Federer survives sloppy start

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 13:01

The Swiss maestro recovered from losing the opening set and, while not completely convincing, wrapped up the match 4-6 6-2 7-6 (7/2) 6-0 in two hours and 44 minutes.

It was the first time in Federer’s past 25 first-round grand slam matches that he had been taken past three sets.

That was testament to some big shot-making from Andreev, the world number 37, whose aggressive style forced the top seed into some unlikely unforced errors.

After a closely-fought battle the turning point of the match came at the end of the third set when Andreev failed to take three set points on his serve, before losing the tie-break.

The Russian, who had taken Federer to five set in their previous meeting at the 2008 US Open, then meekly conceded the fourth set and the match in quick time.

“It was a tough third set, I definitely got lucky to get out of that one,” Federer said afterwards.

“It was a fortunate third set but that’s the way it goes sometimes.

“I prefer easier matches, but this worked.”

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