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6/12/10 7:01 PM | Ricky Dimon
Roger Federer is tested on Saturday but takes out Philipp Petzschner in straight sets. Federer will meet Lleyton Hewitt for the title.
Roger Federer had a more difficult time on Saturday than in his previous three outings, but the five-time Gerry Weber Open champion still needed only two sets to dismiss Philipp Petzschner 7-6(3), 6-4. Federer set up a final showdown with Lleyton Hewitt after one hour and 31 minutes.
The top-seeded Swiss had not been broken all tournament long, but this semifinal started in alarming fashion. Federer went up 40-0 in his opening service game only to see Petzschner win five consecutive points for an immediate break.
Petzschner, however, gave the break back right away with one double-fault and three forehand errors. The German broke serve again at 3-3 and this time he consolidated it for a 5-3 advantage. Nonetheless, Petzschner cracked while serving for the set at 5-4 as his forehand continued to let him down.
Two routine holds later, a tiebreaker was necessary to decide the opening frame of play. Federer seized the first mini-break for 2-1 and he ended up winning four points in a row for a commanding 5-1 lead. The world No. 2 finished off the set when Petzschner missed a forehand at 6-3.
Federer made quicker work of his opponent in the second, although Petzschner did not go down with a fight. The world No. 41 battled back from a 0-40 deficit at 2-2, but Federer won the next two points for the break and that was all he needed. Federer fought off two break chances at 3-2 before taking his last two service games with relative ease.
The 16-time Grand Slam champion finished with six aces and one double-fault. He has not dropped a set yet this tournament, while Hewitt had not surrendered a set until beating Benjamin Becker 6-7(4), 7-6(3), 6-2 earlier on Saturday.
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Maxi Darling,
Where are you? Did you watch the match today? I want your comments.
newfangkc , 6/12/10 7:26 PM
Hi Newfangkc,
I didn't watch the match as had a problem with livestreaming - dont know why, but watched the live scores (tense in the first set), and watched the highlights later. Was really pleased that federer came through after having not played Peszchner before, I felt it took a while for him to secure a gameplan against him newfang, and peers said that he played very similarly to federer.
This is what he said after his loss to federer - (you never really get anything reported which is said "in the locker room", so this was an interesting bit).
You were serving for the first set, 5-4, maybe all that time you were thinking, I?m going to take a set away from the best player in the world. Maybe you were thinking too much? What happened?
PETZSCHNER: I don't know. I think I played a great match till that point. I had two or three bad minutes. At 5-4 I made a couple of easy mistakes. It was not that I was thinking to win the first set. That was maybe back in my mind. I just wanted to push the balls too hard, because of course I was afraid what could happen if I just push it in. So, I just wanted to try something with the balls. I did that all match long. I tried to hit, I tried to force him to make errors. It?s just a matter of time till I don't make these mistakes anymore.
This was your first experience against the big monster. How did it feel?
PETZSCHNER: It felt great. I also told him now in the locker room that it was for me a great honour playing him. Because the last couple of years when I was at the smaller tournaments I always watched him play. For me, he is the best player in the world, the most complete one. He can play on every surface. And he is a great personality. So watching him is fun and playing him is even more fun. That's why I said, I want to have a revenge, even if he's 40 and I'm 37 we still have to go out there once more, so maybe I can take a set then.
12.06.2010
maxi , 6/13/10 9:40 AM
Far from the blow-out predicted by some people beforehand, Petzy rose to the occasion magnificently and proved to be a worthy semi-finalist. It was far from the easy win which Federer, one suspects, was expecting.
ed251137 , 6/13/10 1:12 PM
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The game is beautiful as soon as Fed is challenged. And the German did challenge him hard tonight and then the best player of grass court tennis of our time showed the masterclass that he is. Never write him off as long as he wields his racket. Retrieval from hopeless situation is his ante that we saw in AO10 against Davy the assasin. A lot of people complained the toilet break then. But he did go nowhere tonight and yet survived the onslaught of the German Robot in his own backyard. That's Masterclass. Move over to SW19-2010.
newfangkc , 6/12/10 7:21 PM