FEDERER NEEDS 41 MINUTES FOR VICTORY; NOW PLAYS DIMITROV IN BRISBANE SFs

Written by: Staff on 9th January 2015

FEDERER NEEDS 41 MINUTES FOR VICTORY; NOW PLAYS DIMITROV IN BRISBANE SFs

epa04551968 Roger Federer of Switzerland serves the ball to Australia's James Duckworth during their quarter final match at the Brisbane International Tennis Tournament in Brisbane, Australia, 09 January 2015. EPA/DAVE HUNT AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT |

( Courtesy of the ATP and Original Link – http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2015/01/1/Brisbane-Friday-Federer-Duckworth.aspx )

Roger Federer will take on Grigor Dimitrov in the semi-finals of the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp on Saturday, as he edges closer to becoming the third player in the Open Era (since 1968) to record 1,000 career match wins.

Twenty four hours after battling back to beat John Millman, Federer calmly defeated another Australian wild card, James Duckworth, 6-0, 6-1 in 41 minutes.

“I was very happy the way I played,” said Federer. “I played aggressive, served well, and then especially on the return I kept the pressure on time and time again. Next thing you know, it was like I was running away with the score.”

Roger Federer of Switzerland returns the ball to Australia’s James Duckworth during their quarter final match at the Brisbane International Tennis Tournament in Brisbane, Australia, 09 January 2015. EPA/DAVE HUNT AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT

Federer lost just six points in the 16-minute opener and he had won eight straight games before Duckworth held serve to 15 for 1-2 in the second set. He won 25 of his 30 service points overall.

“[It was a] rough night,” said Duckworth. “We all have days that aren’t as good as others. [It was] a bit of a combination of things: me not playing great; didn’t probably hit the ball as well as I had the last two matches, and Roger was seeing the ball pretty big… He didn’t do too much wrong tonight.”

Federer is now just two match wins shy of 1,000 career match wins. Should he lift the trophy on Sunday, he would join Jimmy Connors (1,253) and Ivan Lendl (1,071) as the only players to accomplish the feat.

On Thursday night, Federer recovered from a set and 1-3 deficit to beat Millman in just over two hours

“I’m very happy,” admitted Federer. “I saved energy and stress and nerves and everything, because yesterday was quite nerve wracking and physically difficult because it was first match of the season. You’re always going to be a bit tense in that match.”

Federer has beaten Dimitrov in the Swiss Indoors Basel quarter-finals for the past two years.

Topics: Atp, Brisbane, GRIGOR DIMITROV, James Duckworth, Roger Federer, Tennis

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10sBalls_com says:

January 9, 2015 at 12:44 pm

-@rogerfederer NEEDS 41 MINUTES FOR VICTORY; NOW PLAYS @GrigorDimitrov IN BRISBANE SFs http://t.co/YNFjI3pNV5 #tennis #BrisbaneInternational
BrianSHester says:

January 9, 2015 at 1:05 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: -@rogerfederer NEEDS 41 MINUTES FOR VICTORY; NOW PLAYS @GrigorDimitrov IN BRISBANE SFs http://t.co/YNFjI3pNV5 #tennis #Br…