Federer, kinaliskisan ng teen rival

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. (AP) — Laban sa mas batang karibal, hindi natinag ang lakas ni Roger Federer.

Sa pagbabalik sa torneo matapos ang dalawang taong pahinga, tinalo ni Federer ang 19-anyos American qualifier na si Frances Tiafoe, 7-6 (2), 6-3, nitong Sabado (Linggo sa Manila) sa Miami Open.

“I think he’s going to be really good. He’s got big shots, and I like his mindset. That goes a long way,” pahayag ni Federer.

“He stayed with me for a very long time. That can make you nervous if I wouldn’t have been so confident. So I thought it was an enjoyable match. I thought we both played very well, and both can maybe walk away from this match quite happy, which is not often the case in tennis,” aniya.

“He was rock solid,” Tiafoe said. “He didn’t give me anything.”

Tangan ang 14-1 marka ngayong 2017, kabilang ang ika-18 Grand Slam championship sa Australian Open nitong Enero, malaki ang potensyal ni Federer na maguwi muli ng titulo sa pagkawala nina sixtime champion Novak Djokovic at two-time champion Andy Murray na kapwa nagtamo ng injury sa siko.

Ang posibleng humarang sa kanya ay ang kababayang si Stan Wawrinka, seeded No. 1 sa ATP Masters 1000 tournament sa unang pagkakataon. Nalagpasan niya ang opening match kontra Horacio Zeballos, 6-3, 6-4.

Nagwagi rin sina American John Isner at Sam Querrey sa straight sets, gayundin ang 19-anyos na si German Alexander Zverev.

Sa women’s play, umusad si No. 6-seeded Garbine Muguruza nang pataubin si No. 30 Zhang Shuai 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, habang pinatalsik ni American Bethanie Mattek-Sands si No. 17 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 4-6, 6-0, 6-3.