Sports
Federer advances in Rotterdam
Rotterdam (Netherlands), Feb 16 (IANS) Roger Federer was now just a single victory away from reclaiming the No. 1 ranking thanks to a hard-fought 7-6 (8-6), 7-5 second-round victory here over Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament.
The 36-year-old Swiss great already has the record for most weeks as the ATP World Tour’s No. 1 player (302) but he has not held the top spot since late 2012, reports Efe.
Now only the Netherlands’ Robin Haase, a 6-4, 6-0 winner late Thursday night over Dutch wildcard Tallon Griekspoor, stands in his way.
Kohlschreiber, who had never defeated Federer in a dozen previous matches, took a 5-2 lead in the first-set tiebreaker and then had a pair of set points at 6-4.
Federer recovered, however, to get the tiebreaker level and then create four set points of his own, finally converting the last one by hitting a forehand winner.
The second set also was very closely contested, but Federer got a crucial service break in the 11th game and then served out the match in his first opportunity.
“It was extremely complicated tonight,” Federer was quoted as saying afterward on the ATP World Tour’s Web site.
“I couldn’t find my range or my rhythm. I think Philipp did that to me; it was a struggle. Today when the score was close, I couldn’t release my shots. So it was a battle.”
In Friday night’s quarter-finals at this indoor hard-court event, Federer will try to extend his perfect record over Haase to 3-0.
He won their previous two matches in straight sets.
If he can do so, he will become the oldest player to hold the ATP No. 1 ranking. American star Andre Agassi currently has that distinction, holding that ranking for the last time at age 33 years and 131 days.
Federer dropped out of the top 15 of the rankings when a knee injury forced him to shut down his 2016 season prematurely, but he has made a remarkable comeback to the game since January 2017.
He won the Australian Open and Wimbledon last year and then extended his record haul of Grand Slam titles to 20 last month by successfully defending his Australian Open title.
–IANS
sam/ksk
The left-handed batsman from Haryana is garnering praise from all quarters for the way he’s finishing games regularly in the most exciting IPL season.
Gavaskar reckons Tewatia’s whirlwind knock in Sharjah (in IPL 2020) where he smashed West Indies pacer Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in an over, gave him the confidence that he belongs to the big stage.
Speaking on Cricket Live on Star Sports, Gavaskar said, “That assault on Sheldon Cottrell in Sharjah gave him the belief to do the impossible and the confidence that he belongs here. We saw the impossible (he did with the bat) the other day as well. There’s no twitching or touching the pads (which shows a batter’s nervousness) when he bats in the death overs. He just waits for the ball to be delivered and plays his shots. He’s got all the shots in the book, but most importantly his temperament to stay cool in a crisis is brilliant.”
Gavaskar has also nicknamed the 28-year-old cricketer the ‘ice-man’ and lauded Tewatia’s ability to remain unruffled during the tense moments.
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