RICKY DIMON REPORTS ON FEDERER THROUGH TO SEMIFINALS AT INAUGURAL ISTANBUL OPEN

Written by: Staff on 1st May 2015

RICKY DIMON REPORTS ON FEDERER THROUGH TO SEMIFINALS AT INAUGURAL ISTANBUL OPEN

epa04726054 Roger Federer of Switzerland celebrates after winning against Jarkko Nieminen of Finland during the first round match of the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open tennis Tournament in Istanbul, Turkey 29 April 2015. Federer won the match 6-2, 7-5. EPA/TOLGA BOZOGLU |

Roger Federer has not exactly been dominant at the inaugural TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open, but he has done enough to reach the semifinals. Federer outlasted an in-form Daniel Gimeno-Traver 7-6(3), 6-7(5), 6-3 during quarterfinal action on Friday afternoon.

The 33-year-old Swiss picked up the 200th clay-court win of his career by beating Jarkko Nieminen 6-2, 7-5 in the second round before before getting a tougher test from Gimeno-Traver, a recent runner-up in Casablanca. Gimeno-Traver pushed the opener to a tiebreaker and did the same in set two, although he could have finished off the middle frame earlier having led 5-2 at one point.

A turning point came right away in the decider, with Federer battling back from a 0-40 hole and saving four break points in total to hold for 1-0. He eventually seized a crucial break at 4-3 with a perfect drop-volley. The 17-time major champion promptly served things out at 5-3 to prevail in two hours and 28 minutes.

Roger Federer of Switzerland returns the ball to Jarkko Nieminen of Finland during the first round match of the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open tennis Tournament in Istanbul, Turkey 29 April 2015. EPA/TOLGA BOZOGLU

Next up for Federer is a third career meeting (second this season) with Diego Schwartzman. Both of their previous encounters have gone Federer’s way; 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 at Roland Garros in 2014 and 6-4, 6-2 earlier this spring on the hard courts of Indian Wells.

Schwartzman, though, is enjoying the peak of his career right now. The 22-year-old Argentine registers five spots off his best-ever ranking at No. 63 in the world and six of his nine ATP-level match victories have come this season. So far this week he has taken out Blaz Kavcic, Jurgen Melzer, and Santiago Giraldo.

“I have advanced to the first (ATP) semifinal of my career,” Schwartzman commented. “I lost the first eight games. He started playing really well and maybe I was a little bit nervous. Sometimes it happens. The crowd was amazing for me. I hope tomorrow will be the same.”

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Topics: Atp, Federer, Istanbul, Jarkko Nieminen, Ricky Dimon, TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open, Tennis

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10sBalls_com says:

May 1, 2015 at 1:17 pm

-@Dimonator REPORTS ON @rogerfederer THROUGH TO SEMIFINALS AT INAUGURAL @istanbulopen- http://t.co/a79YomFLgF #atpistanbul #IstanbulOpen #RF