB, but Kohl ruined his own serving at 5-5 in the second set. But boy he hit some beautiful shots.
I thought Roger’s post-match assessment was quite honest and accurate. Kohlschriber was pushing him around a bit out there for awhile, and making him very uncomfortable. If Fed didn’t want to take an easy path to #1, this match went some way in granting his wish.