- Mutua Madrid Open Schedule and Draws for Monday, April 29, 2024
- Tennis Balls Favorite Photographer and Producer Rob Stone Premieres THE Blue Angels IMAX Film!
- Mutua Madrid Open Schedule and Draws for Sunday, April 28, 2024
- Nadal avenges Barcelona loss to De Minaur, advances in Madrid
- HJTEP 52nd Annual Gala Set For NYC, Tickets on Sale Now
- Mutua Madrid Open Schedule and Draws for Saturday, April 27, 2024
- Mutua Madrid Open Schedule and Draws for Friday, April 26, 2024
- It’s a Girl! Belinda Bencic Welcomes Daughter to the World
- Nadal kicks off Mutua Madrid Open campaign with easy win over Blanch
- Mutua Madrid Open Schedule and Draws for Thursday, April 25, 2024
- Mutua Madrid Open Schedule and Draws for Wednesday, April 24, 2024
- Novak Djokovic Earns 5th Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award
- Mutua Madrid Open Schedule and Draws for Tuesday, April 23, 2024
- Rafael Nadal Commits to 2024 Laver Cup
- Mutua Madrid Open Schedule and Draws for Monday, April 22, 2024
Tennis | Roger Federer Joins Djokovic In Miami Fourth Round, Opelka Loses A Close One
- Updated: March 25, 2019
Roger Federer of Switzerland reacts after defeating Filip Krajinovic of Serbia during their men’s singles match at the Miami Open tennis tournament in Miami, Florida, USA, 25 March 2019. EPA-EFE/JASON SZENES
Federer joins Djokovic in Miami fourth round, Opelka loses a tough one
By Ricky Dimon
Roger Federer predictably picked up the pace for his second match at the Miami Open on Monday afternoon. Federer, who survived a three-set battle with Radu Albot in his opener, took care of Filip Krajinovic 7-5, 6-3 to reach round four of this Masters 1000 event.
The Swiss struck 14 aces and served at 73 percent while advancing in one hour and 30 minutes.
“I thought it was a high intense match in the first 10 games,” Federer assessed. “Then I was able to pull away. I had a good 20-minute stretch where I was really able to stretch the lead, and that was key today.”
Next up for the 37-year-old is Daniil Medvedev, who outlasted Reilly Opelka 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 7-6(0). Medvedev and Opelka have now faced each other twice in their careers, with both matches requiring final-set tiebreakers to be decided (8-6 at the 2017 Washington, D.C. event and 7-0 this time around).
“He plays from far back and can play in, as well, so there is some variety there,” Federer said of Medvedev. “But other than that, he plays very flat. He’s clever how he plays the court, because he can play it up and down and he’s unusual when he plays from back. He plays more flat than actually loopy like what Thiem does or Rafa or Stan does. He plays it more flat from the back. It’s a bit of a different approach.
“Thankfully I played him last year twice, in Basel and Shanghai. I’m looking forward to the game. But I’m very impressed about his progress; I must say the last year [was] unbelievable for him. He won three tournaments in the last seven months or so; very impressive.”
Other winners on Monday were Kevin Anderson, Jordan Thompson, Denis Shapovalov, and David Goffin. Thompson took down Grigor Dimitrov 7-5, 7-5.