Tuesday January 22, 2008
Champion Federer expects a tough battle against American Blake
AUSTRALIAN OPEN, MELBOURNE JAN 14 - 27
World number one Roger Federer came through his second successive test at the Australian Open yesterday and admitted he would have to be “very careful” when he plays American James Blake in the quarter-finals.
The world number one, bidding for his 13th Grand Slam title and third Australian Open crown in a row, saved two set points in the second before beating Czech Tomas Berdych 6-4, 7-6, 6-3 in the fourth round.
Federer has dropped just one set in seven matches against Blake but said the 12th seed could push him hard.
“He’s improved a lot the last couple of years,” Federer told reporters. “He plays incredibly aggressive tennis. Improved his serve a lot, his backhand. So I have to be very careful.”
“I know his game sort of suits my game. I’ve had some great matches against him where I always play my very best.
“So we’ll see how it goes this time around.
“I definitely have to play offensive myself, put him on the back foot as well.”
Having squeezed past Janko Tipsarevic 10-8 in the final set in round three, Federer convincingly won the first set against Berdych but slipped 3-0 down in the second before breaking back to force a tiebreak.
The Czech led 5-2 in the tiebreak and squandered two set points, netting a terrible drop shot at 6-5 and sending a forehand long at 7-6 before Federer won it 9-7.
The Swiss eased through the third set and sealed victory in just under two hours.
“Thank God he didn’t win that second set because you never know what’s going to happen, because I think he was the better player in that set,” he said.
“So for me, that was a huge set to win and I benefited (from) it in the third set.”
Federer revealed that he had stayed up into the night to watch some of the third-round match between Lleyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis, which did not finish until 4.33am.
“You know me, I am a die-hard tennis fan,” Federer said in a courtside interview.
“I had to have a massage (after his match with Tipsarevic) late in the night, but my eyes shut after the third set.” – Reuters
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