Roger Federer captured his 21st consecutive match win on Thursday as he booked a quarter-final berth at the Rogers Cup Montreal Masters and stayed on course for a finals showdown with Rafael Nadal.
Top-seeded Federer avenged a spring loss to fellow Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka with a 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) victory.
Second seed Nadal, playing this week for the first time since May 31 after resting his injured knees, gave his fragile confidence a huge boost with a 6-3, 6-2 defeat of German Philipp Petzschner.
PHOTO: AP
The two led an historic parade of the top eight seeds into the into the quarters of the US$3 million tournament — the first time since the rankings began in 1973 that the top eight players in the world have all reached the quarters at the same ATP event.
“It’s not just the top eight seeds, it’s the top eight players in the world,” Federer said. “It’s a special occasion. It shows that the top guys are really consistent at the big events. It’s nice it finally happened.”
Wawrinka, who played alongside Federer to win the Beijing Olympic doubles gold medal, had beaten his celebrated compatriot in the third round at Monte Carlo in April.
Wawrinka made Federer work for this one, saving four match points in the tiebreaker before missing a low volley at the net to exit after one and three-quarters hours. Federer will next play Frenchman and Swiss resident Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the seventh seed who beat compatriot Gilles Simon 6-3, 6-3.
“It was a tense match, you can never tell until it’s over,” said Federer, who has won his last three tournaments dating to May in Madrid. “Stan was serving really well. We played at a high level.”
After claiming the first set with a forehand to the corner, Federer had trouble closing out the victory a set later. A 5-1 lead in the tiebreaker almost went for naught as Wawrinka fought back at the end.
“It was a very equal match,” Federer said. “Stan had chances and played very well. But I served well when I needed to. I’m pleased to go through.”
Federer beat Tsonga last year in their only meeting at Madrid.
Nadal showed some signs of nerves with a double-fault on his first match point, but fired home a winner on his second try.
“I’m very happy because I am in the quarter-finals. It’s more than I expected when I came here,” said Nadal, who caught a break when David Ferrer retired injured in the first set of their match on Wednesday. “So with one match and a half I have right now, I expect to be ready for tomorrow.”
“The movement was a little bit better,” he added. “I need more matches to get the rhythm.”
Nadal will face Argentinian sixth seed Juan Martin Del Potro, who rallied to beat Victor Hanescu of Romania 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Third seed Andy Murray stayed in touch with his dream of seizing the world No. 2 ranking from Nadal, stopping Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-1, 6-3. Murray needs to reach the semi-finals, and also hope that defending champion Nadal does not progress into the final four.
Murray has now won all three of his matches with former No. 1 Ferrero, beating the 29-year-old Spaniard on grass this summer at Queen’s and Wimbledon.
Victory took 77 minutes, as the Scot never faced a break point.
Murray will play eighth-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko, a 7-6 (7/2), 7-5 winner over Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez.
Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, seeded fourth, reached the last eight with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Russian Mikhail Youzhny.
Andy Roddick, seeded fifth, came good after Fernando Verdasco saved two match points, with the US three-time Wimbledon finalist defeating the tenth-seeded Spaniard 7-6 (7/2), 4-6, 7-6 (7/5).
Soccer officials yesterday offered “full support and assistance” to the Iranian team in Australia for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup after the US and Israel launched massive attacks on their homeland. Iran’s 26-strong squad arrived on the Gold Coast days before the strikes on Saturday killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as Washington and Tel Aviv seek to topple the Islamic republic. They are due to open their tournament today against South Korea. The AFC in a statement said it “continues to closely monitor the recent developments in the Middle East during this challenging period.” “The AFC’s foremost priority remains the welfare, safety and
ROAD RASH: Marc Marquez retired after a crash, marking the first time after 88 consecutive races stretching back to 2021 that a Ducati bike failed to make the podium Marco Bezzecchi yesterday won the MotoGP season-opening grand prix in Thailand from pole position as defending world champion Marc Marquez retired late with a buckled wheel. Aprilia’s Bezzecchi led from start to finish to top the podium in Buriram, with KTM’s Pedro Acosta second and Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez third. Ducati’s Marquez is chasing a record-equaling eighth world title this season, but he exited the race in dramatic fashion while in fourth place with five laps to go. The Spaniard, who started from second on the grid, took a corner wide, with the jolt to his bike dislodging the rear tire, badly damaging his
EVERY DAY A VICTORY: Players on the women’s team faced pressure from society just getting out onto the field as they prepare for their first Women’s Asian Cup game today Bangladesh’s national soccer team face daunting odds at their first-ever Women’s Asian Cup, but have already scored a major victory by qualifying. In the South Asian nation of 170 million, social stigma, family expectations, poverty and religious hardliners have long relegated women and girls to sports sidelines. The first women’s soccer league matches took place in 2011 and the squad, known to fans as the Red and Green, have kept pressing forward despite deeply embedded prejudices. “Many more girls would have joined us if the community had been even slightly supportive,” captain Afeida Khandaker told AFP ahead of her side’s March 3
Liverpool on Tuesday suffered an embarrassing 2-1 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers as Andre’s stoppage-time strike sealed a dramatic victory for the English Premier League’s bottom club. Arne Slot’s side fell behind to Rodrigo Gomes’ strike in the closing stages at Molineux. Mohamed Salah hauled Liverpool level with his first goal in 11 top-flight games dating back to November last year. However, Andre’s first goal for Wolves inflicted the latest humbling loss in a chastening season for Liverpool. It was the first time the Premier League’s bottom club had beaten the reigning champions since Crystal Palace defeated Chelsea in 2017. Liverpool
RSS