Five-time Dubai titlist Roger Federer avoided an early upset at this week’s ATP 500 hardcourt event after bouncing back from a 0-2 deficit in the third set and outlasting Radek Stepanek of Czech Republic 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-3 in two hours and nine minutes. The Swiss star is through to the quarterfinals.
“I started to understand what I was doing wrong,” said Federer. “Which made me maybe play a little bit tentatively from the baseline, what made me not make enough shots [and] why I wasn’t playing as aggressively as I wanted to. I couldn’t find the right balance between offence and defence.
“It was almost a bit too late for everything, but I kind of hung around and I took the positives out of the match. Radek did a good job of putting the pressure on me and mixing it up. From that standpoint, it was a really difficult match. I’m very pleased to come through.”
Federer seemed headed for a routine victory after sealing the first set in 33 minutes. However, Stepanek raised his game in the second set tiebreak to force a decider. The momentum carried on in the first part of the third set when the Czech was just a few points away from a 3-0 but Federer found his rhythm back and won five games in a row to face Lukas Rosol, another Czech player, in the quarterfinals.
Federer could potentially meet Novak Djokovic in the semifinals on Friday.
