Roger Federer edges past Juan Monaco at Sony Ericsson Open
World number three Swiss Roger Federer overpowered world number 35 Argentine Juan Monaco after a tough first set on Monday. Federer registered a 7-6(4), 6-4 win over the Argentinean to advance to the fourth round at the Tennis
Center at Crandon Park in Miami.
Former world number one is in great form this season as he won the title at Qatar and made a semi-final berth at the Australian Open and Indian Wells. He entered this tournament in full confidence and overwhelmed Czech Radek Stepanek
in straight sets in his opening match in the second round.
The 3rd seeded Swiss is eyeing for a third title here in Miami after improving his winning record for the season by 20-3.
The Swiss displayed awe-inspiring performance in the match. In the opening set, he earned an early break to take a 2-0 lead over the 27-year-old Monaco. However, in the next game Federer failed to save the breakpoint and lost his
serve. After this, he held his entire serves and took the set to a brutal tiebreaker where he prevailed and clinched the set with a 7-6(4) win.
In this set, the 29-year-old squandered his early lead and had a poor first serve share of 45 percent as compared to Monaco’s 63 percent. Though he found seven breakpoint opportunities, he could only convert one to his advantage
and saved only a single breakpoint. However, he re-focused himself in the tiebreaker and moved into the second set, full of confidence.
The Swiss Maestro carried his winning ways into the final set and held his opening serve plausibly. He converted a breakpoint opportunity in the ninth game to his advantage which led him to win the set, 6-4.
Talking to the press after the match, the Swiss said, “I thought he played well in the later stages of the first set and then also in the second. I had a return game which worked well, and was able to serve it out. So it was a
good finish for me.”
Federer had a close match against the Argentine. He edged past Monaco by smacking three aces and hammering 32 winners.
Monaco on the other hand had a higher first serve share of 63 percent as opposed to Swiss’ 50 percent in the match and saved seven breakpoints. However, he only found two breakpoint opportunities and managed to convert only one
to his advantage.
After defeating Monaco on clay courts at Hamburg in 2007 in three sets, Federer improved his game-play as he managed a straight sets victory this time around. He has now extended his lead in their head-to-head series by 2-0.
Federer will next face his long time friend, Belgian qualifier Olivier Rochus. Rochus upset 13th seeded Mikhail Youzhny in a three set thriller to reach this spot.
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