Cincinnati, August 21: Roger Federer dropped only his second career set to Spain’s David Ferrer before fighting back Thursday for a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory into the quarter-finals of the Cincinnati Masters.
The victory in one hour, 42 minutes, puts Federer into a match against the winner between American Sam Querrey and two-time finalist Lleyton Hewitt of Australia.
“I’m happy with how I played,” said 15-time Grand Slam champion Federer.
“It was tough. Conditions were tricky. David didn’t make many mistakes. This was one of those matches I had to win. I played well at the end to come through.”
Third seed Andy Murray should have the fitness advantage in his quarter-final with Julien Benneteau after a quick 6-4, 6-1 defeat of Czech Radek Stepanek.
Benneteau, a lucky loser from qualifying, needed to go more than three hours to overcome Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4).
Murray is aiming for his third North American Masters title this season after winning Miami in the spring and Montreal last weekend.
“I’ve played well the whole time in the States this year,” he said. “Today conditions were very tough.”
Federer’s win took the record of the double Cincinnati champion to 44-7 on the season.
“This win today was perfect,” said Federer. “It gives me another opportunity to play another match. I’m further into the tournament, which then normally makes me play better. I’m excited about tomorrow.”
The pair took to the hard court in hot, windy conditions after morning rainstorms, with Ferrer getting the early jump on the world number one.
Federer’s 8-0 record in the series counted for little in the first set, with Ferrer recovering from an opening-set break and re-breaking the Swiss superstar for 5-3.
The Spaniard closed out the set as Federer produced 16 unforced errors, a display that was quickly corrected as the top seed won the second set to level and recovered from a break down with an immediate break-back in the third before finally advancing on the first of three match points.
–IANS–