Federer Stretched to the Limit
Top-seeded Swiss Roger Federer fought back from a 1-5 deficit in the third set to beat World No. 137 Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo of Spain 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(1) Wednesday for a place in the third round of Masters Series Monte-Carlo Presented by Rolex.
Federer won five games in a row to force a tie-break where nerves got the better of Ramirez Hidalgo in only his 15th meeting against a Top 10 player in the South African Airways ATP Rankings.
Ramirez Hidalgo twiced served for the match in the third set and was two points from victory at 5-2 and 5-4, but Federer found his top form at just the right time.
Federer committed 55 unforced errors in his 17th victory of the season. The match last two hours and four minutes.
“I felt a little bit slow out there today," admitted Federer. "I was just hoping for a better spell where I wasn't making maybe so many mistakes, finding my attacking game was working a little bit better.
"It all came together at the right times. I'm happy I got through this match."
The 30-year-old Ramirez Hidalgo drops to 3-12 lifetime against Top 10 players. His last Top 10 win came over No. 5-ranked James Blake at New Haven in August 2006.
Federer, who clinched his 54th career ATP singles title at Estoril last week (d. Davydenko), will next meet Gael Monfils of France.
Monfils defeated No. 15 seed Ivo Karlovic of Croatia 7-6(8), 6-1 in 88 minutes. Karlovic won just 38 of 73 points on serve and for the first time at an ATP tournament he did not serve a single ace.
Seventh-seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet, who reached the 2005 semifinals (l. to Nadal) required just 62 minutes to beat qualifier Kristof Vliegen of Belgium 6-1, 6-2 in the pair's fifth ATP-level meeting.
Gasquet will next meet American World No. 50 Sam Querrey, who went 1-5 on clay last year, hit seven aces in beating Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-1, 7-5 in 80 minutes.
Vince Spadea was the last American to reach the third round or better at the Monte-Carlo Country Club. In 2003, Spadea lost to Juan Carlos Ferrero in the semifinals.
Watch more Masters Series Monte-Carlo video, including live match action, at ATP Masters Series TV.
