2010 BNP Paribas Masters Match Review: Roger Federer vs. Jurgen Melzer
Swiss maestro Roger Federer reached his furthest ever at the Palais Omnisports as he sailed into the semi finals after brushing aside Austrian Jurgen Melzer.
Melzer met disappointment for the second day in a row as he was forced to exit the event after losing his quarterfinal match to Federer at the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris. He met with disappointment yesterday when his hopes for a London qualification in the elite eight-men field came crashing down after Verdasco’s crucial defeat against Monfils. With no chance to play the singles in London, Melzer’s singles season officially came to an end today – a disappointing end to an otherwise superb season. Melzer ends the season with one title win at Valencia and a win-loss mark of 49-24.
Federer, on the other hand, is still going strong as he enters the semis at Bercy; an act he has never been able to achieve before. Until last year, Federer had never made it past the quarterfinals making Bercy an inconvenient stopover between a Basel title win and an appearance in the London finals. However, this time around Federer has made it clear that winning a title at Bercy is his top priority. A top seed in the event, owing to Nadal’s retirement due to an injury, Federer moves into the semi final without losing a single set.
In the pair’s third career as well as season meeting, Federer brushed aside his friend and sparring partner, Melzer with a 6-1, 7-6(4) win. The pair had met twice before, once in Wimbledon and then in the US open. Their head-to-head score after today’s match is 3-0 in Federer’s favour.
Entering the first set, Federer made it clear that he was here to stay. Finishing the first set in twenty minutes, Federer humiliated Melzer with a 6-1 win. Melzer had failed to win a game in the first five games, giving Federer the lead at 5-0. Having served seven aces and lost only three points on service, it is no wonder that the maestro won the set 6-1. Melzer tried to put up a fight in the second set taking the lead from the start, maintaining it until 6-5. However, Federer won the nineteenth game to take the set into tiebreaker. Even in the tiebreaker, Melzer tried to keep up with the maestro, staying at par at 4-4. Federer then caught a lucky break winning three consecutive points and in effect the tiebreaker. Federer served eleven aces and lost only eight points on service in the second.
Federer hit eighteen aces in a two-set match, his career high, beating his own record of seventeen aces against Cyril Saulnier in 2001.
While talking to the press, an elated Federer said, "I served well the whole match. In the second he was able play a bit more solid overall and he served a bit better. Obviously as the match goes on, he's a good player, and you get a feel for the match and start playing better. Top guys rarely just go through two sets not having a sniff at all. His sniff was in the breaker when he hit two good returns to go 2‑1 in a mini-break. That was his chance there. But I played a wonderful first set, being aggressive on the returns, serving really good - it was a perfect set. After that, I always knew it was going to be much closer because the first set wasn't really reality, was it?"
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