Federer, Nadal into 4th round at Australian Open - Roger Federer made the most of his rare opportunities Friday against the fastest serve in tennis, cashing in with some classic returns in a 7-6 (6), 7-5, 6-3 win over Ivo Karlovic to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open.
The four-time Australian Open champion fended off Karlovic's set point in the tiebreaker with a return that brought the 6-foot-10 Croatian to the net, then lobbed just over him.
"I knew going in it was going to be tough. I played him 10 times, and we've played some breakers. I knew it could come down to a few here and there," said Federer, who broke Karlovic once in each of the second and third sets. He only faced two breakpoints himself, including the pivotal one in the opening tiebreaker. "I definitely got a bit fortunate and started to play better as the match went on."
For his part, Karlovic thought it was "one in a 100 I'm gonna lose that point."
"It was unlucky," Karlovic said. "I didn't really expect him to do that. I was there, I just miscalculated how much I was jumping. If I would have won that, everything would be different but that's life."
Federer is now 10-1 against Karlovic and looking increasingly confident at Melbourne Park, where he has collected four of his 16 Grand Slam titles.
continue reading >> Federer, Nadal into 4th round at Australian Open
The four-time Australian Open champion fended off Karlovic's set point in the tiebreaker with a return that brought the 6-foot-10 Croatian to the net, then lobbed just over him.
"I knew going in it was going to be tough. I played him 10 times, and we've played some breakers. I knew it could come down to a few here and there," said Federer, who broke Karlovic once in each of the second and third sets. He only faced two breakpoints himself, including the pivotal one in the opening tiebreaker. "I definitely got a bit fortunate and started to play better as the match went on."
For his part, Karlovic thought it was "one in a 100 I'm gonna lose that point."
"It was unlucky," Karlovic said. "I didn't really expect him to do that. I was there, I just miscalculated how much I was jumping. If I would have won that, everything would be different but that's life."
Federer is now 10-1 against Karlovic and looking increasingly confident at Melbourne Park, where he has collected four of his 16 Grand Slam titles.
continue reading >> Federer, Nadal into 4th round at Australian Open
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