Roger Federer's Wimbledon wins - No. 2 vs. Xavier Malisse

With no Wimbledon this year due to the coronavirus, Tennis World USA will try to bring the best moments from the history of our sport's most prestigious event. One of the projects is to recall Roger Federer's 101 victories in the cathedral of tennis over the last two decades, starting from 2001. Junior champion from 1998 suffered the first-round exit in 1999 and 2000 on the senior level, bouncing back in 2001 and beating Christophe Rochus 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 in swift 66 minutes for the first success at the All England Club. In the second round, the Swiss toppled another Belgian Xavier Malisse, having to dig deep in a 6-3, 7-5, 3-6 4-6, 6-3 win after two and a half hours of fast and fluid tennis on both sides. Malisse won ten points more than Federer but it wasn't to be for him, converting only four out of massive 26 break chances and suffering five breaks from eight opportunities offered to the Swiss who started all over in the decider and advanced into the third round. Despite winning the opening two sets, Roger wasn't happy about his game, facing too many break chances and losing ground from the baseline completely in sets three and four to bring Xavier back into contention. 

"I think I was a little bit lucky in the first set after saving a lot of break points; I don't know how many, but I know it was a lot. He had a chance to win the second set, and I wasn't happy with my game even after forging a massive advantage. I think I can play much better than I did today; it was a battle in the end, and I just fought my way out.

I served pretty well, especially in the opening two sets, when I had to play against those break chances.

Otherwise, I missed a lot of volleys and easy shots that I usually don't miss. I was not happy with my game; it irritated me all match long. I don't know why; maybe a bit of pressure. I'm thrilled to be through because I felt terrible when I was down a break in the fifth set. I was scared; you can say that because the Championships was almost over for me. I'm pleased to give myself a chance now in the third round.

It's going to be tough against Bjorkman but I have to take it a little bit easy now and get a massage. I felt like I lacked focus in my service games. He was always there to win the first point or two; I often found myself at 15-40, saving break chances. In the first two sets, I thought I was serving well. I came up with service winners when I had to but that didn't happen anymore. Then the wind came and the toss was going a little bit everywhere. I tried to vary my serve, going with a kick, slice or wide, a little bit of everything. He was giving himself some time by standing back, and I couldn't get my serve right. My volleys after the serve were not great, so he always had a chance to pass me. I felt terrible from the baseline in sets three and four. I couldn't return his serve anymore, and he started to serve better. I was worried, with some panic reactions as well, was going for too much."

Still, Roger Federer found the way to impose his strokes again in the decider, moving into the next round to face Jonas Bjorkman.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2BoU4gt