Roger Federer didn’t feel at his very best in his match against Kohlschreiber in Basel, but eventually he made it. (6-4 4-6 6-4)
The Swiss Maestro tried to analyse his game, but eventually he conceded that the biggest factor was the huge support he got from the home crowd.
Federer: This evening I didn’t defend well, but the crowd helped…
Roger commented “I Think I held well my serve games through the entire match, expecting one time when I was in difficult from nothing. Also I don’t remember well the game in which Philipp broke me. This evening I didn’t defend very well.
It was difficult to read his game and to give him tough balls. In the third set the key was to convert the break points and the energy given me by the crowd had an important role. With the crowd supporting me, I fought a little bit more and took right decisions.”
… probably my game plan was wrong
The Roger added “Maybe I didn’t choose the right game plan. I applied what we planned with Severin, go forward and play shorter points. It was maybe an error, because Philipp was comfortable, it seemed. It wasn’t my best day, but I didn’t have any reason to be negative till 6-4 4-4. After a while, Philipp was also tired.”
Next vs. Goffin
Roger will play David Goffin in the quarters. Head to head is 2-0 for Roger that has defeated the Belgian in last year’s final 6-2 6-2.