Monday, March 10, 2014

Roger Federer survives tough battle moves into 4th round at BNP Paribas Open





























menstennisforums.com


INDIAN WELLS: Four-time Indian Wells champion Roger Federer held on through two tiebreakers on Monday to beat Dmitry Tursunov in straight sets at the first ATP Masters of the year.

It wasn't a dominant performance from the former world number one and 17-time Grand Slam champion, but it showcased the confidence he has regained with a strong start to 2014 after a disappointing -- by his standards -- 2013 campaign.

"Now I feel like I'm in a good place. Zen on the court," Federer said after his 7-6 (9/7), 7-6 (7/2) victory.

"I know what my solid level is. Even if I won six and six today, I just feel like I was calm and served for the set -- OK, got broken, still managed to stay calm."

Federer broke Tursunov to open the match, but was broken as he served for the set at 5-4 before winning the tiebreaker.

He recovered an early break in the second set before dominating in the second-set decider.

Federer arrived in California on the heels of a victory in Dubai -- where he beat Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals and Tomas Berdych in the final.

That win was his first title in nine months, and backed up a solid semi-final showing at the Australian Open, where he posted wins over Andy Murray and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

"It's just good to beat top 10 players from time to time," Federer said. "Especially with the difficult year I had last year, I could really feel at times I was actually not going to beat the best, probably.

"I would have a chance sometimes, but more often than not I wouldn't make it through.

"I feel different this year. I feel like if I do play my best I can come through again. That's like a major difference."


timesofindia.com

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