AP, Shanghai :
Roger Federer saved five match points and rallied from a 5-2 deficit in the third-set tiebreaker before finally beating Leonardo Mayer 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (7) in a thrilling second-round match at the Shanghai Masters on Wednesday.
Federer hadn’t played since helping Switzerland beat Italy to make the Davis Cup final a month ago, and the inactivity showed. He made an uncharacteristic 57 unforced errors – including some bad mishits – and only won about half of his points at the net.
The Swiss star was also a little fortunate. On Mayer’s first match point at 5-4 in the third, the Argentine aimed a backhand passing shot down the line but the ball clipped the tape and fell back on his side of the net.
Federer finally put it away on his first match point with a backhand lob that just caught the line.
Roger Federer saved five match points and rallied from a 5-2 deficit in the third-set tiebreaker before finally beating Leonardo Mayer 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (7) in a thrilling second-round match at the Shanghai Masters on Wednesday.
Federer hadn’t played since helping Switzerland beat Italy to make the Davis Cup final a month ago, and the inactivity showed. He made an uncharacteristic 57 unforced errors – including some bad mishits – and only won about half of his points at the net.
The Swiss star was also a little fortunate. On Mayer’s first match point at 5-4 in the third, the Argentine aimed a backhand passing shot down the line but the ball clipped the tape and fell back on his side of the net.
Federer finally put it away on his first match point with a backhand lob that just caught the line.
