It’s time for Roger to start his bid for his 6th title in Basel.
On the paper he had a comfortable match against the German qualifier and world no.83, but after all… it wasn’t that easy.
The Match
Becker played a very good match especially in the first set when he managed to defend 7 break points out of 8 and to bring Federer at the 12th game. The German was there fighting every ball and there was the impression that he had to fall sooner or later, but Roger had problems to bring him down. Eventually Becker fell in a classic way: a nervous double fault when he was defending a set point.
The second set wasn’t as easy for Roger that was broken in the 5th game to found himself 2-3 down. Then the Swiss Maestro broke back to win 4 straight games.
Federer about the match
“He did well,” Federer said. “He did serve well when it was important, so credit to him. When I did have my small chances, I hope I could’ve done a little bit better, but overall I’m still very happy with tonight’s performance”
Federer about his ranking
Then he added “I know if I lose, I lose points, but I’ve so long gone over this hurdle of having to defend points and this whole rankings system – I know how it works, so it doesn’t really consume me. For me it’s all about trying to play my best, enjoy the crowd and show them what I got. Coming back as the World No. 1 is an amazing feeling, so I think more of that than the pressure of having to win or having to defend or having to win again.”
Next Match
Roger will play either dangerous (but tired) Bellucci that lost on Sunday the final in Moscow to Seppi or Soeda.
