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SHANGHAI - World number one Roger Federer survived a huge scare to keep his perfect record in Masters Cup round robin matches intact with a 4-6 7-6 6-4 win over a fired-up Andy Roddick this morning (NZ time).
American Roddick served as only he can to hustle Federer out of his comfort zone and win the first set before claiming three match points in a thrilling second-set tiebreak, forcing the Swiss to come back from 4-1 down to win 10-8.
"Early on in the tiebreak already when I was down 4-1 and him serving," Federer said. "I thought, well, probably not my day, I'm not playing that great and he's not giving me a chance, so I guess that's it.
"But I told myself, you know, maybe I can make him nervous by just staying along and in the match. That's what happened. I don't know if he got nervous or it just went my way in the end, but it was really close, that's for sure."
The Wimbledon, Australian and US Open champion put himself in the driving seat to qualify for the semi-finals with his second Red Group win when he sent an ace down the centre of the court after just under two and a half hours.
Federer won the Masters Cup in 2003 and 2004, was losing finalist last year and has still not lost in 14 group matches at the tournament.
Roddick, who drops to 1-1 for the tournament, has now lost to Federer in eight successive matches -- including the US Open final -- and won just one of 13 career matches against the dominant player in men's tennis this year.
"I put myself in a position to win tonight, it's tough right now ... You know, I felt like I was unlucky not to win that one tonight," he said.
The 24-year-old American strode on to the court with a clear sense of purpose and was soon dashing to the net behind his big serves in an attempt to unsettle Federer.
Sometimes it worked and sometimes it just opened Roddick up to the nine-time grand slam winner's deadly accurate passing shots, which were particularly devastating from the backhand.
The American, watched by his new coach Jimmy Connors, succeeded enough to grab the first break of the match in game three when Federer failed in a hawk-eye appeal against a second serve called wide.
He had more break points in game five and served up four straight bombs to save his own serve in the next game, winning the set after retrieving another break point in game 10.
Federer had three set points at 5-4 in the second set but Roddick grabbed three of his own in the tiebreak, which Federer saved before levelling the match when the American charged the net only to fluff his volley.
Another backhand winner gave Federer a break early in the third set and, after Roddick lost despite forcing three deuces in the next game, the Swiss held serve with some ease and converted his second match point.
"It was obviously very close," Federer said. "Tough loss for him, you know. For me, a bit of a relief, of course. But I guess if I could have lost one match, it's probably this one."
In the day's second come-from-behind win, Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic defeated Argentina's defending champion David Nalbandian 5-7 7-6 7-5 in the other Red Group match.
- REUTERS
