Roger Federer strains past Ivo Karlovic to make a berth in fourth round – Australian Open 2012
Swiss maestro, Roger Federer, had to strain a bit harder than expected to overcome the world number 57, Ivo Karlovic of Croatia, in the third round battle of the Australian Open on Friday afternoon. The third ranked Swiss fought
for two hours and 17 minutes before he finally wrapped up victory in straight sets, 7-6(6), 7-5, 6-3, to advance to the round of 16 at the Grand Slam of Asia Pacific.
It was a very close contest in the early parts of the match but Federer gradually built up pace to get the upper hand of his opponent later. The third seed was stretched to his limits in the opening set but it was his tons of experience
which prevailed in the intense pressure situations of the game. Federer pocketed the hard-fought opener and kept his winning ways in the following two sets as well to register an emphatic victory in the end.
Karlovic posed some serious resistance in the opening set and held his serve throughout to keep neck-to-neck with the world number three. None of the players could break their opponent’s serve and a tie-breaker round came into
play at 6-6. Intense tennis was witnessed in the decider and scores got levelled at 5-5. With Federer hitting a backhand return long of the baseline, Karlovic earned his first set point of the match at 6-5. A dramatic turnaround was seen from the Swiss maestro,
who nailed two consecutive mini-breaks to reel off three points, closing out the first set at 7-6(6).
Despite of a dejecting opening set loss, Karlovic carried on his consistency in the following set. He was trailing 5-6 when Federer stung the all-crucial break point to seal the second set at 7-5, getting 2-0 in the competition.
The Croat competitor lost his steam in the third set and could never recover after dropping his serve in the fourth game. The world number three held his lead till the end and closed out the contest at 6-3, marching in the fourth
round of the tournament. He will either take on the world number seven, Tomas Berdych or the 30th seed Kevin Anderson in the next clash.
Tags: