Federer broke at the first time of asking against his Brazilian rival, manoeuvring the ball around the court with ease to move into a 3-0 lead. As is typical of a Federer performance, a solitary break was all he needed to close out the set, although he did have to save two break points against him as he attempted to serve it out.
Bellucci mounted a response early in the second, taking Federer to 30-30 on the Swiss's delivery, but after losing that game he struggled to make inroads throughout the rest of the set - winning five points against the serve despite Federer operating below a 50% first-serve success rate.
It went to a tiebreaker, and Bellucci stormed into a 6-2 lead to create four set points. Federer saved all four but eventually relented as the Brazilian levelled the match.
Forced to a third set, Federer came out fighting, creating a break point in Bellucci's first service game. He failed to convert on that occasion but eventually made the decisive breakthrough as Bellucci served to stay in the match.
Federer will meet the winner of Lukasz Kubot and Benoit Paire in the last eight.
Date: 24th October 2012, Source: ESPN
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