Roger Federer held off some of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga's best hitting to reach his 17th Noventi Open quarter-final on Thursday and keep alive his hopes for a record-extending 10th title in Halle. Federer advanced past Tsonga 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-5 in another high-octane contest between the two veterans who both hit their full strides at times inside Gerry Weber Stadion.
“I had a bit of everything, happiness, sadness, frustration,” Federer said. “At the end I got very close and maybe also a little lucky. You have to be. Because at 5-all in the third on grass, on a court like this, against Jo Willi, you’re not really controlling things anymore. It was close but the crowd was fantastic. Obviously it was a great emotion at the end, which was nice.”
“I had a bit of everything, happiness, sadness, frustration,” Federer said. “At the end I got very close and maybe also a little lucky. You have to be. Because at 5-all in the third on grass, on a court like this, against Jo Willi, you’re not really controlling things anymore. It was close but the crowd was fantastic. Obviously it was a great emotion at the end, which was nice.”
Tsonga had beaten Federer during their only prior grass-court meeting, coming back from two sets down in the 2011 Wimbledon
quarter-finals. But the Swiss started well and looked to be en route to
another straight-sets win in Germany after he converted his third set
point in the opener and broke to start the second.
The top seed ran around a Tsonga second serve and
belted an inside-in forehand winner down the line to gain the set and
break lead. He was at his aggressive best all match, coming forward
often and ending the point with swinging volleys. Federer won 16 of his
27 trips to the net (59%).
But Tsonga found his characteristic big groundstrokes in time to break in the sixth and 10th games of the second set, punishing forehands that Federer couldn't handle at net. The two were on serve until the 11th
game of the deciding set, when Federer, as the fans screamed for the
nine-time champion, raised his level to break once more. He ended their
18th contest with his seventh ace.
“Jo was able to pick up his game and do better especially on the return,” Federer said. “I thought it was tough but for me, the key was clearly to stay positive because I wasn't down in the score, it was just only even at one-set all, and I fought as much as I could and tried to stay with him because he really was able to pick up his game.
“I always knew it was going to be tight because he has got a great first serve. He's got all the chances to hit great forehands. He remains dangerous throughout, and I knew obviously once I gave away that lead things will get very, very tight and they did. It was a great match, great atmosphere. I really enjoyed it.”
Federer now leads their ATP Head to Head series 12-6.
“Jo was able to pick up his game and do better especially on the return,” Federer said. “I thought it was tough but for me, the key was clearly to stay positive because I wasn't down in the score, it was just only even at one-set all, and I fought as much as I could and tried to stay with him because he really was able to pick up his game.
“I always knew it was going to be tight because he has got a great first serve. He's got all the chances to hit great forehands. He remains dangerous throughout, and I knew obviously once I gave away that lead things will get very, very tight and they did. It was a great match, great atmosphere. I really enjoyed it.”
Federer now leads their ATP Head to Head series 12-6.
The Swiss will next meet Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut, who beat two-time Wimbledon semi-finalist (2007, 2015) Richard Gasquet of France 6-1, 6-4. Federer is 8-0 against Bautista Agut, which includes a straight-sets win at 2015 Wimbledon, their only grass-court encounter. Bautista Agut has won only one of their 19 sets.
“Roberto wins his points differently than Jo does. Jo does it with the serve and forehand and the power and the variety and his explosiveness, whereas Roberto does it through just doing the same thing in repetition, and he's also got a great forehand like Jo has,” Federer said.
“From my side, I might have more play from the baseline, but then again we might be in more rallies on my serve, too. I'm looking forward to it. I have a good head-to-head against him and I’ve beaten him at Wimbledon once on the grass before. I hope that's going to give me some confidence.”
“Roberto wins his points differently than Jo does. Jo does it with the serve and forehand and the power and the variety and his explosiveness, whereas Roberto does it through just doing the same thing in repetition, and he's also got a great forehand like Jo has,” Federer said.
“From my side, I might have more play from the baseline, but then again we might be in more rallies on my serve, too. I'm looking forward to it. I have a good head-to-head against him and I’ve beaten him at Wimbledon once on the grass before. I hope that's going to give me some confidence.”
Date: 20 June 2019, Source: ATP
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