Roger Federer’s love affaire with Brisbane continues as the Swiss defeated Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 to advance to the semifinals for the third year running. Federer was a finalist in 2014 and won the title in 2015, and is now just a step away from yet another final as he faces the talented Dominic Thiem for the first time in the penultimate round.
Before that, Federer was made to work hard to defeat Dimitrov. The Bulgarian, who is almost a spitting image of the Swiss player in terms of strokes and style, had never taken a set off Federer in three previous meetings but he showed that 2015 is well and truly behind him as he aims to re-launch a yet-promising career.
The first set was a typical cruise control opener from Federer where he holds serve and breaks at a crucial time, in the tenth game, to stun his opponent who was starting to believe a chance was there for the taking. The 17-time Grand Slam title took his foot of the gas ever so slightly in the second set and was a break down but managed to claw himself back in it to force a tie break. But on this occasion Dimitrov took his second set point to record a first ever set win over Federer.
In the final set, Dimitrov did well to save three match points at 5-3 0-40 but he was merely pushing back the inevitable as Federer served it out to overcome his first real test of 2016.
The Swiss player has been struggling with a flu throughout the tournament and asked whether it affected his performance, he replied, “Yes and no. I’m not going to tell you that much, my body is not quite ready. It’s good to get through it without any issues”.
