Roger Federer dodges Florian Mayer to qualify for the quarters – Gerry Weber Open 2012
World number three, Roger Federer, started his grass court campaign with straight sets victory, 6-4, 7-5, over the 29th ranked German, Florian Mayer, in the second round of the Gerry Weber Open, contested in Halle on
the eve of Thursday.
Swiss Maestro smashed 11 aces and grabbed four breakpoints to end the resistance of the local hero that lasted just over an hour and 14 minutes. It was the fourth head-to-head triumph against the German for the former world number
one. Federer has never lost a match against Mayer in his professional career to date.
Both players kicked off the match with thumping serve holds. The see-saw battle continued for quite some time. The German was tested in the sixth game but saved a couple of breakpoints to hold serve. It was crucial for Mayer to
hold serve and not provide an easy opening for the Swiss superstar.
However, the deadlock was broken in the 10th game of the opening set. Federer broke serve after squandering a breakpoint earlier in the game. It was must for the 28-year-old German to hold serve in order to keep the
set alive. He failed to do so and lost the opening set; left the crowd dejected.
Both players capitalized on their serves in the first half of the second set. First six games witnessed five serve holds to love; 3:2 in favour of the Swiss. Mayer lost just one point on his serve in the second game that denied
him the hat-trick of serve holds to love against the second seed Swiss.
Just a mere test for the Swiss came in the seventh and ninth game of the set. The tables were turned upon the German in the 12th game when he lost the second breakpoint and that proved to be the final action from the
courts of Halle.
On winning the match, the Swiss legend spoke to the media representatives and stated, “I'm very happy with the way things went today. I obviously knew playing against Mayer in the first round was going to be tricky. He's in the
Top 30 and has been to the quarter-finals of Wimbledon. And I've played him here on grass before, so I know how tough he can be. But I felt I was focussed, was moving well and basically, didn't have any letdowns on my serve. I was able to create a few more
chances than he did. I'm through with my first victory on grass this year and I hope it's not my last.”
Roger Federer plays Milos Raonic in the quarters.
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