Roger Federer stormed back after a slow start to turn the tables on Denis Istomin for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 second-round win at the Swiss Indoors in Basel, Switzerland, on Wednesday.
The third seed and five-time champion at his hometown tournament thrilled a sellout 9,200-strong crowd at the St Jakobshalle arena with the fightback which keeps him solidly in the chase for a place in the ATP World Tour Finals in London next month.
Federer, now into the quarter-finals, stands provisional seventh in the field, but needs strong showings this week at home and next week at the Paris Masters to ensure his passage into the season wrapup event that he has won six times.
Photo: AFP
The 32-year-old Swiss advanced in just less than two hours, recovering after losing the first set against the Uzbek outsider, then claiming the second to level.
The third set was a true test for the 17-time grand slam winner, who has had a dismal season. Federer laid down a marker as he held serve for 1-1 in the final set, winning that eight-minute game after saving four break points.
From then on, the momentum shift was complete for the Swiss favorite, who coasted into the last eight, firing a backhand winner on his first match point.
Holder Juan Martin del Potro began his title deference in the first round with a defeat of Finnish-born Swiss youngster Henri Laaksonen, with the No. 244 becoming a 6-4, 6-4 victim of the top seed.
Del Potro is riding a run of form after winning Tokyo and playing the Shanghai final.
“I played OK for the first match of the week,” said the winner, who has already qualified into the World Tour Finals year-end field.
“He was nervous at the start. I took my break points when I could and that was that. I served well and took my chances,” Del Potro said.
France’s Richard Gasquet put himself in the danger zone for qualifying for London as the fatigued fifth seed lost 6-4, 6-2 to compatriot Michael Llodra.
The first-round defeat in 70 minutes still leaves Gasquet standing a provisional ninth in the points race.
Gasquet, who lost in the first round at Shanghai and rebounded by winning the Moscow title last weekend, admitted that he was out of energy.
“I was tired after playing a lot of matches,” said the player, who qualified for the year-end event in 2007 when it was played in Shanghai.
Gasquet’s Moscow success marked his third title of the season, after Doha and Montpellier.
France’s Paul-Henri Mathieu advanced to the second round as he beat American Denis Kudla 6-4, 7-5, while Canadian Vasek Pospisil earned revenge for a loss last week by defeating Robin Haase 6-4, 6-4.
? VALENCIA OPEN
AFP, VALENCIA, Spain
German veteran Tommy Haas’ hopes of making the ATP World Tour Finals in London next month took a huge blow as he was beaten by Philipp Kohlschreiber in the first round of the Valencia Open on Wednesday.
The No. 2 seed got off to the perfect start as he took the opening set, but fellow German Kohlschreiber responded well to break serve early in the final two sets and serve out for a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory.
Haas lies 12th in the race to London standings, but his chances of making it to the English capital had been raised by winning in Vienna on Sunday last week and an early exit for Richard Gasquet at the Swiss Indoors in Basel, also on Wednesday.
However, he now faces a huge task at the Paris Masters next week to claim one of the remaining three places on offer.
Earlier, world No. 3 David Ferrer booked his place in the second round in Valencia with a confident 6-3, 6-2 win over Gael Monfils.
Next up for the three-time champion is another Frenchman, Julien Benneteau, who he was to play yesterday.
Fourth-seeded American John Isner also sealed his place in the second round as he edged Ernests Gulbis 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/2), while seventh seed Fabio Fognini became the first man to book his place in the quarter-finals as he eased past Marcel Granollers 6-3, 6-2.
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