Federer Fights Through Basel Opener – 8-time champion Roger Federer overcame a second set lapse to defeat Filip Krajinovic 6-2 4-6 6-4 in his first round match at the Swiss Indoors. The Swiss maestro was cruising after a rusty start, where he faced two break points at 1-2 in the opening set. From there, he reeled off seven consecutive games to go up 6-2 3-1, but relented the set, as Krajinovic settled into his own groove to win five of the next six games to even the match.
The 37-year-old Swiss raised his serving level in the third set, which was enough to prevail in the end, despite being broken while serving for the match at 5-3. He struggled overall on his serve, putting only 47% of his first serves into play for the match.
“It was a bit more of a hard-fought victory, but they feel good too, especially knowing that I have the day off tomorrow, so it’s no problem having played three sets today,” Federer said.
Limited Edition Laver Cup Pro Staff RF97 Autograph
2018 Wilson Pro Staff RF97 Autograph Review
Federer DNA 2018 12 Pack Infrared Tennis Bag
“I didn’t serve very well today. I think I was misfiring the corners, I was not hitting the lines enough. Clearly you make your life more difficult, but still I was up 6-2, 3-1, break points, so things could have ended very quickly today, even though I didn’t have the best serve percentage stats. But maybe that’s exactly what caught up to me eventually,” Federer said.
“It’s just getting used to it. This is where the first rounds can be tricky.” Federer will face Jan-Lennard Struff next in the second round on Thursday. Struff defeated John Millman 7-6 (3) 6-2 in the first round. Federer has defeated Struff twice this year, at the Australian Open and at Wimbledon.