Roger Federer still in singles out in doubles at Olympics

WIMBLEDON, England -- Roger Federer endured two rain delays and a shaky moment late in the first set Wednesday to reach the quarterfinals at the Olympics by beating Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 7-5, 6-3.


Serving at 5-all in the first set, the No. 1-seeded Federer faced three break points and erased them all. He then broke and was in control from there.



Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka later lost to unseeded Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram of Israel, 1-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3. Federer and Wawrinka won the gold in doubles in 2008. Federer has yet to win a singles medal.


"I thought we played an excellent first set. Conditions were tough. They were breezy, a lot of shadow on the courts. But that didn't disrupt our great playing," Federer said.


"It was a pity we couldn't create a few more, maybe, opportunities throughout the second set. But obviously they found a bit of a way to get back into the match," he said. "They definitely played better once sort of the shadow went, all the flags, all the spectator shadows were gone. It was more clean tennis."


Wawrinka said: "One or two points can change the match, especially on grass courts."


Ram and Erlich, who play the top-seeded Bryan brothers in the quarterfinals, were elated to have faced Federer in doubles.


"It's not that we play him every day," Ram said.


"In the beginning, we were very nervous. You could see it on the court," he said. "When we sit and we talked, we just tried not to do as many mistakes as we did in the first set, and we managed to do so."

ESPN