TENNIS MASTER 1000 PARIS – Roger Federer recovered from a slow start in the first set to battle past Jeremy Chardy in three sets with 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 6-4 in the second round of the BNP Paribas Indoor in Paris Bercy. Diego Sampaolo
Federer was broken in his opening game to go down 0-3. Chardy got a double break point chance at 4-1 and led 5-2 30-0 on Federer’s serve. Federer held serve before breaking serve with two forehand winners. The Swiss legend saved four set points when Chardy was serving for the first set when he was leading 5-4. In the 11th game Federer broke serve to love to take the 6-5 edge. Chardy, who beat Federer in Rome last May, drew level to 6-6 to force the first set to the tie-break. Federer clinched his 11th consecutive tie-break with 7-5 when Chardy hit his forehand into the net.
Chardy saved two match points in the second set which went on serve without breaks. After Federer failed to convert two match points at 5-4, the set came down to the tie-break where Chardy hit a forehand to take the 7-5 edge to force the match to the decider. Federer got a early break to take a 2-0 lead in the third set and held his serve to win the match after two hours and 31 minutes. Federer clinched his 67th match of the year and his 13th win in a row since the US Open semifinal where he lost against Marin Cilic. With this win Federer has extended his winning streak to 13 consecutive wins. Federer will take on French qualifier Lucas Pouille who edged Italian Fabio Fognini with 7-6(5) 7-6(7)
Chardy confirmed once again that he is a tough player to beat for Federer. “I thought it could be a tough match and it was. I could have lost the first set. I could have won the second set but it went the other way. I thought as the match went longer, the better I actually started to play and created more opportunities. Jeremy was hitting hard. He played well but I am happy that I pulled it out. Fortunately I was able to win the first set and it calmed him down. I could have won in two sets after that but it was fair that we played a third set. He played so well”, said Federer.
Andy Murray, fifth in the ATP Race beat Julien Benneteau 6-3 6-4 in 71 minutes and is one match from qualifying for the ATP Finals. He needs to reach at least the quarter finals to qualify for London. Murray cruised to a 3-0 lead in the opening set. After holding serve to love in the first game Murray broke serve in the second game after three unforced errors made by the French player. Benneteau won his first game but Murray pulled away to 4-1. He dropped one point on his serve. After closing out the first set with 6-3 Murray broke again in the first game of the second set. Benneteau broke back in the sixth game but Murray hold serve to love securing the 19th of his last 21 matches in a series which includes three titles in Shenzhen, Vienna and Valencia. In both finals in Shenzhen and Valencia he saved five match points in the third set against Tommy Robredo in two hard-fought matches.
“I put in a lot of hard work in the past few weeks. I played a lot of long and tough matches. If I get to London, I deserve to be there because it’s your results across the whole year. My results in most of the tournaments have been good enough to be in the top 8”, said Murray
Stan Wawrinka battled past Austrian rising star Dominic Thiem after a tight second set with 6-4 7-6 (8-6). Wawrinka got a break in the second game for 2-0 and held serve in the third game but Thiem drew level to 4-4. Thiem led 30-0 at 4-5 in the tenth game but dropped four consecutive games and was broken for the second time in the match. In the second set Wawrinka earned his first match point at 6-5. After leading 4-2 in the tie-break Wawrinka had to save a set point when Thiem was leading 6-5. Wawrinka hit a service winner for 7-6 before converting his second match point after one one hour and 36 minutes.
Wawrinka broke serve three times and hit 25 winners. The Lausanne player will face Kevin Anderson in the third round. Wawrinka took a re-match against Thiem who beat him at this year’s Mutua Open in Madrid. It was a confidence-boosting win for Wawrinka after three consecutive first-match defeats in Beijing, Shanghai and Basel. He has scored his first win since he beat Fabio Fognini in the Davis Cup semifinal against Italy last September.
“I am still trying to regain confidence. My whole year was up and down. I lost three opening matches in three consecutive matches after the US Open. I had never lost early so often but I wouldn’t trade my season for anything. I ma here to go as far as I can. I don’t feel pressure”, said Wawrinka.
Milos Raonic had to dig deep to edge US qualifier Jack Sock with 6-3 5-7 7-6(4) keeping his hopes to qualify for the ATP Finals alive.
In the third round Raonic will face Roberto Bautista Agut who upset Richard Gasquet in straight sets with 6-4 6-2. The Spanish player won 80 percent of his first serve points and did not face any breaks. He hit 30 winners to 19 unforced errors.
Grigor Dimitrov won 80 percent of his first service points to cruise past Pablo Cuevas with 6-0 6-2 Feliciano Lopez beat Sam Querrey 6-4 6-4.
Jo Wilfred Tsonga, who won the Master 1000 Tournament in Toronto, overcame a second-set loss to edge Austrian Jurgen Melzer 6-2 4-6 6-2 in one hour and 41 minutes. The Frenchman set up a third round match against US Open finalist Kei Nishikori who fought back from a set down to edge Tommy Robredo with 6-7(4) 6-2 6-3. Nishikori, who is bidding to become the first Asian player to qualify for the ATP Finals, won his 50th match of the year.
In the final match of the day Gael Monfils beat John Isner 6-4 7-6. The second set went on serve without breaks until the tie-break where the local favourite prevailed with 7-4 to set up a third round match against Novak Djokovic.
