Roger Federer overcomes Andreas Seppi to confirm a semi-final berth – Qatar Open 2011
Former world number one, Switzerland’s Roger Federer, had a bit rough ride against the eighth seeded Italian, Andreas Seppi, in his quarter-final clash of the ExxonMobil Qatar Open on Thursday. The defending champion took one hour
and thirty eight minutes of play before he eventually hunted down Seppi in the third set, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, to register his third victory of the 2012 ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) season in Doha, Qatar.
The Swiss maestro was off to his usual belligerent start in the opening set but tend to lose steam in the later parts of the second set, letting an opening for the eighth seed Italian to bounce back at him. Federer dropped the
second set but made a tremendous recovery in the final set to drive Seppi out of the competition in a commanding fashion and booked a place in the final-four of the ATP World Tour 250 event.
“I thought he was a better player in the second set and deserved that set," stated Federer. "Then the third set was close. I had my chances; he had his chances. I was able to take mine, but at the end, that was the small difference
today.”
The mighty Swiss banged in 12 thudding aces to his opponent’s court and clinched 47 out of 66 first serve points in the matchup en route to victory. Both contestants crafted a total of nine break opportunities in the match, with
Seppi converting four and Federer stinging just one additional to his to come out as the winner in the end.
Federer kept his unbeaten-record against Seppi, nailing his eighth triumph against the 38th ranked Italian to lead 8-0 in the all-time head-to-head series. Federer claimed the opening set with two cracking serve breaks
and it was anticipated that the defending champion will close out the contest with a straight sets victory in the second set but Seppi stunned everyone with his three breaks of serve to take the second set 7-5. The second seed Federer, however, regained control
over the game in the final set and one break point conversion in the third game proved sufficient for him to bag victory at 6-4, moving into the semi-final round of the contest to face the world number six, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France.
“We've played very often, and now there's no more such secrets out there, especially having played three straight times basically at the end of [last[ season," said Federer. "It's going to be pretty much straightforward for both
of us, and I hope we can live up to the expectations and show a good match to the fans.”
Federer is riding a 20 match winning streak at the present and has taken down Tsonga in their last four meetings to lead 8-3 in the head-to-head record against the French.
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