Roger Federer plonks Thomaz Bellucci to reach the quarter-finals – BNP Paribas Open 2012
World number three, Roger Federer, of Switzerland came back from being a set down in the contest to overcome the Brazilian number one, Thomaz Bellucci, in the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open on Wednesday. The Swiss Maestro
battled hard for one hour and 40 minutes to hunt down the belligerent Brazilian, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, marching into the quarter-final round of the season’s first ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Masters 1000 event.
Eyeing for his fourth championship title in Indian Wells, Federer has been in supreme form throughout the star-studded tournament. He had a rough ride against the booming Canadian opponent. Milos Raonic, in the third round draw
but overcame his resistance in the last two sets to carry on his voyage in the mega event. His fourth round encounter against Bellucci took off in the similar fashion, as the third seed Swiss dropped the opener to face an early set back in the match. However,
it was sheer class and mastery of the Swiss genius which outshined his unseeded opponent in the later parts of the match.
As always, Federer’s serve proved to be his critical success factor in the competition. The Swiss Maestro delivered 67 per cent of his first serve on target, banging in eight aces and amazingly winning 40 out of 49 points on it
to root out 50th ranked Bellucci from the contest. He suffered two serve breaks in the opening set to fall 0-1 in the match but came back very strongly in the next two sets, breaking the Brazilian serve three out of seven times to conclude victory.
"I really struggled to make the transition [from yesterday's match]. I was quite surprised, but at the end I found a way, dug deep and came through," said Federer in his post match reviews, "It's really important. At the end of
the day, these are the wins that sort of almost feel better, to be quite honest, because when you're playing great, it's simple, and it's easy."
Federer will play the quarter-final round of the BNP Paribas Open against the winner of the clash between Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan and the world number nine, Juan Martin Del Potro, of Argentina.
Tags: