Roger Federer had an extremely smooth ride against Mischa Zverev in Halle 4 years ago when he defeated the German 6-0 6-0. On Thursday, things were not so easy.

Roger wasn’t at his very best in this second round in Germany also because Zverev started pretty well especially on his service games. Eventually, Federer won a tense 1st set at the breaker to make things more relaxing for the Maestro. In the second set, Mischa’s serve was constantly under pressure while Roger was holding his serve with ease. Finally, the decisive break came in the 9th game (5-4) before Roger won the all thing 7-6(4) 6-4.
       

In the second set, I was more relaxed. FEDERER

Roger commented

“It was totally different. He started serving great, which put me under pressure as I wasn’t getting many looks. It was important to stay calm after missing chances to win the set at 5-4. And it’s important to win ‘breakers. They are the sets you need to win to win tournaments. It felt like a close ‘breaker that could have gone either way.

After I got that in the bag I was really able to start to relax and really play and feel the way I want to feel out there. That’s the first time I’ve felt like that since Miami, so that’s a good sign looking ahead.”

Next vs. Florian Mayer

Roger will play Florian Mayer in the quarters.  The head to head is 7-0 for Roger, 4-0 on grass, 3-0 in Halle.