French Open 2021: Roger Federer defeats old foe Marin Cilic to cruise into the third round
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Roger Federer
20-time grand slam Champion Roger Federer put on a show in front of the limited Chatrier crowd to get the better of former US Open Champion Marin Cilic in four sets 6-2,2-6,7-6(4),6-2. Federer looked better than his previous match and registered him 10th win against the Croat.
Federer was quick of the blocks and didn’t make many unforced errors early on. He broke Cilic in the third game and stormed off to a 3-1 lead. But the Swiss legend wasn’t done yet. He broke Cilic again in the fifth set and won the first set convincingly 6-2.
The story of the second set was exactly opposite to that of the first set. Federer made many errors early on and gave Cilic a chance to comeback into the match and the Croat made use of the opportunity to the fullest. He broke Federer in the second game and took a 3-0 early lead.
The Swiss looked completely off color in the second set and even had a heated argument with the chair umpire. Cilic took every opportunity thrown at him and broke Federer in the final game to win the set 6-2.
Federer stages an epic comeback
With one set a piece, the players had everything to play for and evidently, the level of their game risen. They were serving each other out hitting aces and squaring off winner time to time. Although Federer broke Cilic in the third game, the Croat broke back in the sixth to draw level at 3-3. They both held serve for the remainder of the set and forced a tie breaker.
The tie-breaker too witnessed flawless serving from the two veterans. They were winning points on serve but a lapse of concentration from Cilic saw him make a double fault and handing a mini break to Federer. The Swiss consolidated that mini break and went on to win the tie breaker.
The final set also started with the same intensity as the previous one. Both players were serving very well but after the second change of ends, the level of Cilic’s game dropped and he was broken in the 4th game and the Swiss stormed off to a 4-1 lead.
Federer than played it easy, minimizing risks and held his serve. He again broke Cilic in the final game of the match and won the set convincingly 6-2 in just 27 minutes. Federer will be up against Dominik Koepfer of Germany in the third round on Friday who beat 30th seed Taylor Fritz.
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Lakshya Chopra
(2595 Articles Published)