Federer through in Basel after Istomin test

Diposkan oleh silent aja 10:07 AM Post a Comment

Roger Federer was pushed to three sets by Denis Istomin but the Swiss still progressed to the quarter-finals of his home Swiss Indoor event in Basel.

In stark contrast to his opening match when he breezed to victory over Gilles Muller in just 47 minutes, the top seed struggled early on against Istomin, dropping the first set before rallying to secure a 3-6 6-3 6-3 win.

'I thought I was lacking rhythm in the first set,' said Federer. '[Istomin] played well. It was one of those sets that was tough to lose but the important thing was to bounce back in the second set and get my teeth into the match.'

The world number two took one hour and 48 minutes to complete victory, during which he sent down six aces and broke Istomin twice.

Federer, who will play Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov next, is looking to add a sixth Basel title to his collection. He reached the final in the past two years, but lost on both occasions to Juan Martin Del Potro.

'I'll recover in time for my next match,' said Federer. 'In recent times I've played in so many matches that I know how to bounce back from matches like [the one against Istomin].'

Dimitrov booked his place in the last eight with a comfortable 6-2 6-2 win over Canada's Vasek Pospisil, while there were also wins for seeds Ivo Karlovic and Milos Raonic.

Basel International results

Second round

5-Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria) beat Vasek Pospisil (Canada) 6-2 6-2

1-Roger Federer (Switzerland) beat Denis Istomin (Uzbekistan) 3-6 6-3 6-4

8-Ivo Karlovic (Croatia) beat Kenny De Schepper (France) 6-7(6) 6-4 6-3

4-Milos Raonic (Canada) beat Donald Young (U.S.) 6-4 6-7(5) 7-6(2)

Benjamin Becker (Germany) beat Mikhail Kukushkin (Kazakhstan) 6-7(3) 7-6(4) 4-0 (Kukushkin retired)

Borna Coric (Croatia) beat Andrey Golubev (Kazakhstan) 6-4 6-4