Federer, Serena Breeze On The European Clay; Fognini v Haas Friday In Hamburg

by Staff | July 19th, 2013, 12:05 am
  • 30 Comments

Tennis greats Roger Federer and Serena Williams both posted comfortable wins Thursday on the European clay. And so far their decision to shun the hardcourts is looking good.

Federer made it 2-for-2 with his new larger 98-inch racquet, besting qualifier Jan Hajek 6-4, 6-3 to advance to the quarterfinals in Hamburg. It’s still a learning process for the Swiss who is using the bigger frame for the first time this week.

“I’m just still looking for the timing and the rhythm here, but the longer I stay in the tournament, the more confident I am that I’m going to play better and better as the tournament goes on,” Federer said.


“I guess it’s to a degree some more getting use to, just to see how it reacts on every single shot,” he added. “Clearly it reacts better to some shots. But it’s important not to think of it the whole time, not to talk about it all the time, but more just sort of go with it, fight for every point, have the right mindset, be optimistic about playing here now and wanting to achieve a good result and that’s what I’m doing.”

After the win, Federer went to see a different kind of Superman:

Federer now faces German Florian Mayer Friday.

Mayer won’t be alone in representing his home country tomorrow. Tommy Haas, a 6-2, 6-4 winner over Carlos Berlocq, will also be in action against the hot-handed Fabio Fognini. The Italian has won his last seven matches including the Stuttgart title Sunday.

Fernando Verdasco also got through when his opponent, the hulking Jerzy Janowicz, retired with a right arm injury. The Spaniard meets Federico Delbonis. In the other quarter, Juan Monaco faces Nicolas Almagro.

At the WTA stop in Bastad, Sweden, Serena stayed perfect in her first trip to the city dispatching of Anna Tatishvili 6-2, 6-3. The French Open champion in now 25-0 this year on clay!

“I’ve had a lot of time here but I’ve actually been spending a lot of time in the room, just staying focused on the event,” Serena said. “My main goal is to do well here. I love this city, but I really love the fans, and I feel like I want to do the best that I can here. I’m staying really focused, Grand Slam style.

“You never want to go to a tournament and not win, or at least not perform your best. I don’t know if I’ll end up winning the tournament this week, but I want to play some of my best tennis here.”

With the upset to second-seeded Simona Halep today by Flavia Pennetta, Serena is the only Top 40 player left in the draw. Tomorrow she’ll meet Spanish veteran Lourdes Dominguez Lino.


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30 Comments for Federer, Serena Breeze On The European Clay; Fognini v Haas Friday In Hamburg

Tennis x hippy chic Says:

Wow Roger looks Hot in that picture above,veeery sexy,anyway he appears to have put the dissapointment of wimbledon firmly behind him,playing some great tennis,amazing that he still has that desire and hunger for the game after all these years,he has nothing left to prove so simply carries on for the love of the game.


madmax Says:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1222w3_federer-congratulates-murray_sport

alison, really nice for Fed to congratulate Murray on his win at wimbledon. It’s such an iconic, the best slam to win, and I love the fact that Roger’s comments on Andy, can (hopefully) be put to bed. There may be a rivalry, but I feel he is genuinely happy for him to have won his second slam at wimbledon, after all the pressure.

Interesting times with Fed and the new racquet. Have been watching him play at Hamburg, and he is really testing out those shots, but I am liking what I am seeing, yes, more errors, but that is to be expected. I am trying to think how long it was that Novak got used to his racquet…was it 12 months.

Roger is taking a risk taking a racquet change so soon before the hard court swing and final slam this year, but I think it is a risk worth taking. I wish him luck.


Tennis x hippy chic Says:

Madmax Roger and Rafa both sent congratulation messages to Andy,IMO its fantastic that the top 4 players have all won at Wimbledon,the GS holy grail of tennis,i hope they can all finish the year strongly with no more dramas.


Tennis x hippy chic Says:

Haas V Fognini would love to watch this match,if only for the eye candy.


RZ Says:

^ LOL, too true!


RZ Says:

Haas is so close to breaking into the top 10. Would love to see him win here (even if it means beating Roger and his new racquet) for that to happen. It would be amazing for him to re-enter the top 10 as a 35 year-old.


AD Tennis Says:

It is very inspiring to see Federer, Haas and Serena defy Father Time.

I believe Federer has 1 more Wimbledon or USopen left in him. Serena, I will not be surprised even if she breaks Graf’s slam record. There is a good chance, Serena is already planning on that. What she did at French Open was legendary.


Colin Says:

@ Tennix x hippy chic –

“Roger has nothing left to prove”?
Not true, and I think he’d say the same. Each time he goes on court, he needs to prove that he is better than that particular opponent, on that particular day.
If he loses, are the tennis authorities going to step in and say “The other guy outscored you but, on account of how great you used to be, we are awarding the match to you”?


Kimmi Says:

The net game of Mayer is troubling fed in the second set. Mayer takes his opportunities, fed doesn’t.


ertorque Says:

3 game points and Fed squandered it?
Disappointing to see him play like that.


ertorque Says:

Too many UEs from Fed! Haas is more consistent with the single backhand against Fognini.


Green900 Says:

Shit looking like federer will lose :(
WTF


Josh39485 Says:

He won a really big point there :)

Can he actually hold serve though? He’s been poor at doing that since the 1st set for some weird reason.


Alex Says:

Omg….

Even Feds Camp is getting fired up!

He needs the practice, specially with the new racquet.

Go Fed, Match Point…Yes!


green900 Says:

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS


Josh39485 Says:

Done it! Done it the hard way – Federer found the magic when he needed it most, but his consistency needs to improve a lot. What on earth was that lapse in the second set about?
And why did he suddenly put on a jumper and then remove it shortly afterwards?


Kimmi Says:

Tough but fought through!!


Jatin Says:

Amazing match
I am just amazed to see the control and power of this new racket.His backhands and new racket .The combination is just perfect

I really want him to meet rafa now with this racket and control.
Nadal’s bread n butter shot of his forehand targeting Fed’s backhand won’t come with the same effect..
Federer has a more solid and consistent backhand now to mitigate the vicious spin on Nadal’s forehand!
Exciting times ahead!


the DA Says:

What a weird match. An ugly win, but it’s a win. It’s a good thing he has Gstaad booked so he has more time to iron out these wrinkles.


Eric Says:

Is the time it takes to play a set “shortly,” Josh…?

Anyway, awful play from Roger in 75% of the games, fantastic in the other 25%. Florian quite good throughout. Rather unlucky not to have to won, in straight sets even (certainly he looked better than Roger in the first set). Second set: Federer meltdown after squandering 2 or 3 bps in game 2? Weird. (Or maybe not that weird.)

Anyway, good to see him advancing — he needs all the practice he can get before the real tests begin.


Jatin Says:

@Eric
With more practice with new racket ,i think roger will surprise us all .His backhands looked far better with this racket and yes the control


Josh39485 Says:

@ Jatin

I don’t think he’s ready to face Rafa yet, at least not for the next 2-3 weeks. His consistency and concentration during matches still need to improve, and then we could see what happens :)


Josh39485 Says:

@Eric Oh, was it on for the entirety of the 2nd set? Missed the first 4 games or so


Tennis x hippy chic Says:

Colin Roger has achieved everything there is to achieve in tennis,whatever he does now is gravy, he plays for the love and desire of the game,and of course he has that competitive instinct and drive to succeed and win otherwise he wouldnt be still playing is what i meant,and i say this even though i like him,and like to watch him,hes not even my favorite player.


James Says:

“I really want him to meet rafa now with this racket and control.”

Playing like this, he will lose badly against Rafa. Roger’s not yet ready to face the top players with the new racquet. He won a tough match against a player he should have beaten fairly easily. The new racquet’s added more power to his BH and serve. But more power also means a littles less control, less accuracy.

Also if Roger has a problem with Rafa’s heavy top spin, no racquet is going to help him deal with it. The magic is in the hand that wields the racquet, not in the racquet. Roger needs more match practice to start feeling comfortable with the new racquet. Hopefully by the time he gets to Montreal, he’ll have much better control with the new one.


Hawkeye Says:

If he plays Rafa, he should wear his sweater vest.


harry Says:

A 2011 article… still an interesting one on the rackets of Nole, Fed, and Rafa:

http://tinyurl.com/kqybfta


James Says:

Roger believes that he’s still good enough to win tournaments. And he is. I have no doubt about it. I don’t think he’s still playing just to enjoy the game. I don’t think he’ll continue playing once he believes and accepts that he is no longer good enough to win Slams and Masters. He is a proud man, someone who dominated the tennis world for years. He is not a Haas or Hewitt. He isn’t gonna be around just to enjoy the game and be a punching bag of the top players.


James Says:

Sorry no offense intended Haas and Hewitt. But these two imo are playing for the love and desire of the game, and don’t hurt them much if they lose to the top players. I doubt it’s the same with Fed.


Nirmal Kumar Says:

Anyone thinking Roger’s new racquet is a magic wand, need to hold on. It’s not going to change much with his results.

Just last year, same time with the old racquet, Roger got back to No 1. So the results of this year has nothing to do with the racquets, but just on his mind. He needs to get that corrected.

We should understand after stressing so much last year to get back to No 1, Roger has all the rights to take it easy for one year. That’s what I believe. If things go bad next year, then it would be time to panic. If Roger starts winning again, I’m sure the new racquet has a very small role in it, nothing outrageous. He is still Roger Federer and that’s why he would be winning tournaments.

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