ATP Tennis – Federer Advances to the Fourth Round of the Sony Ericsson Open

The 27-year-old and seeded No.2, Roger Federer advanced to the fourth round of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami by beating the German Nicolas Keifer 6-4, 6-1.  It was a great game for the Swiss, who had to play with strong winds and with a little bit of rain. However, despite all this difficulties, the Swiss played amazingly well and this win gives some more confidence in his game to the world No.2 and a secure place to play the fourth round of the tournament; hoping for his first title of the year, and the first Masters title in quite a while, since he won his last one in August, 2007.

At the beginning of the game, the German started in a very good shape, winning the first game of the first set, but the Swiss without problems recaptured the control of the game by breaking Keifer’s serve in two occasions and even with good plays from Keifer, Federer imposed himself with great tennis. During the first set, the Swiss was having close to 70% on first serve effectiveness while the German was having close to 50%. During the second set, Federer was without a doubt in control of the game and the victory seemed remarkably on his hands. The German lost his confidence at the end of the game, which was notable especially by his many unforced errors from which Federer took advantage off and finished the set 6-1. With that result, the game was over in favour of the Swiss, who after 70 minutes got his qualification to the next round.

The following contender of Roger Federer will be the American Taylor Dent, who after several surgeries due to back problems and years of absence, defeated the 15th seeded Tommy Robredo 7-5, 6-3 in the third round at Crandon Park in Miami.  This was a surprise upset for many fans of tennis, but it is very refreshing to see this American doing such a great comeback presentation in this important U.S tournament.

For Federer, playing against Dent will be very interesting and a great experience. “It’s great to see him back playing,” said the world No.2. “He was always a dangerous player on tour because he was aggressive, offensive and kind of making the match decides on a couple of passing shots here and there. It’s going to be interesting for me to see how he plays. I actually never played him, so I can’t compare before and after injury. I’m looking forward to a good match.” 

Both players are really excited for this game and hope for the best results. Federer is conscious that he needs to win this tournament to regain some points in the rankings and recapture some confidence in his game, while also accomplishing his first title of the year. Federer has won this tournament in two occasions, one in 2005 where he defeated Rafael Nadal in five sets and then in 2006 against Ljubicic where he beat him in three tie-breaks. On the other hand, winning this game would be a plus to Dent’s recovery and would give him a better position in the rankings as well. We wish the best of lucks for both players and hope for them to give us all the tennis fans a great game to watch.