That was a great great fun!
Roger played probably one of his best matches of the season in the Basel final. Finally the Maestro looked confident to attack and his serve was working like the nice old days (14 aces). Federer was not peRFect only in one game when he badly dropped his serve in the opener of the third set, but for the rest… gosh that was nice to watch!
The Match
In the first set after exchanging breaks (8th and 9th games) Roger and Juan Martin went to the tiebreak where an early 3-0 lead (2 minibreaks) gave the decisive advantage to the Argentine. 7-6 Del Potro.
In the second set Roger stepped up to break Delpo twice in the 2nd (2-0) and in the last game (6-2). As the match went to the decider it was clear that the first games would have been pivotal as Roger was all over the court and Delpo was clearly struggling. The Swiss looked to be the favourite at that point, but…
Unfortunately (for the Maestro) Roger had a horrible first game to squander a 40-15 lead on his serve to drop the service with two consecutive double faults and a bad unforced error on his forehand. That was the decisive break as Juan Martin hold serves till the end of the set.
Some stats
Finally the Maestro can boost good stats against a top player. Roger blasted 14 aces (5 double faults) and he converted 50% of the break points (an area that he is usually weak). On top of it Roger scored the same points of Delpo (96 each).That means that there was no gap between these two. Match Stats
From Roger
“I’m a winner type, I don’t take that much confidence from losing matches. I am happy about the level of play, that it’s getting better, but it’s not in losses where I find my confidence. It’s in wins. I think the four matches previous gave me more than today’s match.” Commented Roger.
Next in Paris
Roger will play in Paris either Anderson or Youzhny in the first match. The Maestro is looking for a deep run in Bercy to strengthen his confidence. His tennis is there… now he needs the results!
