Wimbledon - Men: Federer drops set on way to win

Eurosport - Sat, 27 Jun 17:35:00 2009

Roger Federer lost his first set of the tournament but still managed to conjure a comfortable 6-3 6-2 6-7 6-1 victory over Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber at Wimbledon.

TENNIS 2009 Wimbledon Roger Federer - 0

The 27th seed was meant to provide a stern test for Federer after disposing of Novak Djokovic at the French Open last month but the gulf in class was immediate as the Swiss maestro opened up a one-set lead in just 37 minutes.

The second was in the bag 30 minutes later but the German rallied from 2-0 down in the third to take it to a tiebreak which he won with a wonderful angled backhand 7-5.

Federer snuffed out the rising threat by racing to a 3-0 lead in the fourth and finally booked a fourth-round berth with a thunderous forehand winner.

The five-times Wimbledon champion set up a repeat of the French Open final with Swedish 13th seed Robin Soderling, who beat Spaniard Nicolas Almagro 7-6(7) 6-4 6-4.

Ninth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France could find no solution to the problem of Ivo Karlovic's massive serve as the Croatian ran out a 7-6(5) 6-7(5) 7-5 7-6(5) winner on Court One.

Tsonga failed to create a single break point against the 2.08 metre player from Zagreb, who blasted 46 aces and has this week spectacularly broken a run of four successive first-round exits at the All England Club.

After sharing the first two sets with tiebreaks, Karlovic carved out the match's only break in the 12th game of the third set to give him the initiative and he clinched the fourth set breaker 7-5 with his final ace after two hours and 44 minutes.

He will next play seventh seed Fernando Verdasco, after the Spaniard recovered from a set down to beat compatriot and 32nd seed Nicolas Almagro 4-6 6-1 6-4 7-6(2).

Fourth seed Novak Djokovic made serene progress into the fourth round at Wimbledon with a 6-4 6-4 6-4 win over American Mardy Fish.

The Serbian, who made a shock exit in round two 12 months ago, seems to be peaking at the right time and barely put a foot wrong in a match lasting just under two hours.

Djokovic, largely ignored so far amid all the hype over a possible Federer-Andy Murray final, fired an unreturnable serve to win the match then threw his wristbands into the crowd.

The 2008 Australian Open champion next faces Dudi Sela, who became the first Israeli to reach the last 16 of a Grand Slam since Amos Mansdorf at the Australian Open in 1992.

Sela recorded the win of his career when he battled past Spain's 15th seed Tommy Robredo 7-6(8) 7-5 2-6 7-5.

Croatian 12th seed Marin Cilic was locked in an epic battle with 24th seed Tommy Haas when play was suspended at 9:36pm due to lack of light.

Haas took the first two sets before Cilic hit back to level the match, and play was eventually suspended with the score at 5-7 5-7 6-1 7-6(3) 6-6.

The winner of that clash will face either Russian 29th seed Igor Andreev or Italian Andreas Seppi, with that match also being suspended due to lack of light, with the Russian leading 6-1 7-6(5) 4-6 5-5.

Reuters

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  1. AND I am sure he does count himself lucky... everyone­ needs a bit of luck now and again to help them along­ the way. Luck is a huge part of life.

    From wendy, on Sat 27 Jun 5:05PM

  2. MURRAY'S DRAW IS SO EASY..........HE CAN COUNT­ HIMSELF LUCKY COMPARED TO THE OTHER PLAYERS.

    From hadjeseles, on Sat 27 Jun 4:13PM

  3. comment 43 cathrenehume, you said Cilic won his match­ against Cilic it aint over until it over today Haas­ won his match against Cilic final set 10-8 stop beeing­ arrogant

    From Ra, on Sat 27 Jun 3:53PM

  4. federer isn't arrogant at all. If he were arrogant,­ he would wear a white jacket with "RF"­ written on it, but he doesn't, does he?

    From vd, on Sat 27 Jun 3:19PM

  5. sian lee: some people here are not saying it's­ boring to watch Fed - don't get so defensive! They­ r saying (Including me) that it's boring to watch a­ one-sided match during which his opponents often just­ seem to go weak at the knees because it's RF.­ It's understandable, but I just wish someone with­ some BALLS would just go for it as although he's­ the best, he's not a robot and is beatable, no­ matter what anybody says.

    From wendy, on Sat 27 Jun 3:17PM

  6. @84 stine147

    very good comments from him.only­ stupids and idiots do not understand about tennis­ genius federer.somebody needded in this forum to kick­ @#$% of federer haters.they should know first what­ tennis is?i think thease stupids watching table tennis.

    From anu, on Sat 27 Jun 1:51PM

  7. I will not be surprised if Federer wins this tournament­ without beating Novak or Murray Federer haters will­ claim he did not win it the way they wanted him to win­ it because he did not beat Murray and Novak, it makes­ me to wonder was Federer suppose to help Nadal, Murray­ and Novak win at RG for him to beat them in the Finals,­ I also wonder so Federer should have waited till when­ Murray, Novak and Nadal started playing good before e­ starts winning his Grand Slams title. Some people that­ come to this site to make dirty comments need to ask­ themselves AM I SUPPOSE TO BE HERE. Ask yourselves the­ simple question before hating the genius who claim that­ all he ever wanted was just to win Wimbledon and what­ happened he has 14 and more to come, hate or write bad­ comments it will not distract or change his ability to­ win Grand Slams after Nadal won in Wimble last year you­ all cried it is the end but he has added two Grand­ Slams out of the three and appeared in the finals of­ the second one that he lost as if that is not enough he­ took RG while he was number 2 in the ranking what he­ could not do while he was number one what does that­ tell you haters, you are wasting your time in writing­ against him if you hate him change your channel when he­ is playing and don't come here to write dirty­ comments about him.

    From stine147, on Sat 27 Jun 12:59PM

  8. I'd have to go and have a long lie down if­ Soderling beat Fed, such would be the shock to my logic­ system.

    BTW, what about the forehand stop volley on­ the stretch that Fed picked off the floor at the­ beginning of the 2nd set. I'm sure I could do­ that...if it wasn't for the old hamstring problem.

    From rhymes450, on Sat 27 Jun 12:24PM
  9. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    I hope this time Soderling will play his best tennis..­ not like in the RG final ... this guy can squese­ Federer to the last drop only if he wants..

    really,­ it is not so much depending on Federer`s game (he­ copuld play briliant like in RG finall yes) but­ brilliant only if Soderling let him play so !

    From Igor K, on Sat 27 Jun 11:43AM

  10. Catherinehume,it is not time for Fed to go,it is you­ who should go,not only are your comments "too­ ridiculous for words",you have sided with Attaha,a­ well known fool on these forums.Congratulations for­ making yourself look like a complete and utter­ idiot.
    In 100 years ,long after fools like you are­ buried and forgotten,the name Federer,greatest player­ of all time,will be remembered and celebrated.

    From carlos480bc, on Sat 27 Jun 10:34AM

  11. i wonder how people think murray is fav for wimbledon­ 2009.as long as legend of tennis federer is there no­ one considered fav for wimbledon.ofcourse nadal there­ for hard court and clay court.but not for grass­ court.if again federer loose against nadal in grass­ court then i can say nadal is there for even grass­ court.but it makes me think funny when murray fans say­ that murray is fav for wimbledon.god bless u murray to­ reach finals.i want to see u loosing against federer,so­ that all murray fans will be realised the king is­ federer.

    From anu, on Sat 27 Jun 10:13AM

  12. Sometimes I look at this forum and despair. this is­ meant to be for TENNIS FANS, not selling i pods or­ pornography, or displaying racial attitudes. If people­ think Federer's game is boring, then they have no­ real knowledge of the game, do they think that Karlovic­ who because of his height can hammer down ace after ace­ is a better or more entertaining player, or the­ generation of players who simply have an A game which­ is to stay on the baseline and hit the ball hard and if­ that doesn't work hit it harder are less boring­ than Federer, Nadal and Murray who all possess the­ options of spin, slice, variety of serve, drop shots­ etc. If you cannot understand the game, watch something­ else or engage the brain before you post.

    From annemcnaughtan, on Sat 27 Jun 10:08AM

  13. I thought Murray was the fav to win wimby 2009. why all­ the fuss abt Federer suddenly? is there fear already­ somewhere in the minds? lol!

    From owen, on Sat 27 Jun 9:10AM

  14. HOW EUROSPORT CAN SAY THAT FEDERER LOST A SET IN THIS­ MATCH, ITS JUST NOT FAIR TO FEDERER, HE WAS JUST NO­ LUCKY IN LOSING ONE SET , IT COULD BE 3-0 !!! WHEN­ MURRAY LOST A SET ALL WHAT THEY SAID WAS THE MURRAY­ WAS PLAYING REALLY GOOD!!! EUROSPORT ARE JUST NUTS!!!­ THEY SHOULD FOCUS IN WHAT FEDERER DID HE PLAYED­ SUPERBELY!!! AND HES GONNA WIN THE WINBLEDOM­ AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FEDERER THE BEST AND IF HE­ CONTINUES LIKE THIS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NO CHANCE­ MURRAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HIIHIHIHIH

    From gera_santos8, on Sat 27 Jun 8:41AM

  15. @63 tippu

    u better watch table tennis.whole world­ says that federer is the best in the world.and he is­ humble to everyone.we do not need u r stupid opinion on­ federer.u better watch table tennis.god bless u and i­ pray god for u.

    From anu, on Sat 27 Jun 7:44AM

  16. WHCI WAN O YI FECKERS MALKEYED JAICKSIN . . . . .­ ????

    COME ON NOO WHEY DID AT . . . . . . ????

    From JEEMS, on Sat 27 Jun 7:32AM

  17. seriously,it's not because we write sometimes at 2­ or 3 in the morning that some sweet kid won't read­ it later at 9.Be careful what you write,maybe Eurosport­ can agree to send some free filth by mail,but as far as­ i know,this is a sports page,not a porn site

    From coolworld, on Sat 27 Jun 7:23AM

  18. Federer is on his own bullet train now and barely see­ the other players,we've had him for a year and a­ half all sick,injured,nervously wrecked,but he's­ finally back.Of course in the meantime,most players­ either have improved or went through same­ injury/illness process then try to recover their form­ like Nadal, Mauresmo and Sharapova, Baghdatis,Nalbadian­ and a few hundreds more.But Fed is back,that don't­ please some,find it boring,maybe we should strap­ weights to his arms and legs to give a chance to those­ who can't beat him ? It's tennis guys,not The­ Running Man starring Schartzenegger,those who can't­ take it can switch to baseball,otherwise,support your­ guy and wish him well while we do the same,no need to­ insult or grouch and despair, or critic all you want in­ a constructive manner and proper language,some innocent­ kids might be reading your comments too you know,Mr­ Mike ?

    From coolworld, on Sat 27 Jun 6:54AM

  19. fed should not be hated much as so many does,he has won­ 14 grand slam and that is a respect'whether he won­ nadal or not,he is the only won who could stop­ soderling,so why the noise,he will most likely win this­ one too,up federer,
    tunde fatoki from nigeria

    From fatoki b, on Sat 27 Jun 5:13AM

  20. time for Mr Sweden to deliver & defeat FED at­ Wimbledon samameway he defeated NADAL in Paris

    He­ assisted FED to win FRENCH GRAND SLAM WINNERS TITLE­ granting easy passage to victory

    now payback time to­ use his elegant aggression to eliminate FED this­ time

    From pitcrew66, on Sat 27 Jun 3:08AM
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