Roger Federer turned in a second consecutive dream performance on Wednesday to give his home fans more satisfaction as he rolled Serb Janko Tipsarevic 6-3, 6-4 at the Swiss Indoors.
The one-hour effort surprised even the in-form top seed.
“That’s two perfect matches in a row,” said the Swiss, equally ruthless in the first round on Monday. “How much better can it get?”
PHOTO: EPA
“I played well, served well and had hardly any errors. This is about as good as it gets. If I can keep it like this for the whole event, that would be amazing,” he said.
Federer is now into the quarter-finals as he bids to seize back the title he lost to Novak Djokovic a year ago, following a three-year trophy run at the St Jakobshalle, where he got his start in the sport as a teenage ballboy.
However, the world No. 2 does not want to risk over-confidence either.
“I don’t want to get used to this, that could be a danger,” he said. “Beating Janko [who took him to five sets in their last match at the 2008 Australian Open] is a good win. He’s on a Davis Cup finals team after all. I’m happy to get this win, but nothing is guaranteed.”
Federer got the job done in exactly one hour, leaving him plenty of time to cross the road and find his VIP seat at the Champions League fixture between his club Basel and visiting Italian side Roma.
Fourth seed Andy Roddick was planning on dining in at his central city hotel after passing up on the chance to attend the soccer match.
Roddick marked his return to tennis after injuring his knee a fortnight ago in Shanghai with a 7-5, 7-6 (8/6) defeat of compatriot Sam Querrey to reach the second round.
The American, who last played in Basel in a 2003 semi-final, resumed the hunt for a place in the eight-man ATP season final, where three spots remain open.
Roddick hammered his trademark aces with abandon, totting up 16 in just over 90 minutes of battle.
Querrey, another big hitter, managed 16, but put a backhand into the net on Roddick’s first match point to make an early exit on his debut appearance.
“My injury from Asia felt fine,” Roddick said. “After being sick [with glandular fever] in the summer and then the Shanghai injury, it’s good to play a solid match.”
“There is always that element of not knowing what to expect. Playing Sam is tough, we had a high level, and the tie-breaker was not easy. It was a really good match for me,” he said.
In other first-round matches, veteran Czech Radek Stepanek beat Dutchman Thiemo de Bakker 6-3, 7-6 (7/5), while Finn Jarkko Niemimen, a losing finalist against Federer in 2007, defeated German Daniel Brands 6-3, 6-2 in round one.
Paul-Henri Mathieu put in a bid for inclusion on the French Davis Cup finals team to face Serbia with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over recent Stockholm finalist Florian Mayer of Germany.
Dutchman Robin Haase joined Federer in the last eight as he beat the day’s second American, sending out eighth seed John Isner 6-2, 6-7 (5/7), 7-5.
? VALENCIA OPEN 500
AFP, VALENCIA, SPAIN
Defending champion Andy Murray crashed out of the Valencia Open 500 with Argentine Juan Monaco taking advantage of his disappointing display to go through to the quarter-finals 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 on Wednesday.
The Scot, who beat Feliciano Lopez in the last round, took on 12th seed Monaco after winning his last six matches without dropping a set.
They had played three times before and Murray had won twice, both occasions on hard court, the last being just a few weeks ago in the semi-finals of the Masters 1000 in Shanghai where Murray went on to win against Roger Federer in the final.
It was his second ATP title this season after he retained his Toronto crown in August.
Murray struggled from the start though against Monaco, a former top 20 ranked player, and lost the first eight points as he went two games down.
Monaco took the game to the world No. 4 and playing excellent tennis he broke again to win the first set 6-2.
Murray had only managed to get 48 percent of his first serves in, but rallied in the second set after initially losing his serve again, to win four games on the trot and level the match.
The initiative was with Murray, but he returned to commit the same unforced errors and saw his serve broken cheaply before bowing out 6-2.
Frenchman Gael Monfils made light work of opponent Eduardo Schwank, who was out-classed 6-3, 6-3.
The No. 14 in the world takes part in the competition fresh from victory in Montpellier last Sunday and having reached the final in Tokyo three weeks ago.
It was always going to be a tough challenge for Schwank, 50 places further down in the world rankings and on a poor run having gone out in the first round of his last four competitions.
Monfils cruised to a 4-1 lead in the first set superior in all facets of his play, but he notably dropped the tempo and Schwank broke back to trail 4-3. Monfils was never in trouble though and took the next two games.
He went on to break Schwank again at the start of the second set and from there strolled to victory with his Argentine opponent committing almost double the number of unforced errors.
Last year’s runner-up in Valencia, Mikhail Youzhny, and one of the favorites this time was to play qualifier Pablo Cuevas, but the semi-finalist at the US Open in September had to withdraw through injury and his place was taken by lucky loser Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
Having been eliminated in the qualifiers, Ramos-Vinolas was understandably unprepared and appeared nervous as he quickly went three games down against Cuevas who instead of the ominous task of facing Youzhny, now found himself against a player ranked 128th.
Ramos-Vinolas battled back, but lost the first set 6-3. In the second set a marathon fifth game proved crucial as Cuevas broke and went on to win 6-4.
Taiwan’s top women’s badminton doubles duo, Hsieh Pei-shan (謝沛珊) and Hung En-tzu (洪恩慈), achieved a straight-sets victory over Japan’s Kaho Osawa and Mayui Tanabe at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Super 300 Macau Open on Sunday. The Taiwanese pair won the final 21-18, 21-12, marking the duo’s second title this year after their win at the BWF Super 300 Taipei Open in May. The match on Sunday was their first encounter with the Japanese duo, ranked No. 63 in the world. Hsieh and Hung, ranked No. 12, began the opening game well. Hung, who plays left-handed, performed strongly at both the net and the
Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko upset top-seeded Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday night to reach the National Bank Open quarter-finals. “Your support was incredible,” Mboko told the crowd in French after a chorus of “Ole, Ole, Ole” chants echoed around the venue. “I’m really happy to win today ... It’s incredible. I’m so happy to beat such a great champion.” Gauff dropped to 2-3 since winning the French Open. She followed the major victory with opening losses in Berlin and Wimbledon, then overcame double-fault problems to win two three-set matches in Montreal. Gauff had five double-faults on Saturday after having 23 in
Jobe Bellingham on Tuesday admitted to having “anxieties” on following in brother Jude’s footsteps after joining Borussia Dortmund in the summer. Jobe Bellingham, 19, is two years younger than Jude Bellingham, who joined Real Madrid in 2023 after three years at Dortmund. A centerpiece of the England national team, Jude Bellingham has emerged as one of the best players in the world in recent seasons. The younger Jobe Bellingham joined Dortmund in June from Sunderland after their promotion to the English Premier League. He admitted he understood what the perception would be ahead of the move to Germany. “It’s something you do think about.
Before Tuesday’s 7-2 win at the Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy suggested “most people couldn’t tell you five players on our team.” A look at the standings would indicate more Brewers players soon will be recognized by more fans. After all, it is difficult to overlook a team that not only continues to extend their lead in the National League Central, but also boasts the best record in the majors. “What we’re doing in here right now is special,” right-handed pitcher Freddy Peralta said after allowing only four hits and one run in five innings, while setting a career high with