Federer survives scare but Murray and Nadal lose
Originally published on 12/06/14
The Portuguese, ranked No.47 in the world, clinched the first set in a tie-break after Federer failed to take any of his five break-point chances. The second set went with serve until six-time champion Federer eventually managed to convert his ninth break point and take a 4-3 lead. The Swiss then closed out the set and raced into a 4-1 lead in the third before sealing victory in one hour and 50 minutes.
"It was slightly frustrating at times clearly, but nevertheless I served well and kept on doing my thing," said Federer. "It was important to stay calm and actually I think it gives me more confidence winning this way. I had to stay calm, fight through the match and find a way and then the last set and a half were much better. So, I'm actually pretty happy now."
Federer will next face Lu Yen-Hsun in the quarter-finals after he beat Ivo Karlovic 7-6(2) 7-6(3).
Top seed Rafael Nadal was unable to avoid an upset as he was beaten 6-4 6-1 in just under an hour by German Dustin Brown. In their first ever meeting, Brown broke in the 10th game of the first set to take the upper hand and then raced into a 5-0 lead in the second on his way to sealing a memorable win.
American Steve Johnson is into his third ATP Tour quarter-final of the season after opponent Teymuraz Gabashvili was forced to withdraw from their match with a knee injury.
At the Aegon Championships at Queen’s, defending champion Andy Murray saw his 19-match winning streak on grass ended by Radek Stepanek. The world No.5 blew eight set points in the opening set and was then broken twice in the second as he was beaten 7-6(10) 6-2.
"I have only got myself to blame that I lost the first set," said Murray. "On this surface especially you shouldn't really be losing sets like that. For me, that's what's disappointing really about the match. I need to spend time on the surface before I feel my most comfortable. That's what I will need to do over the next 10 days. Hopefully the weather will hold up well so I can get as much time as possible."
Asked how the defeat will affect his preparations for Wimbledon, Murray said: "I was going to have a few days off as soon as I finished here whether I won the tournament or not. The difference between this year and last year is obviously I played a lot of matches the last couple of weeks at the French Open. Whereas coming in last year I probably had about a week of preparation on the grass before I started here. So that obviously helped me during the tournament because not all the other players had that.
"I'm going to take a couple of days off now, because since the Monday before the French Open I have played every single day bar one up to now. Then on Sunday I'll be back here for the charity match. Then I will start practising Sunday evening and start getting ready [for Wimbledon]."
Second seed Tomas Berdych beat Adrian Mannarino 7-6(2) 6-4 despite spurning 17 break points. The Czech eventually made the breakthrough at the 18th attempt in the third game of the second set having taken the first on a tie-break. Berdych will face Feliciano Lopez in the quarter-finals after the Spaniard edged Kenny De Schepper 7-6(3) 6-7(4) 7-6(3) in a match that saw no breaks of serve.
There was another upset at the Aegon Classic in Birmingham as defending champion Daniela Hantuchova was beaten 6-4 6-0 by Kimiko Date-Krumm. Top seed Ana Ivanovic eased into the quarter-finals with a 6-1 6-1 win over Lauren Davis.
Now get the WORLD’S BEST TENNIS MAGAZINE here
