2011 Sony Ericsson Open: Roger Federer vs Olivier Rochus – Preview
World Number 3 Roger Federer improved his 2011 win record to 20 matches after defeating Juan Monaco to set up a fourth round match against Belgian tennis pro and long-time friend Olivier Rochus. Rochus himself defeated Russian
former Top Ten player Mikhail Youznhy in three sets to win his third round encounter at the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open.
This victory marked the occasion of Roger Federer’s 38th win at the Miami Masters, a tournament in which he has taken the title home twice in the past. He has only lost ten matches at Crandon Park so far. The player
encountered a few tough spots against his Argentine opponent in the previous round, before winning the match 7-6(4), 6-4. The Swiss Maestro commented on his performance, saying, “It was tough not having played him very often. This is as slow as it gets out
on the hard court. It’s a bit of clay almost except that you can’t slide. I had a return game which worked well, and was able to serve it out. So it was a good finish for me.”
Roger Federer’s next opponent is current World Number 89 Olivier Rochus, who managed to defeat Youzhny from a set down to finish the match with a score line of 1-6, 6-3, 6-3. This is the second time in a row that Rochus has managed
to score a victory over Youzhny. In his second round match prior to this encounter, the Belgian managed to undo another seeded player, Marcos Baghdatis.
Rochus has been having a good 2011 run, winning his first title of the year on the ATP Challenger Tour at Le Gosier. The Top 100 player managed to make it to the third round of last year’s Sony Ericsson Open, and has already improved
his result to a fourth round showing this year.
Federer and Rochus have played against each other seven times before this, and Rochus has never been able to manage a victory over the Swiss player. Coincidentally, their first meeting was in the second round of the same hard court
tournament six years ago at the 2005 Miami Masters. Their last encounter was two years ago, when they met in Federer’s homeland at the 2009 Basel event. Federer scored yet another straight-sets win over his opponent on this occasion.
Although it is highly unlikely, if Rochus wins this match against Federer he would proceed to his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 quarterfinal in over seven years. However, a victory against Federer will definitely not be a breeze
for the player, who has never managed to defeat the Grand Slam champion ever before.
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