Federer, Serena Breeze On The European Clay; Fognini v Haas Friday In Hamburg
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:
Went to see a 3D movie, man there was a lot of steel! pic.twitter.com/1aAWGeMc4w
— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) July 18, 2013
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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