Roger Federer slays Richard Gasquet in the third round – Mutua Madrid Open 2012
Swiss tennis legend, Roger Federer, eased his way into the last eight, routing Richard Gasquet of France in straight sets in the round of 16 at the Mutua Madrid Open in Spain on Thursday. It took the 16-time Grand Slam champion
just 58 minutes to topple Gasquet 6-3, 6-2.
Federer and Gasquet did not lose their serve in the first three games, taking the score to 2-1 in favour of the former. The Swiss clinched breakthrough in the fourth and consolidated on it, gaining a 4-1 lead. Federer made the
most of this single strike and served out the set at 5-3.
The former world number one served tremendously well, banging in three aces and 70 percent of the first deliveries. Federer succeeded in converting 16 of the 19 first and five of the eight second serves into points. The Swiss evaded
the only break threat he came across and availed the one chance he received in the opener.
Federer started ideally in the second set, losing just two points in the first two games to move ahead 2-0. The Swiss Maestro kept on dominating the contest, snatching another break in the fifth and holding his following serve
to increase his lead to 5-1. Gasquet managed to claim one more game but that was it, as Federer closed it at 6-2.
The Swiss star took his serve performance even above than the previous set’s level, bombarding seven aces on his opponent and not committing even a single double fault. He maintained a first serve percentage of 70 and grabbed 17
of the 19 points on them. In comparison, Gasquet hit just two aces and 61 percent of the first deliveries.
Talking to the reporters, a satisfied Federer said, "I did well today, playing clean tennis. Maybe I had some unforced errors when I went for shots, but the ball flies here. I served well when I had to and played well on big points.”
The Swiss Maestro has a chance to overtake Nadal for the second stop in the ATP Rankings if he wins this tournament, as the Spaniard lost his third round encounter against Fernando Verdasco.
Speaking on Nadal’s loss, Federer said, "It was a surprising loss for Rafa. But Verdasco is a quality player who should have maybe beaten Nadal in the past. Down two breaks in a match on clay you don't expect a guy to come back.
But the tournament goes on without Rafa.”
The third seed, Federer, will take on home favourite, David Ferrer, in the quarter-final.
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