Roger Federer almost had a free day for his 33rd birthday. But that’s not the way he would have wanted it, and that’s not the way it happened. Instead, Federer will be back at the proverbial office, on the tennis court for quarterfinal action at the Rogers Cup.
Federer, whose birthdays is today (Friday, Aug. 8), endured a major third-round scare on Thursday night but managed to outlast Marin Cilic 7-6(5), 6-7(3), 6-4 in two hours and 39 minutes after missing six match points in the second set.
“It’s nice winning those kind of matches, because I also lost a bunch in my career,” the 17-time Grand Slam champion explained. “Especially this season I have lost some closer ones, especially in the stretch from Indian Wells, Miami, Monaco, Rome, Paris. So from that standpoint I’m very happy I came through tonight. I thought Marin played really well, especially for longer periods. I’m happy I was able to find a way tonight.”
Federer closed out the victory at 11:31 p.m. and was presented with a tray of sweets to celebrate his birthday shortly after midnight.
He will hope to give himself an additional present by defeating David Ferrer in Friday’s quarterfinals. The world No. 3 is 14-0 lifetime against Ferrer and 29-3 in total sets. Interestingly, this will be their 15th consecutive meeting that has not come at a Grand Slam. The two veterans have not faced each other since 2012, when Federer earned straight-set victories in Madrid and at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.
Also on Friday, Andy Murray and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will be squaring off for the 11th time in their careers. Tsonga trails the head-to-head series 9-1, but he is no stranger to turning things around against heavily-favored opponents–as indicated by Thursday’s result. The Frenchman stunned world No. 1 Novak Djokovic. Murray, meanwhile, is coming off a walkover past Richard Gasquet.
Another somewhat surprising quarterfinal pits Grigor Dimitrov against Kevin Anderson. They recently collided in the Acapulco final earlier this season, a thriller won by Dimitrov 7-6(1), 3-6, 7-6(5). The Bulgarian has won four of their five previous encounters. Anderson, though, will be confident after upsetting Stan Wawrinka in the third round.
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.
Topics: Andy Murray, Atp, David Ferrer, GRIGOR DIMITROV, Jo Wilfried Tsonga, Kevin Anderson, Marin Cilic, RF birthday, Richard Gasquet, Ricky Dimon, Roger Federer, Rogers Cup, Stanislas Wawrinka, Tennis, Toronto
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