ATP

Roger Federer Downs Underdog Fucsovics To Create History At The Australian Open

Published

6 years ago

22/01/2018

Roger Federer has become the oldest player to reach the quarter-finals of the Australian Open since 1977 after defeating Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics 6-4, 7-6(3), 6-2, in the fourth round.

The Swiss second seed embarked upon the match with high expectations. During his career, he has only lost to a player as low as world No.80 Fucsovics three times in grand slam tournaments. The 36-year-old was able to maintain this strong record with some emphatic serving. Federer won 83% of his first service points and produced 34 winners during the match. Although he admits that he didn’t have everything his own way.

“It’s fast conditions, you gotta have quick ideas and execute well and I thought he did that very well.” Federer said about Fucsovics’ performance.
“I thought he was playing very clean, solid, a bit of everything. I had a hard time breaking serve until two sets to love and a break. That was when I started to feel that I had the wind behind my back and I could cruise to victory. “
“It was tough until then and credit to him for playing a great tournament.” He added.

Despite the disparity between the two players, defending champion Federer was tested from the onset. Fucsovics was playing in the main draw at Melbourne for the first time is his career and has never beaten anybody ranked higher than 13th in the world. Nevertheless, the Hungarian was not intimidated by the second seed, recovering from a 0-40 deficit midway through the opening set. Still, it was not enough to derail Federer. Leading 5-4, the Swiss player eased to his first set point, thanks to a backhand error from his rival before sealing the 6-4 lead with a smash at the net.

It was a case of deja vu in the second. The 19-time grand slam champion continued to be pushed to his limits by the underdog before prevailing. It was only the second time Federer has played a Hungarian player in his career after his 2002 win over Attila Savolt at the Australian Open. Savlot is Fucsovics’ current coach. A 15-point winning streak behind the Federer serve failed to deter his opponent as they matched each other game-by-game. Throughout the second set, Federer lost only four points behind his serve.

Due to the resilience of his rival, Federer finally managed to wear him down in the tiebreaker. At 3-3, a Fucsovics forehand error secured the mini break in Federer’s favour. From that moment on, he dominated the proceedings as he secured the two sets leads with a smash at the net.

The triumph in the tiebreaker was the final straw for Fucsovics, who rapidly faded as the match approached the closing stages. A double break moved Federer closer towards the finish line as he sealed his 91st win at Melbourne Park with a deep shot triggering an error from his Hungarian rival.

https://twitter.com/AustralianOpen/status/955332696028340225

Berdych awaits

Federer will next take on Tomas Berdych in the last eight at Melbourne in what will be their 26th meeting on the tour. He currently leads their head-to-head 19-5 and has defeated the Czech player in their eight most recent meetings.

“I’ve seen his matches. He’s standing up in the court, hitting big shots. I’m happy for him, he is through his back issues.” He said about his quarter-final opponent
“It’s nice to see him back. We had a good match here (in Melbourne), or I had a good match against him, last year in the third round. I’m sure he wants to not do it the other way round and make me pay for that one.“

Despite Federer’s recent dominance, world No.20 Berdych believes he can pull off a surprise win. The 32-year-old defeated Fabio Fognini in straight sets to reach his 17th quarterfinal in a major.

“I’m definitely going to go out there, try my best, try to play good tennis, and believe myself that I can do it. I did it in the past, and also, I did it on the slams, so I know how it is to beat him for the best-of-five sets.” said Berdych.

The upcoming encounter will be Federer’s 42nd grand slam quarter-final.

ATP

Tomas Machac Stuns Novak Djokovic To Reach Maiden ATP Final In Geneva

Tomas Machac is into his first career ATP final after stunning Novak Djokovic in Geneva.

Published

2 days ago

24/05/2024

Tony Fairbairn

(@atptour - Twitter)

Tomas Machac is into his first ATP final after defeating Novak Djokovic 6-4 0-6 6-1 in Geneva.

The world number one seemed to be struggling physically throughout the contest as Machac earned the biggest win of his career.

After trailing 4-1 in the opening set, Machac played aggressive tennis against a sub-par Djokovic to win five games in a row and take the opening set.

In the second set Djokovic was back to his brilliant best as he won six consecutive games to level the match at one set all.

However the Serb was clearly struggling with his fitness and conditioning as Machac secured the biggest win of his career, reaching a first ATP final.

Speaking after the match Machac was lost for words as he looks ahead to Saturday’s showdown, “I have no reaction right now, I just fought for every ball,” Machac told the ATP website.

“When you play against Novak you just hope. You just try to play your best and see what it looks like. I am looking forward to playing in a final for the first time.”

As for Djokovic, the Serb is yet to reach a final this year and will need to get his form back on track as he prepares to begin his Roland Garros title defence against Pierre-Hughes Herbert.

Meanwhile Machac will play either Casper Ruud or Flavio Cobolli in the final.

ATP

Novak Djokovic ‘Excited’ For French Open Showdown Between Nadal And Zverev

Published

3 days ago

23/05/2024

Adam Addicott

On Thursday Novak Djokovic learned his path to French Open glory but all the talk surrounds one particular match that doesn’t involve him.

In a first round blockbuster, 14-time champion Rafael Nadal takes on an in-form Alexander Zverev in what could be the last time he plays at the clay-court major. Zverev recently claimed his first Masters title since 2021 at the Italian Open. At the same tournament, Nadal reached the second round before losing to Hubert Hurkacz.

The clash will be a repeat of the 2022 French Open semi-final which the king of clay won in unfortunate circumstances after Zverev sustained a serious ankle injury. Overall, Nadal leads their head-to-head 7-3 but it has been two years since their last meeting.

Quizzed about the upcoming match following his quarter-final win over Tallon Griekspoor at the Geneva Open, Djokovic believes it will be an ‘interesting’ showdown.

“It’s going to be showtime and I’m excited to see that,” RTS quoted Djokovic as saying.
“I know Rafa won’t want it, but I think it can be a game scheduled for the evening… In any case, it will be very interesting because Zverev is in great shape. But on the Roland-Garros court, Rafa is Rafa…”

Djokovic is hoping to get a boost ahead of the French Open by winning the Geneva trophy to claim what would be his first title of the season. Earlier this week he became the third player in the Open Era to win 1100 Tour matches. Against Griekspoor he dropped six games during his 7-5, 6-1 victory.

“It was a great win. I thought the first set could have gone his way easily because I think he was a better player for most of the first set,” Djokovic commented on his latest victory.
“We could have been having a completely different direction of the match if he converted those set points.
“I was lucky to find some really good serves, and from that moment onwards I really, really played some good, solid tennis.”

Djokovic will next play Tomas Machac on Friday. The match takes place two days before the start of the French Open.

ATP

Roland Garros 2024: Rafael Nadal Faces Alexander Zverev In Blockbuster Opening Round

Rafael Nadal and Alexander Zverev will meet at Roland Garros in the first round with Andy Murray taking on Stan Wawrinka in the opening round.

Published

3 days ago

23/05/2024

Tony Fairbairn

(@UniversTennis - Twitter)

Rafael Nadal has been drawn against Rome champion Alexander Zverev in the opening round of Roland Garros.

The 14-time Roland Garros champion will most likely be making his last appearance at the event where he has such a great history at.

It’s been a mixed clay court season for Nadal who built gradual momentum in Madrid but suffered an early exit in Rome to Hubert Hurkacz.

Now the Spaniard has been drawn to take on the champion of Rome, Alexander Zverev, in the opening round.

The match is a repeat of the 2022 semi-final where Zverev broke his ankle losing almost a year of his career.

This contest headlines the second quarter of the draw which also features Karen Khachanov, Holger Rune and Daniil Medvedev.

In the other quarter of the top half of the draw, defending champion Novak Djokovic will begin his Roland Garros campaign against Pierre-Hughes Herbert.

There is also a potential third round clash with either Gael Monfils or Lorenzo Musetti for Djokovic, who is currently in Geneva gaining extra match practice ahead of the second Grand Slam of the season.

The Serb could have a repeat of last year’s final in the quarter-finals with Casper Ruud as the Norwegian begins his campaign against Jakub Mensik.

In the bottom half of the draw Jannik Sinner plays his first tournament since suffering a hip injury in Rome as he takes on Christopher Eubanks in the opening round.

Sinner could face Cameron Norrie in the third round with the Brit taking on Pavel Kotov in his opening round before playing the winner of the battle of the Grand Slam champions between Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka.

Murray and Wawrinka will clash for the fourth time at Roland Garros with Wawrinka leading their head-to-head 2-1 in Paris.

This section also includes in-form players such as Hubert Hurkacz, Alejandro Tabilo and Rome finalist Nicolas Jarry.

Finally Carlos Alcaraz will begin his Roland Garros campaign against a qualifier before potentially playing Jack Draper in the second round.

Another exciting clash awaits Alcaraz in the third round in the form of Sebastian Korda with Andrey Rublev or Stefanos Tsitsipas being potential quarter-final opponents.

This is the full draw with Roland Garros beginning on Sunday.