Six-time champion Roger Federer defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber for the 11th time on Thursday with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win which booked a Swiss Indoors quarter-final place.
Top seed Federer, playing at the venue where he got his start in the game as a ball boy two decades ago, was due to face Belgium’s David Goffin yesterday, who he beat for the title last year.
After defeating his German friend Kohlschreiber in 98 minutes with 13 aces and two breaks of serve, Federer was happy to escape with the win.
Photo: EPA
“The support really made the difference for me tonight, especially at the end of the match,” Federer said. “The fans helped me a lot and probably drove him down a bit — thanks to everyone. It’s always difficult against Philipp, he’s such a tough opponent. I may have beaten him a lot, but it’s not been easy. Today was another battle and I’m just relieved to get to the quarter-finals.”
Federer, with five titles this season, won his 55th match of the year against nine losses.
Donald Young of the US stunned South African fourth seed Kevin Anderson 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) to reach the quarters.
Young, the world No. 49, was due to face world No. 29 compatriot Jack Sock, who withstood 14 aces from fellow American and sixth seed John Isner’s racket in a 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 win.
Sock earned his second win from six attempts against Isner, as the 23-year-old claimed his 34th match of the season.
Seventh-seeded former US Open winner Marin Cilic earned a place in the quarter-finals, beating Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili 6-3, 6-1, but managing just seven aces in the process.
Cilic was due to face 14-time major winner Rafael Nadal for a place in the semi-finals.
Serve king Ivo Karlovic enjoyed a 7-6 (7/4), 7-5 win over Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic, with the Croatian firing 25 aces just a day after knocking out Swiss second seed Stan Wawrinka with 21.
Anderson, Isner and Karlovic have each delivered more than 1,000 aces on the ATP Tour this season, the first time that mark has been achieved since records began in 1991.
Fifth seed Richard Gasquet extended his outside bid for a place in the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals when he beat Dominic Thiem 7-6 (7/1), 6-4.
The Frenchman needs to win the Basel title and next week’s Paris Masters to have a chance to claim a place in the eight-man London showpiece. He was next due to face Karlovic.
“I played a good tiebreaker which was key,” Gasquet said. “I hit some great shots when I needed to. My backhand was working really well and I got confidence from it. It was a super match for me and keeps me in the race for London. Karlovic is such a tough opponent. His serve is unbelievable. I just have to concentrate on returns, I will need to play really well.”
With the last two spots in the season wrap-up still in play, the situation was complicated by the pullout in Valencia of David Ferrer.
The 33-year-old Spaniard, who won the Vienna title last weekend, was suffering with an elbow injury, a problem which forced him off court for three months this season.
Ferrer stands joint seventh in the points chase, level with Japan’s Kei Nishikori, who is also out injured.
Aaliyah Edwards on Monday pulled off the stunner of the opening round of the Unrivaled one-on-one tournament, beating top-seeded Breanna Stewart 12-0. The tournament to be played over three days featured 23 of the WNBA’s 36 players. A few had other commitments and a couple others were out with injuries. Stewart got the ball first against Edwards and missed a contested layup. Edwards then hit a three-pointer from the corner and a jumper from the elbow to go up 5-0. The player who scores keeps the basketball. Edwards hit two layups and a three-pointer to seal the win. Stewart, a two-time WNBA Most Valuable Player,
Taiwan’s Lin Yun-ju and Kao Cheng-jui were defeated by their Chinese counterparts 3-0 on Saturday in the men’s doubles final at the World Table Tennis (WTT) Singapore Smash. Lin and Kao received their silver medals after being defeated by third-seeded duo Lin Shidong and Wang Chuqin of China 2-11, 4-11, 11-13. The Taiwan pair were left playing catch-up early in the match after the Chinese duo proved unstoppable in the first and second game. Although Lin and Kao picked up their pace in the third game and at one point took a 10-8 lead, they were crucially unable to take
The Philippines curling team has been rocking it in Harbin, claiming the tropical nation’s first Asian Winter Games medal yesterday with a victory in the men’s final against South Korea. The team of Marc Pfister, Alan Frei, Christian Haller, Enrico Pfister and alternate Benjo Delarmente took gold with a 5-3 win at Harbin Pingfang Curling Arena. The Philippines Olympic Committee was quick to celebrate with a post on Instagram to mark the historic gold. “This is the first-ever medal for the Philippines at the Asian Winter Games, and the highest achievement for a Southeast Asian athlete in the Games’ history! What an incredible
Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien on Tuesday dumped compatriot and second seed Hsieh Su-wei out of the women’s doubles at the Qatar Open to set up another potential Taiwanese showdown, while world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka suffered a shock defeat in the second round. Wu and partner Jiang Xinyu, who earlier this year won the ASB Classic in Auckland and the Hobart International, defeated Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-2, 6-7 (3/7), 10-5 in 1 hour, 29 minutes on Grandstand Court 3 at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex. Wu and Jiang on Sunday advanced to the round-of-16 with a 7-6 (7/7),