Halle Westfalen (Germany): Roger Federer admitted that he got lucky after avoiding a major setback in his preparations for Wimbledon in a grueling 7-6 (7/5), 4-6, 7-5 victory over Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the ATP event in Halle on Thursday. Federer, 37, appeared firmly on course for a place in the quarter-finals at a set and a break up before an impressive comeback from Tsonga took the second-round match to a decider.
“Roberto wins his points differently than Jo does. Jo does it with the serve, the power, the variety. Roberto does it with repetition,” said Federer. Bautista Agut promised to take the fight to Federer after he eased to a 6-1, 6-4 victory over France’s Richard Gasquet. “I feel I am a better player now than in the past. I will have to be aggressive with my return and push him as much as possible,” he said.
The 31-year-old Spaniard has not beaten Federer in eight meetings and missed out on a chance to play him in last year’s final at Halle after retiring injured in the semi-finals. “Hopefully I can finish the week better this year. It was bad luck last year because I felt really good on the court in every match,” he said.
Home favourite Alexander Zverev also advanced to the quarter-finals with a comfortable 6-3, 7-5 win over American Steve Johnson. Elsewhere, Italy’s Matteo Berrettini, who was crowned champion in Stuttgart last week, came from behind to beat compatriot Andreas Seppi 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 and secure a quarter-final clash with third-seeded Russian Karen Khachanov.
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