Roger Federer outlasts Stanislas Wawrinka in the third round – Shanghai Rolex Masters 2012
World number one, Roger Federer of Switzerland, confirmed that he would remain on the top of the world rankings for the 300th week by beating his countryman, Stanislas Wawrinka, in the third round of the Shanghai Rolex
Masters on Thursday.
The Swiss number one came back from the brink of defeat to topple his country’s second bests player. The 31-year-old lost the opener and clinched the second one with the closest of margins, before completely dominating the decider
to seal the match 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-0.
Federer and Wawrinka did not allow each other to break serve in the first half of the opener, levelling the score at 3-3. The 27-year-old grabbed a breakthrough in the seventh game and won his next serve to attain a 5-3 lead. The
Swiss number two made sure that Federer could not bounce back, as he dropped just two points in the 10th one to close it 6-4.
In the second set, Federer struck in the fourth game to move ahead 3-1 but Wawrinka came back in style to even out the proceedings at 3-3. The subsequent six went with serves, taking the score to 6-6 and forcing a tie-breaker.
Federer allowed his opponent to claim just four points afterwards, winning it 7-6(4).
The Swiss Maestro took his game to next level after winning a close second set. The 17-time Grand Slam champion played flawlessly, winning six back to back and triumphing 6-0.
It took Federer one hour and 56 minutes to clinch this hard fought win over his Davis Cup team mate, Olympics doubles partner and a very close friend.
The Swiss star said after the match, “I consider myself a little lucky. I never stopped believing, pushed till the end, then got off to a good start in the third set. Basically that was it. It was a tough match. He was the better
player for basically two sets. It's great finding a way out that way, that's for sure.”
On being world number one for 300 weeks, the 31-year-old added, “I never thought of something like this when I was a little kid, that's for sure. I was just hoping one day my dream was going to come true to play on the regular
tour, play Wimbledon, maybe become World No. 1 at some stage. So here I am at 300 weeks.”
Federer will meet the 10th seed, Marin Cilic of Croatia, in the quarter-finals.
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