Fed wins the first set 6-2. He seems to be taking a hyper-aggressive gameplan, even serve&volleying on a second serve, taking Berdych by surprise (and adjusting well for the ball hitting the net cord).
I'm impressed.
I'm impressed.
2017 Australian Open Day 5: Friday, Jan 20 - Order of Play
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This is very very impressive from Roger. Maybe Laver watching is spurring him on?
Berdych looks as though he doesn't know what hit him. But can Fed keep the level up? He's a break to the good in the second set.
Berdych looks as though he doesn't know what hit him. But can Fed keep the level up? He's a break to the good in the second set.
Roger is not making so many inroads on the Berdych serve anymore now, but still holding serve with ease. One more good hold away now from a two-set lead, 5-3 with Berdych serving.
He wraps up the second set with ease. Some lovely net play from Roger in this match.
I'm not sure I've seen a single extended baseline rally. Such lovely attacking tennis, wonderful.
What a difference to the Federer of the first two rounds! Let's hope he keeps it up and finishes in three. Berdych was more solid in this set, with the exception of the first game. A dip in Roger's form on serve could easily be enough to hand Tomas a set, so he's got to be focused.
(Not that that appears to be a problem so far. He won those two sets in under an hour.)
I'm not sure I've seen a single extended baseline rally. Such lovely attacking tennis, wonderful.
What a difference to the Federer of the first two rounds! Let's hope he keeps it up and finishes in three. Berdych was more solid in this set, with the exception of the first game. A dip in Roger's form on serve could easily be enough to hand Tomas a set, so he's got to be focused.
(Not that that appears to be a problem so far. He won those two sets in under an hour.)
Berdych throws in a double-fault for 15-30, then hits a beautiful ace for 30-30.
But a beauty of a backhand return winner brings up break point for Roger, and Berdych is rattled. A baseline rally (there it is!) follows after a second serve, and Fed has the better of it, breaking serve again in the first game of the set!
What a nice birthday present to see Fed playing like this today.
But a beauty of a backhand return winner brings up break point for Roger, and Berdych is rattled. A baseline rally (there it is!) follows after a second serve, and Fed has the better of it, breaking serve again in the first game of the set!
What a nice birthday present to see Fed playing like this today.
mrzz
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mightyjeditribble said:Berdych throws in a double-fault for 15-30, then hits a beautiful ace for 30-30.
But a beauty of a backhand return winner brings up break point for Roger, and Berdych is rattled. A baseline rally (there it is!) follows after a second serve, and Fed has the better of it, breaking serve again in the first game of the set!
What a nice birthday present to see Fed playing like this today.
Happy birthday!
Imperious as Fed holds to love for 5-3. He hasn't faced a break point so far.
One more like this please.
One more like this please.
Berdych seemed to be motoring through his service game himself, up 40-0 in the blink of an eye. But then it's 40-30, and he double-faults and it's deuce.
An ace (confirmed by hawk-eye) and inspired play by Fed later, and we're still at deuce ...
Fed would love to take this right here.
An ace (confirmed by hawk-eye) and inspired play by Fed later, and we're still at deuce ...
Fed would love to take this right here.
What a passing shot. His backhand has been tremendous today.
And he wraps it up with minimum fuss. Amazing.
And he wraps it up with minimum fuss. Amazing.
shawnbm
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Roger looked stupendously good this evening. He even appears to be hitting with more power. His backhand looked as good as at any time I can recall. I was not expecting to see him playing at such a high level. I thought the power of Berdych might hurt him this early in his comeback.--not even a contest.
So, Roger has surprised some people. This is what defines this champion. He was going to be up against a top 10 player so he delivered the game that was required. I love how he is playing attacking tennis. He always did anyway. Big match big day and he will deliver the performance. I really fancy his chance of beating nishikori the day after tomorrow. Really impressed.
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Federer has begun to cruise through the challenging draw. I am loving this for what it is now.
Nishikori is certainly going to challenge Roger really hard. You know, you can say, he is going to run around a lot if Federer can get going early himself. Hence, Roger will mostly need to play 2-3 shots more every rally. I will expect him to get it done though. All the best Roger!
Nishikori is certainly going to challenge Roger really hard. You know, you can say, he is going to run around a lot if Federer can get going early himself. Hence, Roger will mostly need to play 2-3 shots more every rally. I will expect him to get it done though. All the best Roger!
