FEDERER KEEPS HOPES ALIVE AT 02

BACK to the wall and under fire from a fellow pro, Roger Federer found his inner competitor as he lived to fight another evening at London’s O2 Arena. Aided by the hopelessly inept Dominic Thiem, he kept his hopes alive of making the Nitto ATP semi-finals by winning his second group encounter 6-2, 6-3 in 66 minutes. It had been an uneasy week for Federer, who lost his opener and was subject of suggestions from retiring Frenchman Julien Benneteau that he receives too many favourable scheduling decisions at tournaments, notably the Australian Open. He responded by backing himself both on and off the court. He briefly tackled the issues brought up by Benneteau, who had pointed to the investment Tennis Australia has made in the Ryder cup-style Laver Cup, which is primarily promoted by the Swiss legend and his management company. According to Federer, it is wrong to say he usually gets to choose when he plays. He said: ‘I get asked, would you like to play Monday or Tuesday. Sometimes I get asked, do you want to play day or night? Asia wants you to play at night. ‘Yes, sometimes we have our say. But I asked to play Monday at the US Open. I played Tuesday night. Sometimes I get help, sometimes I don’t. But a lot of the facts are not right, just to be clear, from what I heard. Julien is a nice guy, I’ve known him since juniors, I think it’s been totally taken out of context.’ Another bumper crowd backed up the earlier argument of Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley that Federer’s status makes him a unique draw in the game. Thiem made 34 unforced errors in a display which showed, partly, why the older generation have survived at the top so long. Federer now meets Kevin Anderson tomorrow, and will likely need a win to progress. Anderson routed Kei Nishikori 6-0, 6-1 yesterday. Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares emphatically booked their place in the semi-finals for a third time at this event when they defeated Colombia’s second seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah 6-4, 6-3.