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Federer, Henman, Youzhny advance in Dubai
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-02-25 10:28
Top-ranked Roger Federer saved two match points and beat Juan Carlos Ferrero
4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6) Thursday to advance to the quarterfinals of the Dubai Open.
Federer, who won his third straight match in a third-set tiebreaker, will
face seventh-seeded Mikhail Youzhny, a 7-5, 6-4 winner over Rainer Schuettler.
Switzerland's Roger
Federer returns the ball in his match against Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero
in the second round of the Dubai Tennis Championships February 24, 2005.
[Reuters] | "He should have won the match,"
Federer said of Ferrero. "He had match-points before me."
Third-seeded Tim Henman beat Igor Andreev 7-6 (5), 6-1, and will face Ivan
Ljubicic, who beat Fernando Verdasco 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (8).
Ferrero, the 2001 Dubai champion, led 6-4 in the third-set tiebreak before
Federer saved one match point with a big serve and Ferrero hit the next point
long. Federer than closed out the match with a huge serve.
"A friend offered me $10 for every match I win 7-6 in the third set," said
Federer, who was extended to third-set tiebreaks by Ivo Minar in the first round
and Ljubicic in the final at Rotterdam last weekend. "It was too little, so I
didn't accept it. But then he raised it to $20 and I couldn't refuse. So I hope
to win 7-6 tomorrow as well."
Ferrero had Federer under pressure from the start, breaking the Swiss in the
first games of the first and second sets. After dropping the opening game of the
second, Federer roared back with eight straight points and breaks in the fourth
and sixth games to even the match.
They traded breaks again in the sixth and seventh games of the third set and
wound up in a tiebreaker.
Youzhny's and Schuettler's second-round match was interrupted by rain, but
Youzhny prevailed for his third consecutive win over the German, evening their
head-to-head record at 3-3.
Henman reached the quarterfinals for the second time this month.
"Winning the tiebreak was crucial and I am pleased to get through," Henman
said. "The level of tennis was very high in the first set. He is a great athlete
with a great physique and he can hit the ball hard."
The eighth-seeded Ljubicic, who has an ATP-best 17 wins this season, advanced
beyond the second round for the fifth time this season.
Ljubicic has reached the championship match the last two weeks, losing to
Joachim Johansson in Marseille, and to Federer in Rotterdam. He was also a
finalist in Doha last month.
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