Tennis: Roger Federer Defeats Marat Safin
January 24th 2009 08:01
World No 2, Swiss Roger Federer, turned on a vintage performance to outclass Russia's Marat Safin in straight sets at Rod Laver Arena on Friday night. Federer, chasing his fourth Australian Open trophy, sent a message of intent to his rivals with a clinical 6-3 6-2 7-6(7-5) third-round victory.
The match was almost certainly the last Australian Open encounter for 2005 champion and crowd favourite Safin.
The two former world No 1s, who played one of the great matches in Open history in their epic 2005 semi-final, again produced some dazzling, high-paced tennis.
But No 26 seed Safin's brilliance was punctuated with more unforced errors than the consistently high-class Swiss, preventing him from seriously threatening to win the match.
The powerful Russian dropped serve just once in the first set, in the penultimate game, with a double-fault on break point.
That was enough for Federer, who was never down a break point at any stage of the match.
He served it out to love, having dropped just two points on serve for the set.
Safin again failed to have an impact on Federer's serve in the second set, with the No.2 seed reeling off the last five games to take complete control of the match.
Neither player dropped serve in the third set, with Federer closing out a tense tiebreak by winning the final three points with two big serves, then a brilliant backhand passing shot on match point.
Federer will play Czech No 20 seed Tomas Berdych in the fourth round, after Berdych downed Swiss No.15 seed Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6 6-1 6-3 6-4 on Friday night.
The biggest moment of drama came in the tiebreak, when Safin was foot-faulted on a second serve to go down 1-4.
He berated the centre linesman who made the call, then took the issue up with the chair umpire, to no avail.
But it sparked him into winning the next four points to briefly take the lead, before Federer's classy final three points.
Federer said he always enjoyed playing Safin.
"It's always special to play Marat, we go way back," he said.
"I think we like to play each other no matter who wins, we have great contests.
"I'm glad I won tonight, Marat really started to play great at the end." Federer also played Berdych in the fourth round last year, coming out on top.
"I hope I can carry this form over and beat Tomas again because he's obviously a great player," Federer said.
AAP
The match was almost certainly the last Australian Open encounter for 2005 champion and crowd favourite Safin.
The two former world No 1s, who played one of the great matches in Open history in their epic 2005 semi-final, again produced some dazzling, high-paced tennis.
But No 26 seed Safin's brilliance was punctuated with more unforced errors than the consistently high-class Swiss, preventing him from seriously threatening to win the match.
Roger Federer
The powerful Russian dropped serve just once in the first set, in the penultimate game, with a double-fault on break point.
That was enough for Federer, who was never down a break point at any stage of the match.
He served it out to love, having dropped just two points on serve for the set.
Safin again failed to have an impact on Federer's serve in the second set, with the No.2 seed reeling off the last five games to take complete control of the match.
Neither player dropped serve in the third set, with Federer closing out a tense tiebreak by winning the final three points with two big serves, then a brilliant backhand passing shot on match point.
Federer will play Czech No 20 seed Tomas Berdych in the fourth round, after Berdych downed Swiss No.15 seed Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6 6-1 6-3 6-4 on Friday night.
The biggest moment of drama came in the tiebreak, when Safin was foot-faulted on a second serve to go down 1-4.
He berated the centre linesman who made the call, then took the issue up with the chair umpire, to no avail.
But it sparked him into winning the next four points to briefly take the lead, before Federer's classy final three points.
Federer said he always enjoyed playing Safin.
"It's always special to play Marat, we go way back," he said.
"I think we like to play each other no matter who wins, we have great contests.
"I'm glad I won tonight, Marat really started to play great at the end." Federer also played Berdych in the fourth round last year, coming out on top.
"I hope I can carry this form over and beat Tomas again because he's obviously a great player," Federer said.
AAP
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