ROME TENNIS OPEN 2016 – ROGER FEDERER BATTLES PAST ZVEREV, HE WILL GO UP AGAINST THIEM IN THIRD ROUND

Written by: Staff on 11th May 2016

ROME TENNIS OPEN 2016 - ROGER FEDERER BATTLES PAST ZVEREV, HE WILL GO UP AGAINST THIEM IN THIRD ROUND

epa05299221 Swiss Roger Federer celebrates after defeating German Alexander Zverev in their second round match for the Italian Open Tennis Tournament at the Foro Italico in Rome, Italy, 11 May 2016. EPA/CLAUDIO ONORATI EPA/CLAUDIO ONORATI |

By Ricky Dimon

Playing for the first time since withdrawing from the Mutua Madrid Open with a back injury, Roger Federer beat Alexander Zverev 6-3, 7-5 in round two of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Wednesday afternoon. Federer set up a Thursday showdown against Dominic Thiem after prevailing in one hour and 27 minutes.

The 34-year-old Swiss was unsure he would even play until a warmup session in the morning went relatively well. He promptly wasted no time showing the fans that he was fit enough to perform, breaking Zverev in the sixth game of the first set for a 4-2 advantage. Federer, who did not face a single break point in the opener, had no trouble serving it out the rest of the way.

Although the world No. 2 gave back an early second-set break at 2-1, he got back on track by earning another scalp of the Zverev serve at the end of a 5-5 game that saw Federer capitalize on his fourth break chance. A routine hold at 6-5 wrapped up the proceedings in style.

German Alexander Zverev returns the ball to Swiss Roger Federer during their second round match for the Italian Open Tennis Tournament at the Foro Italico in Rome, Italy, 11 May 2016. EPA/CLAUDIO ONORATI

“It’s great for me to be back on any tennis court right now, to be honest,” Federer said. “It’s been a rough week since the back problems in Madrid and a rough year overall, so it’s already a good sign to be back on a match court–let alone winning is awesome. I’m really pleased; I didn’t expect myself to win today. Expectations are super-low. I’m very far from being 100 percent fit, but I came out of [the match] actually feeling alright.”

Nonetheless, the third seed still insists that he has no chance of capturing his first-ever title in Rome and he will not even guarantee that he can take the court again on Thursday. He called playing on Wednesday “a calculated risk,” adding, “I am going practice by practice right now–stopping every 15 minutes to talk with the team. (I) hope I’ll play.”

If he does play, a second career encounter against Thiem will be in the cards. Their only previous contest came earlier this season on the hard courts of Brisbane, where Federer coasted through a semifinal showdown 6-1, 6-4. Thiem has only improved since then and he owns more match wins in 2016 than everyone except Novak Djokovic. The 15th-ranked Austrian has cooled off just a bit since capturing titles in Buenos Aires and Acapulco, but he is in fine form at the Rome Masters with victories over Alexandr Dolgopolov and Joao Sousa.