Federer just one win from becoming oldest world No 1
ROTTERDAM: Roger Federer moved to within one victory of becoming the oldest man to take the world No 1 ranking on Thursday with a hard-fought 7-6 (10/8), 7-5 victory over Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber at the Rotterdam Open. The 36-year-old will now face Robin Haase in the quarterfinals on Friday.
“Tonight was complicated, I had to fight and struggle,” said Federer. “I had a good game plan going in, but I was never able to completely pull it off.
“He came out with a clean start. I was serving well, that’s a great sign. I’d rather do that and return poorly.” Thursday’s win was Federer’s 13th in as many meetings against Kohlschreiber.
The Swiss is excited about the possibility of returning to the top of the rankings 19 years after he played Rotterdam in 1999 on his first career wild card.
“This is an exciting challenge, I’ve struggled to try and get there. I had to win a lot of matches last year,” said Federer, who was world No 1 for the first time in February 2004.
However, he was last at the summit in October 2012 and slumped to 17 in the world in January last year. Second seed Grigor Dimitrov outlasted Serbia’s Filip Krajinovic 7-6 (7/4), 7-5 to also reach the quarter-finals.
WOZNIACKI FURIOUS
DOHA: An irritated world No 1 Caroline Wozniacki progressed to the Qatar Open quarters in a match where she complained and apparently mocked her opponent Monica Niculescu’s grunting. The recently crowned Australian Open champion won 7-5, 6-1 against the Romanian but was visibly agitated in the ninth game of the first set, complaining her opponent was making noises as she was about to hit the ball.
BHAMBRI ENTERS FINAL
CHENNAI: India’s Yuki Bhambri on Friday set up a final clash with No 1 seed Jordan Thompson of Australia in the Chennai Open ATP Challenger tournament. Bhambri got the better of Korea’s Duckhee Lee, the third seed, 7-5, 6-2 in one hour and 25 minutes while Thompson beat unseeded Spaniard Pedro Martinez 6-1, 7-6.
Bhambri played well within himself from the baseline and made the occasional foray to the net to finish off points.
The second-seeded duo of N Sriram Balaji and Vishnu Vardhan edged out Cem Ilkel and Danilo Petrovic 7-6, 5-7, 10-5 to capture the doubles crown.