Nobody was really expecting Roger to lose against the world no.116 Evgeny Donskoy in the second round in Dubai.
Roger “won” the match against the Russian 2 or 3 times: when he was leading 5-2 in the second set breaker; when he squandered three match points (in the same tiebreak); when he couldn’t take advantage from a 5-2 lead in the decider, and finally when he wasted a 5-1 lead in the final tiebreak.
Why I lost to Donskoy. FEDERER
Roger explained what has happened to him even if he admitted that he had to win this match. The Maestro commented
“I just didn’t know Donskoy. So many times, I just didn’t know what his patterns were. I didn’t know what his preferences are. If he does hit a big forehand down the line, is that normal or is that just right now? Is he going to do that on big shots, big points or not?
All that stuff got me a little bit tense, and I could never quite play freely, which is quite surprising, considering how I played in Australia.
I had my chances. I should somehow close it out. Don’t know how it got away, but he did very well. It’s a rough one, for sure.
But tennis is this way. Margins are small. A fast court like here, you can’t find much rhythm. Next thing you know, you’re struggling.”
Let’s see if he can recover for Indian Wells.
