Federer Meets Cuevas In Istanbul Final; Murray Seeks First Career Clay Title In Munich
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Roger Federer hasn’t been his best but he’s been good enough, reaching the Istanbul final this week after a second straight 3-set win.
The Swiss went three Friday against Daniel Gimeno-Traver and today Federer dropped the opening set before rallying to beat Diego Schwartzman 2-6, 6-2, 7-5. Federer, is seeking his first clay title since 2012 Madrid, and his first on red clay this decade!
“I think what was important in the third set was to keep working hard,” said Federer. “I needed to put in a lot of effort to stay with Diego.”
In the final, Federer will face Pablo Cuevas who ousted second seed Grigor Dimitrov 6-2, 6-4. The 29-year-old Uruguayan has just one career Top 10 win but is a perfect 3-0 in ATP finals in his career.
“Cuevas is playing very, very well,” Federer said. “I think it’s going to be a tough match. Cuevas has obviously played a lot on clay.”
In rainy Munich, Andy Murray won two matches today, beating Lukas Rosol in a contentious 3-set quarterfinal then taking down Roberto Bautista Agut.
“It was a tough, long day,” said Murray. “The first match was tough and in the second one there were some long rallies but I managed to serve quite well. Winning matches helps on any surface in building confidence and this was my first week of play since (Roland Garros) last year. It’s been 11 months since I’ve played on the surface. With each match I’ll feel a little more comfortable. Tomorrow will be a tough one. Hopefully we can both recover well and play a good match.”
Murray will face German favorite Philipp Kohlschreiber in the final. Murray is appearing in his first career clay final.
“The last matches we played were always pretty good and competitive,” said Kohlschreiber who is 1-2 vs Murray. “I think I’m on the right track. He’s No. 3 in the world and a great champion. He’s the favourite. I have the home crowd and my surroundings. I’m going to need a pretty good day to beat him.”
And in Estoril, Nick Kyrgios advanced this his first career ATP final turning away Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta 5-7, 7-6(2), 6-3.
“I’m very excited to play in my first final,” said Kyrgios. “I thought I served well the whole match and got some chances on his serve. I kept pushing after losing the first set and I thought I hung in well.”
Kyrgios will meet Richard Gasquet in the final. Gasquet ended the run of Bucharest champion Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, beating the Spaniard in a final set breaker. Kyrgios saved nine matchpoints in a win over the Frenchman last summer at Wimbledon.
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