Roger Federer defeats Taylor Dent
This Thursday, Swiss professional tennis player Roger Federer defeated United States player Taylor Dent, in his 900th match played on the ATP Tour circuit. The Maestro received a bye in the first round of the hard court
event, moving him into the second round against Dent.
He scored his 727th victory on the Tour against the American player, moving ahead to the quarter finals of the Stockholm Open.
Roger Federer reached Stockholm after an exhausting defeat to Britain’s Number 1 and World Number 4, Scottish Andy Murray, in a straight sets loss at the 2010 Shanghai Rolex Masters. The World Number 1 arrived in Stockholm after
the loss, “energized, fresh and motivated and ready to go”.
He seemed positive and upbeat after the Shanghai event, saying in a press conference, “Actually I’m not jetlagged. I went to bed at midnight and woke up at 10 which is perfect. It wasn’t very tiring in Shanghai, and the only tough
match I played was against Djokovic in the semis. I have a Thursday start here, and I’m very confident that I will be in perfect shape”.
Roger Federer defeated Taylor Dent, who had beaten Michal Przysiezny of Poland to get to the second round of the event. The 29 year old shattered the American player’s performance in two sets, winning the match 6-1, 6-2 in only
51 minutes. This was his first match of the tournament after a decade. He explains the long absence by saying, “I was supposed to come here two years ago, but I had a really bad back.”
It took the Swiss player barely 17 minutes to conquer his opponent in the first set. The 16-time Grand Slam victor also managed to break Dent twice, and although the younger player put in more of an effort in the next set, winning
two games against Federer, the Maestro upped his own play to win the match.
His best shot during the match was a backhand pass played in the second set, while he finished the match with a graceful drop shot. He also seemed very pleased with his own performance, stopping to talk to reporters to analyze
the match, and commenting, “That was a good night of tennis for me. Hardly any stupid mistakes, stay on the offensive, and tried out a few things. Also tried to throw in some serve and volley as the lead got bigger and bigger”.
He also seemed happy about the milestone covered by his 900th match, saying, “When I look back in '98, I played my first one, 900 matches later it's quite crazy. But I've done so well. I've got a great win-loss record.
I couldn't ask for a better career". When asked about whether he felt he could achieve another such milestone, he said, “I think 1,000 should be rather easy, to be honest. We play over 50 a year, so that should be done in a couple of years”.
In the quarter finals of the Stockholm Open, Federer is slated to meet compatriot Stanislas "The Manislas" Wawrinka, with whom he has also played doubles.
Tags: