By Richard Pagliaro | Thursday, February 28, 2019
Roger Federer saved two set points in the tie breaker subduing Marton Fucsovics, 7-6 (6), 6-4, advancing to his 11th Dubai semifinal.
Photo credit: Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships
Tested by a red-hot opponent, a tense tie breaker, tricky wind and spitting showers, Roger Federer showed he's still a master of multi-tasking.
Federer fought off two set points in the first set tie breaker subduing a stubborn Marton Fucsovics, 7-6 (6), 6-4, to streak into his 11th Dubai semifinal.
Watch: Kyrgios Edges Nadal in Acapulco Thriller
Continuing his quest for his 100th career championship, Federer will face sixth-seeded Borna Coric for a spot in Saturday's final. Coric edged hard-hitting Nikoloz Basilashvili, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (1).
The 20-time Grand Slam king is aiming to join Jimmy Connors (109 titles) as the second man in ATP history to reach the 100-title mark.
Today's quarterfinal was a fierce and sometimes frustrating battle for Federer, who battled the breeze committing 17 of his 34 unforced errors from his usual rock-solid forehand, was so frustrated at one point he was hit with a rare audible obscenity in the seventh game of the second set and dropped nine consecutive points during a Fucsovics second-set surge.
Still, after a second rain delay, Federer snatches his second break then rallied from love-30 down to serve it out in one hour 56 minutes improving to 11-0 in Dubai quarterfinals.
“It’s tricky to come back and just hit winners after that," Federer said of resuming after the rain. "Sometimes it’s a disadvantage. Sometimes it was an advantage. We made the most of it.
“The tie-breaker was tough. I’m happy I found a way to get out of that one. That was an exciting match, to say the least."
The emerald-clad Fucsovics won the toss, elected to receive and earned break point in the opening game. Federer flashed a slice serve down the T to deny it navigating a four-minute hold.
The fact Fucsovics and Federer have practiced together in Zurich and already faced off at the 2018 Australian Open helped the Hungarian, who looked comfortable at the outset again stressing the Swiss' serve at 15-30 in the third game.
A slick backhand half-volley helped Federer quiet the threat.
On a gusty evening, the seven time champion hit 14 errors—double his opponent's output—though the first six games. Federer began to really find his range holding with an angled dropper that set up a backhand drive for 4-3.
Spitting showers began as Fucsovics held to level after the 10th game. Then the rain intensified and both players left the court after 39 minutes of play.
When play resumed minutes later, Federer hit a double fault to go down lov-30. Fast hands helped Federer reflex a forehand volley on a rapid-fire net exchanges and he held with a smash for 6-5.
A rollercoaster tie breaker saw Federer earn the early mini-break for 2-0 before Fucsovics won three straight points for 5-3.
Attacking the Swiss' backhand, Fucsovics drew an errant pass for two set points at 6-4. A chip backhand down the line denied the first set point, Federer saved the second bending a forehand down the line and snapping a smash.
In a bit of bad luck, Fucsovics popped a string on his first serve, had to switch racquets then pasted a forehand into net as Federer fought through a tense tie break to take a one-set lead after one hour without a single break point.
Five minutes after fighting off set points, Federer fired a forehand for a break point and opened the second set with the break as the Hungarian sprayed a shot.
Fucsovics answered back with an authoritative nine-point run breaking back and holding for 3-2.
By then, the world No. 35 was getting the best of the Swiss in baseline rallies. Elevating his level of play Federer fought off a break point holding for 4-all.
The ninth game escalated into the longest of the match as Fucsovics fended off a pair of break points then saved a third with a smooth drop volley. The drama escalated before another rain shower forced a pause in play at the one hour, 41-minute mark.
Play resumed after about a six-minute delay with Federer snatching a fourth break point only to see an attacking Fucsovics save it. On his fifth break point, Federer finally sealed the key break for 5-4.
The seven-time champion recovered from love-30 down to seal it, raising his Dubai record to 51-6 as he moves to within two wins of a milestone title.
"At the end of the day, I think it’s all about trying to put yourself in the best position time and time again, sort of push luck on your side," Federer said. "Some days you get it, some days you don’t.
“I do believe the better player wins, but not always. You have to battle hard because the margins are extremely slim in the game nowadays."
Stefanos Tsitsipas blew through the final set of a 7-6 (4), 6-7 (1), 6-1 triumph over Polish No. 1 Hubert Hurkacz, who was contesting his first Tour-level semifinal after toppling top-seeded Kei Nishikori yesterday.
The Marseille champion scored his seventh straight win to reach his third semifinal of the season.
Tsitsipas squandered a one-set, 5-3 lead dropping the second set before successfully rebooting the mission.
"That was frustrating,” said Tsitsipas. “But if I would think about it too much, it would cost me the match. I rebooted myself, came in refreshed. I said, I’m going to stay another two hours here, but it didn’t happen.”
The Australian Open semifinalist stormed through the third set to set up a semifinal vs. Gael Monfils.
“I might say that his serve dropped, first-serve percentages, giving me the opportunity and possibility to be more aggressive and start the rallies,” said Tsitsipas of his final-set charge. “I was serving a bit better, maybe opening the court, making like less mistakes, being aggressive.
"When I broke him first time, I showed him that I’m still in the match. I guess that kind of mentally, he saw the dominance of his opponent. Yeah, that affected him probably. That’s how I felt.”
Rotterdam champion Monfils stretched his winning streak to eight matches with a 6-1, 6-7 (3), 6-2 victory over Ricardas Berankis, denying his bid to become the first qualifier in the tournament's 27-year history to reach the final four.
Monfils moved into his third semifinal of the season as he hunts for his ninth career championship.